Living in Japan as a foreigner is such a fulfilling experience. I’ve been living here for over 7 years now and can’t imagine living anywhere else, but with the good comes the bad. There are some realities of living in Japan as a foreigner that people may not be aware of before they move here.

There are so many realities of living abroad in general, but the ones I wanted to talk about this time feel especially Japan-specific. So, let’s take off those rose-colored glasses for a few minutes and discuss 5 realities of living in Japan as a foreigner.

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1. Life in Japan is NOT an Anime, Manga, or J-Drama

Japan is the land of anime and manga, but that is not the reality of daily life here.

I grew up watching anime and dramas and reading manga, and it taught me a LOT about Japan before I ever lived here, but in reality, it is still a stretch from real day-to-day life. It’s the same as watching Friends or Disney Channel movies and shows to learn about the U.S. — it only shows a small snapshot of real life.

In fact, real life in Japan is probably more boring and mundane than you think, and not all that different from life in other countries. We all commute to school and work, go grocery shopping, see friends and family, and fall into our own everyday routines. After a while, the novelty of the convenience stores wears off a little — though I still think they are convenient and use them all the time. Riding trains with people sleeping on you starts to annoy you, and your foreign “charm” eventually wears off on the people around you too.

So please, don’t expect to come to Japan and believe that real school life or work life is like an anime, or that everyone here reads the same manga that is popular outside of Japan. There are so many options for entertainment in Japan, and everyone has their own preferences. Of course, you will find people with similar interests if you look for them, but please don’t assume everyone likes what is considered “mainstream” overseas.

That being said, if you do want something relatable and pretty accurate, I highly recommend Love Is Hard for Otaku(ヲタクに恋は難しい / Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii). It is an AMAZING slice-of-life anime about adult life as an otaku.

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2. Foreigners Will Always Be Outsiders

This one is probably more for non-Asian foreigners in Japan.

I’ve been living in Japan for over 7 years now and am fluent in the language, and yet I still get treated as a foreigner — because I AM one and I look like one. I know the culture pretty well, though I’m by no means an expert, and I know how to navigate society here decently. But I still get talked to like I don’t understand. I still get spoken to in English a lot when people first talk to me, and I politely respond back in Japanese.

People will automatically assume I can’t speak Japanese just by looking at me. I will always be asked “foreigner questions,” and I will always be told, “Your Japanese is so good!” when they have only heard me say one phrase. Yes, I know this is often Japanese people trying to be polite, but for someone who has lived in Japan for so long, it can be disheartening when you have spent years learning the language and the culture.

I accept this, and I am always polite because I know most people do not mean any harm by it, but it is still something to be aware of as a foreigner here.

Something that all foreigners in Japan can relate to along these lines is the string of extra paperwork and procedures you have to go through simply because you are foreign. Some phone companies won’t let you pay for a phone in monthly installments unless you pay the full cost upfront if your visa is shorter than the contract period. You may face discrimination when renting apartments — though, personally, I have never had that experience in Osaka. You often have to jump through hoops to get a loan from a bank, and credit cards from banks can be incredibly difficult to get as a foreigner.

Unless you get permanent residency, you may have to deal with many of these things for your entire time living in Japan.

Random fact: You can’t actually become Japanese unless you give up your original citizenship, because Japan does not allow dual citizenship for adults. Also, something I learned more recently is that people born in Japan to two non-Japanese parents are not automatically Japanese citizens. They still have foreign nationality rather than Japanese citizenship.

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3. Japan Will NOT Change to Accommodate You

Japan has its own unique culture and ways of doing things, and just because you are foreign does not mean it will change to accommodate you. Nor should you expect it to.

Foreigners are still outsiders in many ways, and telling people that something is wrong or that they should change an aspect of their culture is not always respectful. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. There are rules and regulations in place for a reason, so before getting up in arms and trying to change something, take a minute to ask why it is in place and try to understand it first.

Of course, there will still be things that make absolutely no sense to you. There are definitely things in Japan that I understand the reasoning behind and still find frustrating. But at least when you know the reason why, it becomes a little easier to navigate.

If it is too hard to do this and too hard to accept that things may not work the way you are used to, then Japan might not be the place for you.

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4. It’s Hard to Build Deeper Relationships with Japanese People — But Not Impossible

Japan is still a very homogenous country, and with that can come an automatic barrier between Japanese people and foreigners.

Now, not all Japanese people are like this, of course, but it is very common for foreigners to be approached by people who want to “learn English,” to become someone’s “token foreigner friend,” or to be kept at a certain distance simply because they are foreign. People may be nice and polite to you, but the relationship can stay at surface level or “drinking buddy” level and rarely go much deeper than that.

There is also the element of not knowing them for very long. I mention this because a LOT of Japanese people still have close relationships with friends from grade school, middle school, high school, or university that they continue to keep up with well into adulthood. As someone who comes into their life later, you may not be able to compete with that kind of history.

The final element is that Japanese people are just plain busy. Working in a Japanese company can mean long hours and not much time for rest, and days off can be all over the place depending on the job. A good majority of the time, people simply cannot meet up because of work obligations or exhaustion.

Now, it is not impossible to make friendships with Japanese people. Though most of my close friends here in Japan are not Japanese, I do have a handful of Japanese friends I can ask for advice or contact to hang out with. Also, when you work in a Japanese company, your coworkers can become decently close to you, so you may have a support network there too.

In the end, though, the reality is that the people I connect with most deeply tend to be my foreign friends, because they understand what I am going through, and I am most comfortable talking to them in my native language.

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5. Bureaucracy and Following Strict Procedures Are the Norm

There is hardly any bending the rules here, and you are always filling in some kind of inefficient paperwork.

Foreigners may come from countries where things feel more flexible or where the corporate structure is looser, but in Japan, when there is a rule set, that rule is going to be followed come hell or high water. The littlest things are checked down to the most minute detail, and corrections are made over and over again until everything is perfect.

Even when you go to a restaurant, it can still be rare to customize or substitute something in your meal. If you ask what is inside of something or ask to change it, you may get a blank stare from the staff because they simply cannot do it within the set procedure. Banks are a nightmare, with tons and tons of paperwork you have to fill out and very strict guidelines on how to fill it out. If you make a mistake, you may have to rewrite the entire thing all over again.

Despite being perceived as one of the most technologically advanced nations, Japan is still, in many ways, living in an era of paperwork, paper money, and ancient computer systems.

I include this point in particular because it is a HUGE reason some foreigners end up leaving Japan instead of staying for the long term. They cannot adapt to the procedures and some of the “ridiculous” bureaucracy, so eventually they go back to their home country. It can be quite annoying when it feels like you have to jump over hurdles all the time, and I do not blame people for deciding they have had enough.

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All in all, I love living in Japan, and I would not change it for the world, but there are some downsides to living here. What are your thoughts on these? Would any of these be deal breakers for you when it comes to living in Japan? Let me know in the comments below!

Updated May 2026 for Grammar and Context