在日本生活是什么样的？

Tom Kenny

汤姆·肯尼

I'm American, in Japan for 25 years.
You feel safe, everywhere you go, day or night. No random violence, thievery. Japanese don't get up in your face. Courtesy is absolutely basic. Japanese aren't chatty with strangers beyond small talk about the weather. They're mostly very cool toward anyone they don't know. But if you ask for directions somewhere, any Japanese will be very helpful, and use all the English they can muster.

我是美国人，已经在日本生活了25年。
无论白天黑夜，无论走到哪里，你都会感觉很安全。不会有无端的暴力和盗窃行为。日本人不会故意冒犯他人。礼貌是他们最基本的准则。除了和陌生人聊几句天气这类的寒暄，日本人不会和陌生人过多攀谈。他们大多对不认识的人比较冷淡，但如果你向他们问路，任何一个日本人都会非常热心地帮忙，并且会用上他们所能掌握的全部英语。

You never get short-changed at a convenience store, a dept store, or from a street vendor.
Health care is excellent. Complete freedom of choice over which doctors, clinics and hospitals you choose. You pay, out of pocket, 30% of the bill, so to see the doctor for a cold, you'd pay about US$30.00 for the visit, and another $10 for the prescribed meds you get from the doctor directly when you pay, or from the small pharmacy next door.

在便利店、百货商店或者街头小贩那里买东西，你永远不会被少找钱。
医疗保健服务很棒。你可以完全自由地选择医生、诊所和医院。你只需自付账单的30%，所以如果只是感冒去看医生，看诊费用大概是30美元，另外还需要支付10美元，用于在付款时直接从医生那里拿到的处方药，或是从隔壁小药房买到的处方药。

Housing is affordable, but living space is small. If you're in a major city, you'll pay higher prices at the supermarkets than you would in a small town.
There are cheap and good restaurants everywhere, as well as expensive and good.
Transportation is excellent...clean, safe, on-time, but often crowded, can't always get a seat. Publicly run buses and subways are cheaper than the private railway/busses, and is no more or less clean, safe, or on-time.
Employment is highly protected; getting fired is rare. Wages are not much higher than 20 years ago, and have been barely-adjusted for rising cost of living.

住房价格实惠，但居住空间狭小。如果你住在大城市，超市里的物价会比小城镇更高。
这里随处可见物美价廉的餐厅，也有不少高端优质的餐厅。
交通系统非常完善……干净、安全、准点，但通常会比较拥挤，不一定总能有座位。公立运营的巴士和地铁比私营铁路/巴士更便宜，在干净程度、安全性和准点率上并没有差别。
就业受到高度保护；被解雇的情况很少见。工资水平和20年前相比并没有高出多少，而且几乎没有根据不断上涨的生活成本进行调整。

Police don't go out of their way to hassle you, although there is racial profiling, and police who are bored with nothing else to do will come to a foreigner and ask to see their ID card to make sure they are in the country legally. At night in the party areas of big cities, that's more prent. OTOH, if police have probable cause (or a warrant) and succeed in getting you to "come with them," you're in real trouble, because you can be held for up to 20 days, be sleep-deprived, interrogated ad nauseum until you sign whatever the paper says. This is why the conviction rate is so high in Japan — confessions, no matter how obtained, mean everything in court. Police aren't trained in investigative work; they're trained in coercing confessions.

警方不会特意找你麻烦，但确实存在种族定性的情况，无所事事的警察会找上外国人，要求查看他们的身份证件，确认他们是合法在日居留。在大城市的夜间聚会区域，这种情况更为普遍。另一方面，如果警方有合理依据（或搜查令），并且成功让你“跟他们走”，那你就真的有麻烦了，因为你可能会被关押长达20天，被剥夺睡眠，被反复审问，直到你在文件上签字为止。这就是日本定罪率如此之高的原因——无论通过何种方式获得的口供，在法庭上都至关重要。警方没有接受过调查工作的培训；他们接受的是逼供的培训。

Nature is beautiful and greatly revered throughout Japan, especially when the seasons change. Pop culture and consumption are everywhere, and so are castles, temples, shrines, and statues of neighorhood deities.
There are scam artists in Japan, ranging from well-organized crime syndicate shakedowns and frauds, to wives making false reports to the police about domestic violence incidents (and a whole support system eager to believe them), and car insurance scams. If you scratch someone's car, they'll exaggerate the damage and shake you down as much as they can (e.g., cost of replacing an entire car door, cost of rental car while the car is being replaced).

