Regarding Japan's less savory side, [Shogo on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/c/LetsaskShogoYourJapanesefriendinKy...) seems to be fairly measured and insightful in his videos on "Japanese traditional culture, tips on traveling to Kyoto, and social problems in Japan". Though they're only one viewpoint so take it with appropriate caveats.

I'm absolutely no authority but I get the feeling that Japan is a great place to live if you fit into one of the traditional societal roles, but otherwise can be very alienating. Luckily for the gaijin amongst us, one of those roles is "polite tourist", so expect to be welcomed and treated very well. Just don't expect the same wonderful experiences to continue if you try to put down roots.

> Just don't expect the same wonderful experiences to continue if you try to put down roots.

Eh? It’s still a very nice country if you put down roots. It’s certainly one of the best countries in terms of social cohesion/structure.

Japan doesn’t cease to amaze me even after 10 years.

Today I was put on a sort of medical gyroscope and made to drink burp and glowjuice as part of a yearly medical checkup, after which the guy proceeded to yell instructions at me in half broken english, while he presumably took multiple x-rays of my stomach and throat. I didn’t even know this existed, but apparently all men 35 and older do it once a year as a matter of course.

To balance that, Japanese people have a fairly different idea of what constitutes ‘normal’, and that is hard to get used to. For example, everyone considers me a deviant for just wanting to start my day with cereal and milk, and not wanting to eat a (warm!) multi-course meal for breakfast.

> everyone considers me a deviant for just wanting to start my day with cereal and milk

My ideas about breakfast were turned on their head many years ago when a German friend (his typical breakfast: rye bread, cheese, cured ham) remarked that he "can't understand how you can bear to eat sweet food first thing in the morning".

I suppose most of the world's breakfast traditions evolved from whatever is left over from the previous night's dinner. The idea of a custom synthetic breakfast food is quite an American thing.

In India we usually cook fresh breakfast food and it is mostly savory/spicy food.

tbf in most Indian urban homes going back even a few decades, we mostly just ate leftovers for breakfast before rushing off to school.

I stayed alone in Munich once at was blown away at the amazing variety of meats and cheeses and bread and crackers at what was, fairly, just about the cheapest hotel in town.

I've lived in japan for 5 years and your post strongly resonated with my experience. Japanese are generally very polite and educated. You will be treated very well if you are a tourist, but expect to feel alienated if you actually live there. Basically impossible to make friends if you live away from the big cities. At most, you'll have some work acquaintances that reach to you when they need something.

I was a huge sucker for Japanese culture and stuff but after living there and experiencing feeling so lonely and alienated by their culture and their world view (being treated like a nuisance that's coming into their country to disrupt their jobs or "take their girls") it totally fizzled out for me.

Studio Ghibli's films sure opened my eyes to the beauty of Japan's country-side and sea-side towns. I would like to visit some of them some day, if/whenever that becomes possible.

Miyazaki seldom based a movie location on any single real-world place, though. They are always combinations of several places.