Why Do You Love Japan?

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Why Do You Love Japan?

This month, I watched this YouTube video and thought it's very interesting. I have seen many foreign people live in Japan on YouTube and TV shows since I moved to the U.S.

"Why do you live in Japan?"

Those are the stereotype of the answers.

I like Japan because...
   it's a beautiful country.
   I love the language.
   I love Japanese foods.
   it's very clean and safe.
   people in Japan are so polite.

In this video, she additionally says that she felt that growing in Japan was right for her. She loves Canada, where she's from but cannot agree with the environment of drug and alcohol. She grew up in a small town in Canada until 18. Many teens went to parties, and some of them experienced those stuffs there. I sometimes heard that many parents in the U.S. are also worried about their teenage children taking drugs. She moved to Japan at age 18 and went to a Japanese high school. She finally felt right there. Students were enjoying after school activities such as sports, and they were really motivated. She and her friends hanged out at karaoke store, took purikura photos and went to cute cafes. I thought that those are somethings typical teens do in Japan. Indeed, when I was a high school student, I was very busy for study but also really enjoyed hanging out with my friends. We were really excited when we found new purikura machines and took purikura photos there. When we found a very affordable karaoke store, we enjoyed hanging out there and singing Japanese hit songs for many hours. We sometimes went to cafes and restaurants after school on Saturday and enjoyed talking and having delicious foods there. I grew up in a pretty small town in Japan, but I enjoyed my school life there. I have never met people who taking drugs in Japan. Drug problems are extremely rare in Japan.

One of the reasons why I love Japan is that Japan has a very strict gun law. People in Japan cannot own a gun except for police officers. I think that's why Japan is one of the safest countries. This year, I watched Japanese TV news that the suspect held a hostage with a knife at a church in Japan. Police officers persuaded the suspect to release the hostage for hours and hours. Then, police with sasumata, which is a non-harming pole weapon, eventually went into the church and arrested the suspect. Actually, it was a huge news in Japan at that time. I thought that if the same thing had happened in the U.S., the suspect would have been shot by a police officer and would have been on a local news. In Japan, police solve most cases without using a deadly weapon.


Sasumata and Shield

I also have so many reasons why I love Japan, but now I live in the U.S. I had never imagined that I would live in U.S. until a year before I actually moved to U.S. It's been 8 years since I moved to this country. Japan and U.S. are obviously very different countries such as languages, cultures, laws and etc, but I love both countries now. I understand both languages. I think foods in Japan are much better to me, but in the U.S. I can easily afford many kinds of ingredients which I have never seen in Japan, so I can enjoy trying new recipes now. As I mentioned in my previous entry, unlike Japan, it's not easy for poor and middle class people to live in the U.S., but I enjoy finding smart ways to live here and trying new projects which I have never done in Japan. :)