Simple question, I'm thinking of going to Japan for 90 days. I have an ex-gf whose company paid for her to live there and she said everyone refused to speak English and she was kind of miserable. She was amazingly creative, pretty, really smart, and very ginger, but I can't tell if she experienced the xenophobia I've heard so much about first hand or if she expected a little too much while traveling.
I think it looks awesome, I've always done well smiling and nodding and pointing at things I need, and don't expect to be babied. However, this will be first big multi month trip as a full-on adult and the first time not even knowing the alphabet.
I can't skate the way I used to and I'm not as young as I used to be either. I know the local skaters aren't going to take me under their wing they had when I traveled in my 20s. I'm so used to this crutch when traveling, I'm not sure what to expect as a regular ass tourist/backpacker.
Definitely go man. Travelling (almost) anywhere is a valuable experience, to a degree. As someone who’s been to China, Japan and Korea for skating, I can say that I had the worst experiences with racism in China, and the most wholesome experiences in Korea. For Japan, I did have 2 encounters with racism, but at the end of the day, they were so minor/irrelevant, and could happen in any country. I think the whole Instagram doom scroll thing is making people blow shit that happens in Japan way out of proportion – Sila was pretty spot on saying it’s overblown. As Skatebeard said, just make an effort to learn basic Japanese, or at least just be a polite dude.
Not sure if you’re looking for recommendations, but Sapporo’s Nuggets skate shop is amazing. Most people go to Sapporo for snowboarding, so the skate scene there is real small, but a close and friendly community. The Nuggets shop is the owner’s house, and he’s in his 40s. Real chill and was super friendly – just beers and skating. A lot of the skaters in Osaka also seem to be older, so I’m sure they won’t mind your age much. I genuinely felt less judged there than in my actual hometown lol.
90 days is a crazy long time. Can’t even begin to imagine all the different places you could go. One thing I do want to advise you on though: out of all the countries I mentioned, I personally found the Japanese subway system the easiest to get confused with. Look, I’m sure it’s easy for some people, but my dumbass was constantly going the wrong way or having to quadruple check every stop name.
Topic: Japan (Read 52060 times)