日本各地的自然风光都很优美，并且备受推崇，尤其是在季节更替之时。流行文化和消费主义随处可见，城堡、寺庙、神社和地方神灵的雕像也遍布各处。
日本也有诈骗者，从组织严密的犯罪团伙的敲诈勒索和诈骗，到妻子向警方谎报家庭暴力事件（还有一整套支持体系愿意相信她们），以及汽车保险诈骗，不一而足。如果你刮到了别人的车，他们会夸大损坏程度，尽可能地敲诈你（例如，更换整个车门的费用、车辆维修期间的租车费用）。

Vertical hierarchy-thinking is deeply imbedded in Japanese society. Within institutions like school or companies, there's a very-rigid system in place in which people who are older than you or were hired before you must be given deference. An American comparison might be useful here: Say you’re in the US and your high school has a thirty year class reunx, and anyone who graduated plus or minus two years from you are invited too. You all see each other and you don't remember that Suzy was a year ahead of you or that John was two years behind you. You remember all the people and treat them as equals.
In Japan, on the other hand, no one ever forgets that Yoko was a year older, because from the time you met Yoko, you had to address her as Yoko-sempai (my senior). She is forever your senior and you must pour a drink for her when her glass becomes empty. And if Yoko is petty, she will remember if you didn't, and you may not get the promotion you hoped for because she has connections with some at your job.

垂直等级思维在日本社会中根深蒂固。在学校或公司这类机构中，存在一套非常严格的制度，年纪比你大或者入职比你早的人，必须得到你的尊敬。这里可以用美国的情况来做个对比：假设你在美国，你的高中举办一场毕业三十周年的同学聚会，毕业时间和你相差两年以内的人也都受到了邀请。你们见面的时候，不会记得苏西比你高一级，或者约翰比你低两级，你会记得所有人，并且平等相待。
而在日本，没有人会忘记洋子比自己大一岁，因为从你认识洋子的那一刻起，你就得称呼她为洋子先辈（我的前辈）。她永远是你的前辈，当她的杯子空了的时候，你必须为她斟酒。如果洋子心胸狭隘，她会记得你没这么做的事，而你可能因此得不到你期望的晋升，因为她在你的工作单位有关系。

A better example is how a lack of deference to authority works at an institutional-level. New workers are expected to go long after quitting time in the office, then go out with coworkers to drink. Let's say you do this for a couple of years, but then you have a kid, and you can't go out all the time like before, because you got to be home for your kid. That's looked down upon. Then when the company asks you to do some other project that you know will hurt your homelife, and you beg off to keep your family intact and your life happy, well, that's it, you're finished. You'll never get a raise, a promotion, you will be marked by your superiors for decades as an ousider. Then fifteen years later, when you have more free time at your company, you will never be given a task to show your ability because the institution —years ago— had you labeled. At your retirement party, people who know you to be very able and awesome to work with will wonder why you were ever thought of as anything other than able and awesome. It's because, in companies, you are punished forever if you ever stand up for yourself by saying "no." Authority figures are unforgiving and have looong memories. There are no second chances. And that's one of the most tragic aspects of modern Japan.

一个更贴切的例子，是不服从权威在机构层面会造成怎样的影响。新员工在下班之后，通常还要在办公室待很久，之后还要和同事出去喝酒。假设你坚持这样做了几年，但之后你有了孩子，不能再像以前那样经常外出了，因为你得回家陪孩子。这种行为会被人看不起。之后当公司安排你参与某个你知道会影响家庭生活的项目，你为了维系家庭的完整和生活的幸福而推辞的话，那么一切就都结束了。你再也不会得到加薪或者晋升，你的上司会在几十年里都把你当成外人。十五年之后，当你在公司有了更多的空闲时间，也不会有展示能力的任务落到你头上，因为早在多年前，公司就已经给你贴上了标签。在你的退休派对上，那些知道你能力出众、共事起来很愉快的人，会疑惑为什么曾经有人不这么看你。这是因为，在日本的公司里，一旦你为了坚持自我而说出“不”，就会永远受到惩罚。掌权者不会原谅你，而且记性非常好，没有人能得到第二次机会。而这，就是现代日本最可悲的特点之一。

Assistant
Everyday life in Japan blends high efficiency, strong social norms, and rich cultural layers. Below are the core dimensions that shape the lived experience, with practical examples and trade-offs.
Urban rhythm and transport
Punctuality and coverage: Trains and buses are extremely punctual; urban rail networks (Tokyo, Osaka) run every few minutes during peak hours. Commuting can be long but smooth if you learn transfer routines and rush-hour etiquette.

日本的日常生活融合了高效率、严格的社会规范以及深厚的文化底蕴。以下是影响生活体验的核心维度，附带有实际案例和利弊分析。
城市节奏与交通
准时性与覆盖范围：火车和巴士准点率极高；东京、大阪等城市的轨道交通网络在高峰时段每隔几分钟就会发车。只要掌握换乘流程和高峰时段的礼仪，通勤可能耗时较长但会很顺畅。

Convenience stores and services: 24/7 konbini (convenience stores) offer hot meals, bill payment, postal services, ATMs, and package delivery/pickup—practicality is ubiquitous.
Walkable amenities: Dense cities make errands, dining, and nightlife easily accessible on foot or a short train ride.

