Why Japan? Our Top 5 Reasons
Published on January 26 2016
Segment: Everything Else
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Why Japan? Why Not!
But seriously, Keat and I have countless reasons why we want to go to Japan, and because we didn't want the video to go on for 10 hours, we compiled all of our reasons down to our Top 5. So here we go!
Seriously, though. Jobs in America suck. And I'm not just talking about the quality - I'm talking about the job market. I graduated from college in 2009 (and Keat in 2014), and the job market is still taking a while to catch up.
While I was unemployed in 2013 (aside from writing my first book), I applied to over 110 jobs, and got only 2 positive responses (the majority of responses were "Dear applicant....", so they weren't useful. It even took a year and a half for one company to get back to me, while one other rejected me while I was still filling out the application!). That's only a 1.8% success rate, and that's probably high-balling it.
Overall, finding a job in Waynesville, much less America, just sucks. So we're going to Japan, where the situation is reversed.
Yes, there may be long work days and a lot of overtime, but that's basically the opposite of what we're doing right now. (I'll explain more in "People".) Regardless, in America, you have 10 people for every 1 job. In Japan, it seems like you have 10 jobs for every person! That's just awesome!
Japanese culture is amazing! As compared to America, there's just so much more to offer. The thousands of years of history, the richness of the society, the not-shoved-in-your-face religious practices, the overall acceptedness of everything - it's just so much better than here. And honestly, it is a lot more interesting than "American History," which after being forced to study it for all of our school years, has become bland.
TL;DR We want to study something else.
What else do we need to say?
Okay, we'll say some more. Food in Japan is better, healthier, more diverse, and not locked in with chain restaurants. For example: when you think "American Food", chances are you are thinking of fast food and fried food. In Japan, it's fish, sushi, rice, noodles, and a bunch of other stuff! It's just so much better.
If you think you're experiencing "Japanese food" by buying Ramen at the store for 10 cents. Hate to say it, but you're not. Cheap Ramen and Japanese Ramen are like night and day! Japanese Ramen is so much more succulent, richer, more flavorful, and has more to offer than just dehydrated noodles and a flavor packet. And that's just the beginning.
Each region and prefecture has its own flavor and types of food, which makes a "food road trip" even more appealing.
To start, Japanese people (stereotypically) work overtime and sacrifice holidays at the office. It's actually common for Japanese workers to fall asleep in the office. It's a sign of overworking and putting in the extra effort, whereas in America, you'd get your butt fired.
Japanese people take pride in their work. They want to put in the extra effort and time to make sure their project/craft/etc is perfect. Money is necessary, but not the primary driving factor. Whereas in America, we want to work as little as possible, and get paid the most. Really, a bad combo!
Even in 2011, when the tsunami came through, many Japanese people stayed with their age-old family businesses and rebuilt them, instead of in America where one or two businesses may rebuild after a disaster, but most other people will just go to other places to find jobs for money.
Both Keat and I have been interested in Japan for 10+ years. Although back in 2000, anime became big and we were interested. But that's not the only reason. Anime may have been a good starting point, it allowed us to become exposed to another culture.
After looking more into it, finding Japan's history, language, culture, people, food, experiences, landmarks, religion, beliefs, etc - it's all appealing to us, not just anime. (Although anime is great.)
We both have studied the language, we have changed our habits for a more Japanese lifestyle, we've been walking a lot of places, and the fact that we can get jobs - all makes Japan better than America.
Yes, there are some differences, such as the lack of centralized heating in a lot of places, but that's just part of the experience. Additionally, if we have a family, then we think it would be better for any kids to grow up in a Japanese environment (respect elders, clean your own messes and the public areas, larger exposure to education, better healthcare, etc) instead of America.
If there is anything that we missed, please let us know in the comments below! We'll do our best to add them in a followup video later!
But seriously, Keat and I have countless reasons why we want to go to Japan, and because we didn't want the video to go on for 10 hours, we compiled all of our reasons down to our Top 5. So here we go!
Reason 1: Jobs
Seriously, though. Jobs in America suck. And I'm not just talking about the quality - I'm talking about the job market. I graduated from college in 2009 (and Keat in 2014), and the job market is still taking a while to catch up.
While I was unemployed in 2013 (aside from writing my first book), I applied to over 110 jobs, and got only 2 positive responses (the majority of responses were "Dear applicant....", so they weren't useful. It even took a year and a half for one company to get back to me, while one other rejected me while I was still filling out the application!). That's only a 1.8% success rate, and that's probably high-balling it.
Overall, finding a job in Waynesville, much less America, just sucks. So we're going to Japan, where the situation is reversed.
Yes, there may be long work days and a lot of overtime, but that's basically the opposite of what we're doing right now. (I'll explain more in "People".) Regardless, in America, you have 10 people for every 1 job. In Japan, it seems like you have 10 jobs for every person! That's just awesome!
Reason 2: The Culture
Japanese culture is amazing! As compared to America, there's just so much more to offer. The thousands of years of history, the richness of the society, the not-shoved-in-your-face religious practices, the overall acceptedness of everything - it's just so much better than here. And honestly, it is a lot more interesting than "American History," which after being forced to study it for all of our school years, has become bland.
TL;DR We want to study something else.
Reason 3: The Food!
What else do we need to say?
Okay, we'll say some more. Food in Japan is better, healthier, more diverse, and not locked in with chain restaurants. For example: when you think "American Food", chances are you are thinking of fast food and fried food. In Japan, it's fish, sushi, rice, noodles, and a bunch of other stuff! It's just so much better.
If you think you're experiencing "Japanese food" by buying Ramen at the store for 10 cents. Hate to say it, but you're not. Cheap Ramen and Japanese Ramen are like night and day! Japanese Ramen is so much more succulent, richer, more flavorful, and has more to offer than just dehydrated noodles and a flavor packet. And that's just the beginning.
Each region and prefecture has its own flavor and types of food, which makes a "food road trip" even more appealing.
Reason 4: The People
To start, Japanese people (stereotypically) work overtime and sacrifice holidays at the office. It's actually common for Japanese workers to fall asleep in the office. It's a sign of overworking and putting in the extra effort, whereas in America, you'd get your butt fired.
Japanese people take pride in their work. They want to put in the extra effort and time to make sure their project/craft/etc is perfect. Money is necessary, but not the primary driving factor. Whereas in America, we want to work as little as possible, and get paid the most. Really, a bad combo!
Even in 2011, when the tsunami came through, many Japanese people stayed with their age-old family businesses and rebuilt them, instead of in America where one or two businesses may rebuild after a disaster, but most other people will just go to other places to find jobs for money.
Reason 5: The Dream
Both Keat and I have been interested in Japan for 10+ years. Although back in 2000, anime became big and we were interested. But that's not the only reason. Anime may have been a good starting point, it allowed us to become exposed to another culture.
After looking more into it, finding Japan's history, language, culture, people, food, experiences, landmarks, religion, beliefs, etc - it's all appealing to us, not just anime. (Although anime is great.)
We both have studied the language, we have changed our habits for a more Japanese lifestyle, we've been walking a lot of places, and the fact that we can get jobs - all makes Japan better than America.
Yes, there are some differences, such as the lack of centralized heating in a lot of places, but that's just part of the experience. Additionally, if we have a family, then we think it would be better for any kids to grow up in a Japanese environment (respect elders, clean your own messes and the public areas, larger exposure to education, better healthcare, etc) instead of America.
If there is anything that we missed, please let us know in the comments below! We'll do our best to add them in a followup video later!