| Adapting to the Japanese way of life can be challenging, as Anuan and her family are discovering. Here, this Antiguan expat shares what for her are the ups and downs of living in Japan, and also gives some advice on the best attitudes to take to make living in Japan a good experience. |
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Working and Living in Japan
In this section you'll read about expats who've made the nation of the samurai, sushi, and Sudoku their new home. Japan is a country of co-existing opposites, it has been said: the people are traditional yet innovative; the way of life is simple yet expensive; the natural resources are breathtaking yet potentially deadly.
Nippon is how the Japanese call their country, which means "Land of the Rising Sun." What an apt metaphor for the expats there!
New Worlds to Conquer
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An American Mom in rural Japan
| Suzanne is an American expat, wife and mother who has been living in Japan for two decades now. Read about this English teacher, writer and editor's thoughts on Japanese rural life and her tips on living in the Land of the Cherry Blossoms. |
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Living in Japan
| Moving to Japan wasn't in American expat Cyndi's plans, but now she's finding that she's enjoying living with her family in the capital city of Tokyo. Read on for some information on what life is like for one foreigner in Japan, and the experiences and things that Cyndi will remember fondly about the Land of the Rising Sun when she and her family move to Australia. |
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David Morrison Pike: An American Potter Living in Japan
| It's been more than a decade since American expat David moved to Japan. He lives with his family in Nara, where he works as a potter and owns an English school. Read on for David's observations about living as an expat in a Japanese countryside village. |
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New Zealander expat Jacqui in Japan: It sounds more exotic than it is
| Jacqui moved from New Zealand to Japan more than ten years ago to work, and fell in love with the country and the man who would eventually become her husband. Now she's living near Osaka, raising their children. Read her story, one of a housewife living a normal life with her family, except that she is doing it in a foreign country. Would-be expats with children might learn some helpful things from Jacqui's story. |
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Artist/English teacher heads East
| As a UK expat who has been living in Japan, Emily, an artist who also teaches English, has many experiences and stories to share. Read about the relationships she makes with the Japanese, her plans for her artistic career, and why being a gaijin (foreigner) is good for her sometimes. |
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Australian expat Isaac's insights on living and working in Japan
| "Coming to Japan was like being born again!" is what Isaac says about moving to the Land of the Rising Sun. This Australian expat has been living in Hakata for the past couple of years, where he teaches English. Isaac describes the ways in which he has been immersing himself in the local culture, from learning Japanese to keeping an open mind to playing hard and partying somewhat harder. |
 Isaac |
The quirks of living in Japan: American expat Joshua's point of view
| Teaching English and relishing what he terms the "weirdness" of Japan are what American expat Joshua is doing in Fukuyama City. Here he not only provides very useful information on topics like teaching jobs in Japan, the cost of housing, and how he sees the Japanese; he shares humorous personal thoughts and observations as well. |
 Joshua Zimmerman |
American expat Lea's recovery from decadence and other experiences of living in Japan
| Lea is a writer and translator living in Tokyo, Japan. This American woman talks about moving to Japan, the complicated behavior of the Japanese, the memoir she wrote about her past experiences as a bar hostess in Tokyo, and a few other aspects of expat life in the Land of the Rising Sun. |
 Lea |
American expat and school owner Chris' thoughts on country living in Japan
| Respecting the local culture and yet maintaining his own values are parts of American expat Chris' overall attitude about living in Japan, where he also runs a language school. Adjusting to small-city life in Yanai posed some challenges, being so different physically and mentally from his beloved Hawaii. Still, he does all he can to enjoy his expat experience and advises others to do the same. |
 Chris Ballard |