便利店与配套服务：全年无休、全天营业的便利店提供热餐、账单支付、邮政服务、自动取款机以及包裹收发服务——实用性随处可见。
适宜步行的配套设施：城市布局密集，步行或搭乘短途火车就能轻松完成出行办事、就餐和夜间娱乐活动。

Housing and living spaces
Smaller living areas: Apartments are typically compact; efficient storage and multifunctional furniture are essential. Newer properties may prioritize seismic safety.
Clean, safe neighborhoods: Low violent crime and strict public cleanliness norms make many areas feel secure, though petty theft can occur.

住房与居住空间
居住空间较小：公寓通常面积不大，高效的收纳方案和多功能家具是必需品。较新的房产可能会优先考虑抗震安全。
干净安全的社区：暴力犯罪率低，同时有着严格的公共卫生规范，因此很多区域都让人感觉很安全，不过小额盗窃的情况仍有可能发生。

Costs vary widely: Tokyo is expensive for rent; suburban and regional cities offer larger space for lower cost. Utilities and monthly fees (maintenance, city tax) add up.
Work culture and economy
Strong work ethic: Many workplaces expect long hours and commitment; however, government and corporate reforms (telework, "Premium Friday," limits on overtime) are gradually shifting norms.

成本差异极大：东京的房租价格高昂；郊区和地方城市的房租更低，能提供更大的居住空间。水电杂费和月付费用（物业费、城市税）也会是一笔不小的开支。
职场文化与经济
强烈的职业道德：许多职场都要求员工长时间工作并投入精力；不过政府和企业的改革（远程办公、“超值星期五”、加班时长限制）正逐渐改变这种惯例。

Hierarchy and politeness: Respect for seniority, formality in meetings, and indirect communication are common. Learning keigo (polite language) or at least basic business etiquette helps.
Job stability vs. flexibility: Traditional lifetime employment is declining; contract and gig work are growing but with different protections.

等级制度与社交礼仪：尊重资历、会议中的正式规范，以及间接沟通的方式都十分常见。学习敬语，或者至少掌握基础的商务礼仪会有所帮助。
工作稳定性与灵活性：传统的终身雇佣制正在式微；合同制和零工经济正在发展，但所对应的保障有所不同。

Social norms and etiquette
Group harmony (wa): Prioritizing harmony means direct confrontation is often avoided; reading context (kuuki) matters. Politeness and punctuality are expected in most interactions.
Public behavior: Quiet public spaces—phone calls on trains are frowned upon; littering is rare because of strong social enforcement.
Gift-giving and reciprocity: Small gifts (omiyage) and seasonal/occasional exchanges reinforce relationships; packaging and presentation are important.
Daily services and bureaucracy

社会规范与礼仪
集体和谐（和）：将和谐放在首位意味着人们通常会避免直接冲突；读懂语境（空气）十分重要。在大多数的人际互动中，礼貌和守时都是基本要求。
公共场合行为：公共场合需要保持安静——在列车上打电话会被人反感；由于社会约束性很强，乱扔垃圾的情况很少见。
送礼与礼尚往来：小礼物（土产）以及季节性或特定场合的礼物往来能增进人际关系；礼物的包装和呈现方式十分重要。
日常服务与行政体系

High-quality public services: Clean streets, efficient waste collection, excellent public healthcare and reliable emergency services.
Administrative complexity: Residency, taxes, health insurance, and garbage sorting rules vary by municipality and involve paperwork. Local city offices provide guidance, but expect bureaucracy.
Language barrier: Many official forms, medical services, and local shops operate primarily in Japanese. English-friendly services exist in major cities and tourist areas; learning basic Japanese dramatically improves access.

高品质的公共服务：街道整洁，垃圾收集高效，公共医疗服务优质，应急服务可靠。
行政手续复杂：居住登记、税务、医疗保险以及垃圾分类的规则会因市政辖区的不同而有所区别，并且会涉及大量文书工作。当地的市政办公室会提供指导，但流程通常较为繁琐。
语言障碍：许多官方表格、医疗服务以及当地商铺主要使用日语提供服务。在大城市和旅游区有提供英语服务的场所；掌握基础日语会极大地方便日常生活。

Food and lifestyle
Food variety and quality: Wide range from inexpensive, high-quality ramen, izakaya, and bento to world-class sushi. Seasonal foods and regional specialties are celebrated.
Eating culture: Small restaurants, standing bars, and food stalls; tipping is not practiced. Eating etiquette (slurping noodles, not walking while eating) differs from Western norms.

饮食与生活方式
饮食种类丰富、品质优良：既有价格实惠、品质上乘的拉面、居酒屋料理和便当，也有世界级的寿司。应季食物和地方特色美食都备受推崇。
饮食文化：有小型餐厅、立饮酒吧和小吃摊；日本没有给小费的习惯。饮食礼仪（吃面条时出声、不边走边吃）与西方的规范有所不同。

Leisure: Rich arts scene, temples and shrines, nature access (mountains, coastlines), festivals (matsuri), and hobby subcultures.
Healthcare and education
Universal healthcare: National health insurance reduces costs for most medical services; doctor's visits are generally affordable and efficient.
Education expectations: Strong emphasis on discipline and exams; juku (cram schools) are common. International schools exist but can be costly.

