Things to Learn From Japan

Top Things I learned in Japan

(not including everything and in no particular order)

1)       Never insult someone’s accent if they are speaking your language

I find this embarrassing when I see it.  I personally am only fluent in English.  I can understand other languages and briefly reply, but no way can I fully communicate in another language.  I would love to have that ability, but unfortunately I do not. If you ever have the privilege of meeting someone who is speaking to you in your native language, don’t make fun of how they talk.  Do you want them to speak to you in their language that you understand instead?  

2)       Work Smarter not harder

Japan, in my opinion does work harder not smarter.  In my experience, they work 15+ hour days and only see their families on the weekends. This could be inaccurate for everyone, but it was what I experienced. This broke my heart to know it is part of the lifestyle there. I would leave my house at 6/7am everyday and not get home until 9/10pm.  This is not how people should live.  Work life balance is so important.  Your whole life shouldn’t be about work. No one should live to work.

3)       Your employer can replace you tomorrow – don’t put your life into work

Unless you have your own business and are working for yourself DO NOT make work your life.  A corporate job will never make you rich or truly happy. Make sure you take time to do your favorite things, visit your family, see your friends and do genuine things that make your life rich and happy outside of work.  If you died today your employer would be able to replace you within a short period of time. Don’t let work take over your life.  You have so much more to offer in the world and there are infinite other things you can do and accomplish.   

4)       Being nice will get you farther than being mean

One thing that I did notice about Japan is that everyone is very nice.  Never did I ever get scoffed at, eyed down, or yelled at.  In my experience, everyone is very sweet and helpful.  I think the world needs to follow that example.  Japan isn’t about suing each other at every chance, screwing each other over for their own personal gain, or really anything malicious (for the most part – in my experience).  I felt like everyone wanted to help each other.  I am sure there are instances where this isn’t true, but during my time in Japan I never felt or saw negative energy.  

5)       Healthy diet healthy life

Japan’s food is very fresh and healthy (for the most part).  The food I did try was very fresh and seemed healthy. 

The Japanese lifestyle is also very healthy.  People walk around a lot and don’t spend all their time on social media or TV.  That was such a liberating feeling coming from USA where everyone is so obsessed with numbers and how relevant you are on social media. It is important to take mental health days and step away from that every so often. Japan is very mentally and physically healthy. They focus a lot on their health, and that is the most important think you will ever have. Take care of it.

6)       Anything you want in life you can do alone

I have always lived by this philosophy, but accomplishing what I did in Japan as well as the months after showed me that you don’t actually need anyone.  Yes, it is nice, but life is so much sweeter when you can do something on your own.  You also don’t need any help from others to accomplish your goals. yes, it makes life a LOT easier to work together, but it is not necessary. Everything you have ever wanted you can get alone – don’t make excuses as to why you cannot.

7)       Take time with your family

This goes along with #3, but don’t ever take being around your family for granted.  A lot of people don’t have the privilege of having a good family or seeing theirs more than once a week.  If you have this privilege cherish it while you can.  You never know what tomorrow can bring.

8)       Try new things!!

This is something that I follow in all walks of my life, but going to Japan and experiencing what I did it showed me to never not try something. I have always lived with the philosophy “I will try anything once” and I think I will for the rest of my life (within reason) I will continue to live by that. Japan has given me THE MOST impactful experiences I have ever gotten abroad and as much as I may have hated it while I was going through it I guess I’ll say Thanks (ish) Japan. 

9)       Don’t take your life for granted

Not going to lie, my time in Japan made me cry almost every single day and become depressed for the first time in my life.  This definitely had to do with some things outside of just being in Japan, but the culture, being 100% alone, not speaking the language, having a hard time meeting people, and so much more DID NOT HELP.   Take time to appreciate what you have in your life now. You may not be fully satisfied with your current life, but there is something in every day that you can be thankful for.

10)    Don’t focus on the bad

A lot of the times when something bad happens to us we dwell on the negative and think “Ah man why did that happen when something better could have happened instead?”  Well truth is bad things are inevitable.  If nothing bad ever happened you would turn into a very boring person. If nothing bad ever happened in your life you wouldn’t ever appreciate the good things.

11)    Bad experiences build character

Can you imagine living a life where nothing bad ever happened?  Sounds great right…but is it?  What if everything you ever wanted happened in a positive way all the time?  You never experienced anything bad?  No hardship, no liars, no heartbreak, no loss, no rock bottom?  Yes, you don’t want to JUST experience the bad, but bad things make the good things so much better.  I hope everyone reading this all has more good in their lives than bad, but you can’t live your life with only good.  If you do you are probably a very boring sheltered and unevolved person. 

12)    You can learn something from anyone.

I say this about anywhere and anything, and it is always true.  You can learn something from absolutely everyone you ever meet.  It is NOT always a good lesson, but you will learn from it. 

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Thanks for taking the time to read my insight on what I learned during my time living in Japan. It was my most impactful trip of my life, and I will forever cherish it. I have a lot more to come about this country, but since I just came out with a song I wrote about this country I thought I would share a little but of insight on where I got my inspiration from.

If you are interested in listening you can here to We’ll Never Know. Thanks! I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed making it!!

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I also hope this list of things I learned in Japan inspired you in some way. Everything on this list can be interpreted anytime and anywhere in life. You don’t have to travel or be in Japan to experience any of these. You can learn anything from anywhere.

Which bullet resonated the most with you? What is something you learned from one of these points? Have you ever been to Japan? What did you learn while there?

I continue to learn everyday, and traveling makes my learning experience even greater. Traveling is so important in anyone’s life because it will show you things and help you experience life events you will never be able to get if you stay in your hometown forever. Get out into the world and try something new.