「なぜ海外の男たちは日本移住を夢見るのか？」Redditで議論勃発！アニメの影響から“回避型”の心理、インフラの魅力まで本音が炸裂

To be fair, some anime does a really good job of showcasing places in Japan that would be really cool to visit.

Yeah some anime really does make you want to pack your bags and see those spots in real life, it’s hard not to get inspired.

Anime/manga is the gateway to Japanese culture for a lot of people

Being a weeaboo (bad spelling) is very popular these days. Around 2010, you’d be shunned for merely watching anime.

I guess it has to do with what anime I watch, but all the places I want to see are in the small towns. I want to walk along the sea on one of those roads that overlook it. I want to go to a dagashiya and an onsen and stay at the inns. Actually, playing Tokaido probably affected me too.

i want to go purely to eat and see the giant Gundam, that's it

for visiting it is definitely one of the coolest places i have ever been. the cities and nature are amazing. But i would not recommend anyone to move there, they have one of the worst work life balance cultures in the world, with extreme working hours and bad working conditions. Great to go as a tourist but not to live.

I lived there for several years and I'd say this- I didn't know a single person who was an expat living the salaryman life. Everyone was teaching English, running a retail store, or something similarly less stressful. Getting a salaryman job, at least where I was, was basically impossible.

I don't want to move there. I want to visit there to see the historical sites there being the main reason.

For tourism, I think Japan is the perfect balance between being a foreign culture and being safe and easy to travel around. Many people are exposed to it through anime, social media, or other types of media just enough to peak their interest but still discover new things when they visit. Things like food, transportation, and historic sites are cheap and higher quality compared to other places.

Been there. Wouldn't want to live there. Anime is a major reason.

Yeah I never got that, love to visit some day but never live there permanently

Nah, that's just American cope for the country being so shit at everything. In Japan you have actually convenient infrastructure, UHC, affordable housing, high quality and affordable food, etc... nothing that exists over here. In Japan you can travel from Hokkaido to Kagoshima without once setting foot in a car, and honestly it might be faster to go by Bullet Train v. Airplane.

Honestly the main reason for me is ease of access to everything, mainly due to their train system. I’m not used to having functional public transport that is cheap and as on time as what I experienced in Japan. You don’t need a car to survive in metro areas and I absolutely love that. I guess the “order” plays a part in that, with the trains being on time almost all the time and people queueing well.

Japan is what a Western country would have looked like if it were eastern

I flew over as a tourist and never left. Wasn't really planning on it, but I met a karate master who offered to teach me. "Stay in Japan! I teach you Japanese karate!" he said. So I stayed, married a hot Japanese girl, and bought an apartment in Tokyo.

Food in Japan compared to the U.S ( To some extent europe, but mostly the U.S) is a lot more affordable, convenient and also nutritious. The u.s has loads of additive, tons of sugar ( from a history of manufacturing). The average obesity rate reflects this and Japan's obesity rate is extremely low. A lot of walking + the diet reflects that. In addition, public transport is omnipresent in Japan compared to the headaches of needing a car in the U.S

So, I actually have a theory on this. I've dated a good number of men who say this, and it's not because they love the food or anime or really anything specific. They like the order. The perceived simplified life of discipline and courtesy and control. They also like the stereotypical role of Japanese femininity; the suimasen lifestyle. BUT these guys are almost always avoidant! The pipeline from avoidant men to japanophile needs to be studied.

As an avoidant person who recently visited japan, i loved it. So civilized and noone will just randomly talk to you. I can go about walking among a sea of people and noone will aknowledge me and its so serene. I came for the pokemon and food, stayed for the konbinis and peace.

It's a heavily heirachical, orderly and objective value society which soothes something in the autistic male brain which the pluralist, infinite expression and subjective excesses of the modern West chafes.

My ex girlfriend who also was avoidant was obsessed with Japan and Anime maybe they are all into it who knows lmao

A good portion of anime is just like a travel guide or taste of Japan, which is kind of surprising considering they don’t seem to want foreigners into the country. “This place is beautiful! So stay away”

It’s also just well established that getting a phone number, bank account, and a place to live (even as a rental) is extremely difficult for foreigners. There are no anti-discrimination laws to speak of so it’s perfectly acceptable for landlords to reject any applicants just because they are foreigners.

I think you answered your own question - anime/waifus/pokemon and stuff like that. Because realistically, Japan is one of the hardest countries to immigrate to.

I used to live in Japan, studied at Chuo University there, and got my second degree in Japanese and I can say many people either fetishize Japanese women or they view Japan from the lens of their favorite anime which is pretty stupid. Then they eventually visit and are underwhelmed. I’m like yeah bro what did you expect, none of them are out there doing Shadow Clone Jutsu from Naruto or walking around with Pokeballs in their hands.

Japan's work culture is one of the most toxic environments in the world. Extremely long hours, forced socialization, a history of schmoozing + seniority over workplace talent. Immigration rate is extremely low still and most Japanese people will still consider you an "outsider" even if you speak fluent japanese + integrate well.

Japan and the US have fundamentally different approaches for a lot of things due to the collectivist vs individualist culture. Some of the results of this are Japan having great public transit and being generally safe, but also having a terrible work-life balance and creative expressions are often looked down upon or suppressed.

Personally I wanna see their electrical system and lighting. Some of their lighting is different from ours in America, (yes, i'm American.) while for me, anime is a contributing factor, it isn't the only factor. Other factors of Japan make me want to see it like their sweets, the sights, and so forth.

People think they want to move to Japan until they start seriously working there. You have to ask your bosses permission to quit your job… Actual capitalist hellhole.

Been 9 times since 2005. Not once cared about Anime.

Japanese real estate is cheap as hell. For a variety of reasons, shrinking population and relatively low income for Japanese workers, you can get a midsized home in or near a major city for a fraction of a comparable American home. If you want to live in the countryside you can get a house for or near free.