休闲生活：拥有丰富的艺术活动、寺庙神社，亲近自然的场所（山林、海岸线）、祭典，以及多样的兴趣亚文化。
医疗与教育
全民医疗保健：国民健康保险降低了大部分医疗服务的成本；看医生的费用通常负担得起，而且流程高效。
教育期望：格外重视纪律与考试；补习学校（塾）十分常见。也有国际学校，但费用可能较高。

Language and integration
Japanese proficiency matters: Daily life, work, and bureaucracy become much easier with conversational Japanese; many expatriates enroll in language classes and community groups.
Community integration: Local neighborhood associations, festivals, and volunteer activities help integrate newcomers; social circles can be tight-knit and slow to open.

语言与融入
日语能力十分重要：掌握日常会话级别的日语会让日常生活、工作和办理行政手续都轻松很多；很多外籍人士会报名参加语言课程和社区团体。
社区融入：当地的居民协会、祭典和志愿活动有助于新居民融入当地生活；但当地的社交圈子通常比较紧密，不太容易融入。

Pros and cons — quick summary
Pros: Safety, cleanliness, public transport, food quality, efficient services, cultural richness.
Cons: High urban cost, small living spaces, rigid social/work expectations, language barrier, complex bureaucracy.
Typical experiences (examples)
An early-career professional in Tokyo: efficient commute, long office hours, frequent after-work group dinners (nomikai), small apartment near a station, weekends exploring local parks or hobby classes.

利弊总结——速览
优势：安全、整洁的环境，便捷的公共交通，优质的饮食，高效的服务，丰富的文化。
劣势：城市生活成本高，居住空间狭小，社会与职场的要求刻板，存在语言障碍，行政手续复杂。
典型经历（示例）
在东京工作的职场新人：通勤高效，办公时间长，下班后经常参加同事聚餐（饮み会），住在车站附近的小公寓，周末会去探索当地的公园或者参加兴趣课程。

A family in a regional city: larger home, strong community ties, quieter pace, local schools and festivals, reliance on car transport.
A retiree or remote worker: enjoys low crime, accessible healthcare, affordable regional living, but may face social isolation without Japanese ability or community ties.
Practical tips to adjust quickly
Learn essential Japanese phrases and reading for signs/forms.

住在地方城市的家庭：住房面积更大，社区联系紧密，生活节奏更舒缓，可使用当地的学校和参与祭典，出行依赖汽车。
退休人士或远程工作者：享受低犯罪率、便利的医疗服务、价格实惠的地方生活，但如果不会日语或者没有社区联系，可能会面临社交孤立的状况
快速适应的实用建议
学习必要的日语短语，以及识别标识和表格的基础日语读写能力。

Master local garbage-sorting rules and civic registration early.
Choose housing close to a train station if relying on public transit.
Embrace local customs—politeness and punctuality pay dividends socially and professionally.
Use community centers, language exchanges, and meetup groups to build a social network.
This overview reflects living conditions and social trends through May 2024 and acknowledges ongoing changes (workstyle reforms, regional revitalization).

尽早掌握当地的垃圾分类规则，完成市民登记。
如果依赖公共交通，选择靠近车站的住房。
接纳当地的习俗——礼貌和守时会在社交和职场中带来益处。
利用社区中心、语言交流活动和聚会小组来建立社交网络。
本概述反映了截至2024年5月的生活状况和社会趋势，同时也认可正在发生的变化（工作方式改革、地方振兴）。

Peter Fuchs

彼得·富克斯

Dull. Like Switzerland, predictable, safe, squeaky clean, subtly prejudiced against the outside world.
Safe. A zero-tolerance heavy-handed approach to drugs, drug mules, drug lords (other than the cat-and-mouse cop-yakuza chase after speed and other low-ball highs). Nature is more dangerous here than Human nature.

乏味。就像瑞士一样，一切都在预料之中，安全、干净到近乎苛刻，对外界有着难以察觉的偏见。
安全。对于毒品、运毒者、毒枭采取零容忍的强硬手段（除了警方与黑帮之间，关于安非他命等低成本毒品的猫鼠游戏之外）。在这里，自然比人性更危险。

Convenient, speedy, swift response The deafening roar of Amazon delivery vans is sort of audible by now, but not at North American, European levels. Instead we live within 1000 meters, by the “Leave no Hungry Shopper Unhappy” law passed by the Diet in 2014, requiring the CV industry (711, Lawson, Family-Mart et al) to ensure that no citizen is left adrift.
Astonishing in its orderly, glitch-free management of hyper-complex infrastructure.
Mind-blowing in its concentration of hyper-modern with ancient animism and past-present-future contrasts around every corner.

