Why I miss Japan

As you know, I moved to California to go to college. I graduated many years ago and ended up permanently living in this city. I still think that I made the right decision at that time and every time I talk to my sisters and friend, it only confirms that I made a good choice..for myself.

I tend to focus on the negative aspects of Japan. For example, I wrote an article about Japanese employment system and why I wouldn’t want to work for Japanese companies..but there are things that I miss about Japan and in this article, I want to focus on the positives and explore the reasons why I miss home.

1. This is obvious but all my family lives in Japan. My childhood home is still there..there is a temple in front of the house. I am from the suburb of Japan and it is very green. Where I live is very dry and atmosphere is completely different, so I miss Japanese especially when it rains here..like twice a year.

2. Politeness. I feel this every time I visit my family and then return to the airport..the US immigration custom officials are extremely rude and looking around, I feel like I am back in wild animal park. lol It’s hard to describe this feeling but if you’ve been to Japan, you may understand me.

3. Everything cute. I am a girl and love cute stuff. not so much hello kitty..I like kitty chan but there are so many cute characters, stationary..even the mascot character of law enforcement is cute in Japan..

4. Food: Japanese foods are awesome. People think we eat sushi and fish everyday but there are all kinds of foods there..I miss bakery shop there too. They pay close attention to the quality and the design. I love it~

5. Convenience store : Convenience Store is called “Konbini” in Japanese..ampm, seven eleven, lawson are konbini. American seven eleven is a joke compared to the one in Japan. They’ve got cooked food, different types of beverages, lots of nicely wrapped snacks, candies, most importantly rice ball…I miss onigi. T-T

6. Clean: Japan is very clean. It’s amazing how clean Tokyo is despite millions of people work there, go to school, catch trains during rush hours..station and city are kept fairly clean..

7. Stores are actually opened at 10pm: I think this is just California but the last call at bars here is 1am..night has just started! and they want to do the last call because after 2am, they cannot legally serve alcohol. And even department stores close by 9am and everything closes so early. But in Japan, restaurants (other than Denny’s~~) and Karaoke, stores are actually open very late.

8. Safety: I don’t dare walking around even early in the morning or late in the afternoon around campus or in my neighborhood. I might be a little too cautious but as a woman, I have to. So I am always driving and I miss walking to the station and take the train without having to worry about crazy people shooting at you. Odds are low but still we can’t be too careful in the US.

9. Customer Service: Japanese customer service is almost excessive but they are very very nice. They are on top of things and welcome you as soon as you walk into the store and you buy one coke and they thank you for your business with bow. Wow..I used to take that for granted!

I can’t think about anything else..but I am sure that list will comes up. There are so many wonderful things about Japan but even after weighing pros and cons, I still believe that living here now is the right thing to do. It’s hard to explain but it’s mainly for the job.

I would love to hear your opinion.