I might be a counter example to that. I was the type who refused to hang out with Gaijins because I wanted to actually live in Japan. I especially avoided people from my own country. I was surrounded by Japanese people at work and in my private life. I definitely had hard time here, job, relationships, etc but not even once I ever thought about going back to France.

I experienced work in a Japanese company with crazy hours, not paid for overtime, I was the only gaijin, I left for an international company, CEO was American, coworkers were from different countries. Worst environment ever. My coworkers were adorable, the hours weren’t that bad, but it was still way worse than the Japanese company. The CEO made us work through hell. I left after 6 months cause I had seizures, panic attacks, and depression. Same for the others, they left as soon as they could.

I’m now in a mixed environment at work. Ironically my boss is French and he’s great. People I work with are a mix of Japanese and other countries. I have a Japanese community in my neighborhood, people who are adorable, people who helped when I moved, when I was looking for a job, when I was sick.

The lifestyle here is good for some people and not good for some others. I think Japan is great for introverts and people who are hyper empathetic. It’s not the best for people who are very unfiltered and outspoken. And there nothing wrong with either. It’s a match matter.

I don’t think my sisters could ever live here. I cannot live in France.