便利、快捷、响应迅速：如今已经能听到亚马逊送货车的轰鸣，但还没达到北美和欧洲的水平。相反，根据日本国会2014年通过的“不让任何饥饿的消费者失望”法案，我们都住在距离便利店（7-11、罗森、全家等）1000米的范围内，该法案要求便利店行业确保所有居民都能获得便利服务。
日本对极度复杂的基础设施进行有序、零故障的管理，令人惊叹。
极度现代的事物与古老的万物有灵论交织，过去、现在与未来的对比在每个角落都能见到，令人震撼。

MOUTH WATERING FOOD.
Lovely kind and generous, courteous service in EVERY establishment you may enter from MOS-Burger to Choko-Kuro. Amazing.
Tipless bars, tipless topless bars. Tipless everywhere.
Fast escalators.
24–7 access to CV stores. That have everything imaginably needed.

令人垂涎欲滴的美食。
从摩斯汉堡到Choko-Kuro，你进入的每一家店都能享受到友好、亲切、周到的服务，太棒了。
无需付小费的酒吧，无需付小费的无上装酒吧。所有地方都不用给小费。
快速的自动扶梯。
全天24小时都可以去便利店，那里有你能想到的所有必需品。

Need I go on?
Truly, remarkable yet also at times Blade Runner revisited, or Blade Runner, the Origins. Could we get Harrison Ford to reprise Lost In Translation, 2029?

还需要我继续说下去吗？
真的，这里很了不起，但有时又会让人想起《银翼杀手》，或是《银翼杀手：起源》。我们能不能让哈里森·福特在2029年重演《迷失东京》？

Greyson Fauchard

格雷森·福查德

Let me preface this by saying this only reflect my experiences as a white American male who came to Japan shortly after college and who is generally friendly and easygoing, and given everybody’s different personalities and stories, this is a question whose answer will vary wildly.
Before coming to Japan, I wasn’t what you would call a Japanophile, but I had several friends who were and as such was familiar with anime and Jpop and the like. This, and the several “only in Japan” sorts of things that were running around as rumors in my home country obviously colored what I expected when I stepped off the plane. You can imagine my surprise, then, to find that, while there are a lot of differences and a lot of things to adjust to, Japan is a decidedly normal country where they really want things to be normal.

首先我要说明，这只是我的个人经历，我是一个大学刚毕业就来到日本的白人美国男性，性格随和友善，每个人的性格和经历都不一样，所以这个问题的答案也会大不相同。
在来日本之前，我并不算一个日本迷，但我有几个朋友是，所以我也熟悉动漫、日本流行音乐之类的事物。这些，再加上在我的祖国流传的几件“只有在日本才会发生”的传闻，显然影响了我下飞机时对日本的期待。可想而知，当我发现日本虽然有很多差异，也有很多需要适应的地方，但它确实是一个非常普通的国家，这里的人们也希望一切都平平常常时，我有多意外。

The saying here is “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down,” which basically means that if you try to be unusual, you will be made to conform to social expectations, typically through social pressures the likes of which I’ve not seen in America. Which is not to say those pressures do not exist in America, but they are all-pervasive here in Japan. And that doesn’t mean that some people here don’t stand out or refuse to conform, just that those who do tend to get sidelined.

这里有句谚语：“出头的钉子先挨敲”，大致意思是如果你试图与众不同，就会被迫顺应社会的期待，这种压力通常是通过社交压力实现的，这类压力是我在美国从未见过的。这并不是说美国不存在这种压力，但在日本，这种压力无处不在。这也不是说这里没有人会脱颖而出或是拒绝从众，只是这类人往往会被边缘化。

One of the things this means as a foreigner is to be one in a sea of millions, to be generally treated with respect and a reserved friendliness, but to also be treated as if you don’t belong (this can mean being excluded from certain things, either because people will believe that you don’t understand the language, the rules, or the proper context to do it right) until you make effort to fit in. Even then, you still won’t quite belong and will still be treated as, for lack of a better word, a curiosity.

对于外国人而言，这种情况带来的影响之一，就是你会成为茫茫人海中的一员，人们通常会对你保持尊重和克制的友好，但也会觉得你不属于这里（这可能意味着你会被排除在某些事情之外，要么是因为人们认为你不懂语言、规则，或是不清楚做这件事的恰当背景），除非你努力去融入。可即便你这么做了，你也还是无法完全融入，依然会被当作——找不到更贴切的词，就称之为“稀罕物”。

Japanese people are generally quite happy that foreigners are interested and fascinated by their culture, and they’re usually more than happy to try and share that with you. However, there does seem to be a certain sort of superiority/inferiority complex that most Japanese people have in relation to foreigners. What I mean is that they are quite proud of being Japanese, and seem to be under the impression that they are different (and at the same time better and worse than everybody else because they are Japanese). The idea that you, as a foreigner, want to live here seems to be kind of mystifying because, well, yeah - Japan is cool as hell, but you’re never going to be one of us, so why bother trying? That sort of thought process appears to be endemic in Japan, and that’s what I mean by foreigners being a curiosity.

