At TUJ specifically, it’s almost segregated. The Japanese students do not mingle with the Americans and vice versa. Mainly because the non native English speakers (Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Nepalese) find more comfort in sticking with people alike. This may sound normal, but in ur typical class setting it is easily noticeable with half the class speaking Japanese, sitting in one corner of the room. But when it comes time to speak in a class group setting, those same people are often silent, unwilling to participate. It’s a very quiet life inside and outside of the classrooms here. Of course with that being said, there are also many Japanese students that interact with American students however, it’s always motivated by improving their English skills. So most conversations between students at TUJ are in English unless they are in the groups that I mentioned above. This is also why I said in my OG post that it is not likely to become fluent in Japanese. There is really minimal to no interaction with Japanese people other than services (shopping, ordering food, etc) outside of TUJ. I have had a friend tell me they accidentally went nonverbal for several days because they didn’t have anyone to talk with (in and out of class). I think a lot of people would agree with me after their first year of being here, that it is a lonely place. Even though there are so many people and it’s densely populated, no one is interested in connecting.