“Why Japan?”

That’s usually one of the first things people ask me when I tell them I’m moving.  And I have to admit, it is a bit of a random thing to do.  Why not go back to my cultural roots, to Trinidad or even somewhere in Africa? Well, there a few reasons that I decided to move to Japan:

• I want to be somewhere that’s exotic to me. I want the challenge of immersing myself in a culture that’s completely foreign.
• Maybe I’m having a quater-life crisis and I feel like I have to do something “crazy” before it’s time to settle down.
• Travelling is a great way to gain a new perspective.
• I want to be a travel writer, and living in Japan will be a good way to gain material for articles.
• I want to have an adventure.

But most of all, I’ve always been fascinated by Japan, because sometimes Japan is like a  bright, busy comic book come to life.

It’s one of the most quirkily creative places in the world. And other times it’s a steadfast pillar of beautiful tradition.

I know Japan, like every where else in the world, has it’s issues. For example, from what I’ve read a bar can have a “no foreigners allowed” sign and no one will think twice about whether it’s wrong to discriminate that way, the reasoning being that Japan has traditionally been a homogenous society. However this attitude is changing, and I think my time in Japan will be as fun or as frustrating as I make it.

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