日本人通常很高兴外国人对他们的文化感兴趣、为之着迷，而且他们通常也非常乐意和你分享本国文化。不过，大多数日本人在面对外国人时，似乎都带有某种优越感与自卑感交织的复杂心态。我的意思是，他们为自己是日本人而感到自豪，并且似乎认为自己是与众不同的（同时，因为是日本人，他们觉得自己在某些方面比其他人好，某些方面又不如别人）。作为外国人的你想要在这里生活的想法，在他们看来有点不可思议，嗯，是啊——日本很酷，但你永远不可能成为我们的一员，那又何必尝试呢？这种思维方式在日本似乎很普遍，这就是我所说的“外国人是稀罕物”的含义。

In a country where homogeneity is paramount and the squeaky wheel will not get the grease but will instead be simply drowned out in a cacophony of silence, the idea that anybody would want to come and just be an outsider is odd.
Having said all of that, though, because they recognize that you are different and will never actually be one of them, they cut you a lot of slack and only expect you to attempt to fit in. Assuming you do that, you will be broadly ignored (much like the rest of the crowd, which I guess means you are being treated like everyone else), apart from the occasional glance as people are surprised to see a foreigner or the occasional friendly person who will walk up to you to try and chat with you, probably in English, but also possibly in Japanese if they’ve seen you using it.

在一个将同一性看得极为重要的国家，“吱吱作响的轮子(引申为不合群的人）”不会得到优待，反而会被一片沉默的嘈杂声淹没，有人想要来到这里，甘愿做一个局外人，这种想法确实很奇怪。
不过，说了这么多，因为他们意识到你和他们不同，而且永远不可能真正成为他们中的一员，所以他们会对你格外宽容，只希望你尝试融入就好。如果你这么做了，大部分时候你都会被无视（就像人群中的其他人一样，我猜这意味着你得到了和其他人一样的待遇），除了偶尔有人看到外国人时会投来惊讶的目光，或是偶尔会有友善的人走上前和你聊天，他们可能会用英语，要是见过你说日语，也可能会用日语和你交流。

But that’s all cultural stuff.
As to the actual, day-to-day living in Japan, I’ve got few complaints. Being a modern, industrialized nation, Japan has all of the comforts and conveniences you’d expect. It’s safe, clean, and generally easy to get places. There’s a lot of things to see and do. Taxes are not onerous, prices are generally reasonable, and costs for health care are much lower than America. The only issue I have is that, as a plus-size guy, clothing (shoes in particular, which isn’t even a plus-size issue) can be hard to find, but that’s also an issue of my own creation, so I look at it with a certain equanimity.

但这些都是文化层面的事情。
至于在日本的实际日常生活，我没什么可抱怨的。作为一个现代化的工业化国家，日本拥有你能想到的所有舒适与便利。这里安全、干净，出行通常也很方便。有很多可看可做的事。税收并不繁重，物价总体合理，医疗费用也比美国低得多。我唯一的问题是，作为一个身材魁梧的人，衣服（尤其是鞋子，这甚至和身材魁梧无关）很难买到，但这也是我自身的问题，所以我对此心态还算平和。

As an English teacher, the most common occupation for foreigners in Japan, you are probably either working in elementary, junior/senior high schools or college during the day or at an English conversation school in the afternoons and evenings, and in those instances your free time is broadly your own. The job is difficult at first while you figure out this whole teaching thing (if you have no training or education in it) but once you get a handle on things it’s not that difficult and probably not much real responsibility. If you are actually a teacher at a school (and not an “Assistant Language Teacher” or the like), you won’t have quite a much free time and the job won’t be anywhere near as easy, but if you have no education or experience you probably won’t get a job like that anyway. A good job just after you’ve finished college, and a job that can (but often doesn’t) lead to professional development within Japan.

英语教师是外国人在日本最常见的职业，你可能白天在小学、初中、高中或是大学工作，或是在下午和晚上在英语会话学校工作，这种情况下你的空闲时间基本可以自由支配。如果你没有接受过相关的教学培训或教育，刚开始做这份工作时会很难，但一旦你上手了，就没那么难了，而且可能也没什么实际的责任。如果你是学校的正式教师（而不是“助理语言教师”之类的职位），你的空闲时间就没那么多了，工作也远没有那么轻松，但如果你没有相关的教育背景或经验，可能根本得不到这样的工作。这是大学刚毕业的人能找到的一份好工作，这份工作有可能（但通常不会）让你在日本获得职业发展。

If you’ve decided to join a large Japanese company, your work will become your life, just like every Japanese office worker. You will probably spend most of your day at the office and your evenings drinking with co-workers after hours. Depending on how long you stay with the company, you may move slowly up the ranks, though as a foreigner you would probably cap out at some middle-management position for whatever division you’re working in (I will admit this is mostly speculation based on what I have heard from friends as it is outside my field of experience, though, so take it with a grain of salt).

如果你决定加入一家大型日本公司，你的工作会成为你的全部生活，就像每个日本上班族一样。你可能一天的大部分时间都在办公室，下班后的晚上还要和同事一起去喝酒。根据你在公司的任职时长，你可能会慢慢晋升，但作为外国人，你可能在所在部门最多升到中层管理职位（我得承认，这大多是我根据朋友的说法做出的推测，因为这超出了我的经验范围，所以听听就好）。

Wayne Knapp

韦恩·纳普

Most places in the world have advantages and disadvantages. Japan isn’t any different. I list some thing off of the top of my head. On the balance living in Japan for over five years has been a very positive experience for me.
+Some of the advantages are:
+Japanese people are helpful and generally friendly. Once you have children in the same schools you find out there are many levels of friendliness, but as a westerner I don’t feel mistreated very often.
+Cost of health care is very low at least compared to the USA. For example when I was really sick I went to a doctor, and got my prescxtion for about $50, paying the full price. A day in a hospital typically runs around $300. Even paying full price won’t break most people.

世界上大多数地方都各有利弊，日本也不例外。我随口列举一些。总的来说，在日本生活五年多对我而言是一段非常积极的经历。
+以下是一些优势：
日本人乐于助人，总体而言也很友善。当你的孩子和别人的孩子在同一所学校上学后，你会发现友善分很多种程度，但作为一个西方人，我很少觉得自己被苛待。
医疗成本很低，至少和美国相比是这样。比如我上次生重病去看医生，全额支付了处方药物的费用，大概只花了50美元。住院一天的费用通常在300美元左右。就算全额支付，也不会让大多数人负担不起。

+Japanese food is pretty healthy with lots of variety of vegetables. You can eat poorly but it takes more effort. Bentos lunches can be cheap, interesting, delicious and easy to find.
+There are a great many activities to do in Japan.

日本的食物相当健康，有各种各样的蔬菜。你也可以吃得很不健康，但那反而需要花更多心思。便当午餐价格便宜、样式有趣、味道美味，还随处可见。
在日本有非常多可以参与的活动。

+In a place like Tokyo it is so easy and cheap to get around without a car.
+It is possible to do extensive traveling in Japan without a car.
+Japanese typically aren’t pushy and are polite in queue and so forth.

在东京这样的地方，不用车出行既方便又便宜。
在日本，不用车也可以进行长途旅行。
日本人通常不会咄咄逼人，在排队等场合都很有礼貌。

+Prices of many goods are actually pretty cheap compared to the USA. Some things like fruit and meat are more expensive but overall I spend less money in Japan on normal living expenses.
+Delivery services in Japan are plentiful, cheap and reliable. Often when we travel in Japan we’ll even ship a big box of dirty clothes home and it has always cost less than $20.
+Japanese police are friendly and helpful.

和美国相比，日本很多商品的价格其实相当便宜。水果和肉类之类的东西会更贵，但总的来说，我在日本的日常开销更少。
日本的配送服务很多、价格低廉还很可靠。我们在日本旅行的时候，甚至经常会把一大箱脏衣服寄回家，费用从来都不超过20美元。
日本的警察友善又乐于助人。

+It is really safe to ride bicycles in Japan as compared to the USA.
+There are many contests and events focused on children. For example my middle school student gets a weekly paper published just for middle school students. There are often contests advertised there.
+Eating out in Japan is typically a lot cheaper than eating out in the USA. Generally it is faster too.
+It is easier to save money in Japan as compared to the USA, at least for me.

和美国相比，在日本骑自行车真的很安全。
有很多针对儿童的比赛和活动。比如我家读中学的孩子会收到一份专门面向中学生发行的周报，上面经常会刊登比赛的广告。
在日本外出就餐通常比在美国便宜很多，通常速度也更快。
和美国相比，在日本更容易存钱，至少对我来说是这样。

-Some disadvantages are:
-Limited living space unless you live way out. Japanese apartments are typically very small.
-Teenagers have way too much freedom in a place like Tokyo, it can be difficult at times.
-Too many evens are scheduled on Sundays, there isn’t that much respect for family time.

居住空间有限，除非你住得非常偏远。日本的公寓通常都很小。
在东京这样的地方，青少年拥有的自由太多了，有时会带来一些困扰。
有太多活动都安排在周日，人们对家庭时光的尊重不足。
-以下是一些劣势：

-Japanese is full of slang and the reading and writing is often difficult. One can survive with limited Japanese, but be aware you might be the butt of a joke sometimes. (Although not in front of you unless they really don’t think you don’t understand what is being said.) Many Japanese can read and write English but that is slow. Most Japanese can’t really speak much English.
-The police and local government will keep tabs on you. Just expect it. The longer you live in Japan the more you notice it.
-Throwing away garbage can be a real pain. Things have to be separated and sometimes you have purchase a ticket to throw something away. Shame is used when you mess up. (You might see what you are trying to throw away in the entry way with a big sign so every one can read it.)

日语里有大量俚语，读写通常都很难。只会一点日语也能应付日常生活，但要注意你有时可能会成为别人的笑柄（不过他们不会当着你的面这么做，除非他们真的觉得你听不懂他们在说什么）。很多日本人能读写英语，但速度很慢。大多数日本人并不会说太多英语。
警察和当地政府会留意你的情况。做好心理准备就好。在日本生活的时间越长，你就越能察觉到这一点。
扔垃圾可能会是一件很麻烦的事。垃圾必须分类，有时候扔东西还得购买垃圾处理券。如果垃圾分类弄错了，会被人指责。（你可能会看到自己没分好类的垃圾被放在门口，还贴着一个大标识，所有人都能看到。）

-There are lots of crazy things like fee collectors from NHK going door to door to collect TV taxes. (Ha! we don’t have any TV, but one time they pointed out I could watch TV from my cheap phone. I didn’t even know that, but it is true.)
-Japanese TV is mostly boring talk shows. IMHO Nothing to really watch anyway.
-Generally we have to do some shopping everyday, at least for food. That is just how things are in Japan. (Small kitchen.)
-In the winter you get used to living at around 20 C, (68 F) and in the summer you get to the point where 27 C (~80 F) feels cool. Another bad thing about Japanese apartments.
-Earthquakes at least in Tokyo are so common you get used to them. Someday a really big one will hit.

有很多荒唐的事，比如日本放送协会的收费员会挨家挨户收取电视税。（哈！我们家根本没有电视，但有一次他们指出我可以用我的廉价手机看电视。我自己都不知道，但这是真的。）
日本的电视节目大多是无聊的脱口秀。在我看来，根本没什么值得看的。
一般来说，我们每天都得买点东西，至少得买食物。在日本就是这样。（因为厨房很小）。
冬天的时候，你会习惯室内20摄氏度（68华氏度）的温度；夏天的时候，27摄氏度（约80华氏度）的气温都会让你觉得凉爽。这是日本公寓的另一个缺点。
至少在东京，地震非常常见，你会慢慢习惯。总有一天，会发生一场非常严重的大地震。

Brian Mitchell, lives in Japan (2001-present)

布莱恩·米切尔，生活在日本（2001年至今）

Comfortable. Comfortable enough that I took Japanese citizenship.
There is no way to generalize about living in Japan just as there is no way to generalize about living in any country. It all depends on your personal circumstances.

很舒适，舒适到我加入了日本国籍。
无法一概而论在日本的生活，就像无法一概而论在任何国家的生活一样，这完全取决于个人的处境。

In my case I was a tenured university professor teaching sociology and sociology to Japanese doing my lectures in Japanese. I was not hired because I was foreign but because I had a set of credentials that the university needed to get approval for a new graduate program. My pay, benefits, and duties were exactly the same as they were for Japanese nationals in the same position.
In other words, I had nearly iron tight job security and decent pay. That makes my position quite different from the English teachers in Japan and also from the foreign executive types here.
In my experience, the foreign nationals who complain about Japan are predominantly white males who have only their skin colour and some claim to being “native speakers of English” as their credentials. Living in Japan is the first time in their lives that as white males they are not at the top of the food chain.

就我而言，我曾是一名终身制大学教授，用日语给日本人讲授社会学相关课程。学校聘用我，不是因为我是外国人，而是因为我拥有的资质，是学校获批开设新研究生项目所需要的。我的薪资、福利和工作职责，和同岗位的日本国民完全一样。
换句话说，我拥有近乎绝对的工作保障和不错的收入，这让我的处境和在日本的英语教师，以及在这里工作的外籍高管都大不相同。
以我的经验来看，抱怨日本的外国人主要是白人男性，他们仅有的资本就是自己的肤色，以及所谓的“英语母语者”身份。在日本生活，是他们人生中第一次作为白人男性，不再处于社会的顶层。

Many cannot cope and become bitter blaming Japanese “racism” for anything and everything they don’t like even though most would probably be stocking shelves at Walmart or pumping gas if they were in the US or something equally menial in the UK or Australia.
Further, most have no foreign living experience other than Japan. In my case I came to Japan after eight years of being an invisible foreign national in Britain. Many Anglophone foreign nationals claim that “you will never be fully accepted no matter how long you live in Japan and no matter how fluent you become in Japanese.” I would say that is pretty much the case for Britain as well.

很多人无法应对这种状况，心怀怨恨，将一切他们不满的事情都归咎于日本人的“种族主义”，但事实上，如果是在美国，他们中的大多数人可能只是在沃尔玛整理货架，或是做加油员，在英国或澳大利亚也会从事类似的底层工作。
此外，他们中的大多数人除了日本之外，没有在其他国家生活的经历。我是在英国作为“隐形的外国人”生活了八年之后才来到日本的。很多以英语为母语的外国人声称“无论你在日本生活多久，日语说得多么流利，你永远都不会被完全接纳”，但我想说，英国的情况也基本如此。

In Britain I was invisible as a foreigner until I gave myself away with my American accent. The number was not large but there were Brits who made it clear that they did not like Americans. That was true even of some academics especially after they had had a few points.
Black Americans in Japan seem to do very little complaining compared to white Americans, probably because they are used to not being at the top of the food chain.

在英国，我作为外国人一直不被人注意，直到我的美国口音暴露了我的身份。这样的英国人数量不多，但确实有人明确表示不喜欢美国人，一些学者也是如此，尤其是在喝过几杯酒之后。
和美国白人相比，在日本的美国黑人似乎很少抱怨，可能是因为他们已经习惯了不处于社会顶层的生活。