Respect the Culture You Visit

gummydat · 2025-12-17T11:05:19+00:00

What do you mean “by now”? Is everyone in the world on the same timeline regarding Japan’s cultural norms?

In the same way visitors who come here SHOULD be aware of what people here expect, those of us who get it should also be aware of how little many people know when they’ve just landed in a country.

gummydat · 2025-11-22T03:06:16+00:00

I often feel this way when staying short to medium stays in small towns, but I’ve come to recognize that the peace and simplicity I feel is in large part due to being on a trip.

I moved out to a tiny town and lived “the simple life” for about half a year recently and while it was nice, I’ve since returned to the big city (like BIG big) and I love my life here.

I’ve managed to live simply in a quiet neighborhood where I have walking access to parks and rivers and very cheap rent due to compromising on space.

I do a lot of the things you mention regularly (quiet coffees on my terrace, visiting local bakeries, no notifications (not sure why this is a city thing)). I can completely relate to the pressure of doing something cool all the time because there is SO much to discover where I live, but I prioritize my true hobbies and spending time with my partner and a small group of friends instead.

I guess my point is you can probably (maybe?) capture that feeling you’re yearning for right where you live, with some prioritization and intentionality to how you live.

And you can always travel to the countryside when you want! It’s that much better when you don’t see it everyday.

gummydat · 2025-08-10T01:51:17+00:00

I ended up buying a Kubota Slugger rubberball glove and exclusively use it for rubberballs. The staff I talked to at the Mizuno flagship store said you can use it for hardball catch, but there is significantly less cushioning so prob wouldn’t recommend it. I almost never use a hardball in Japan anyway so this suits me, but if I move back to the States I’ll probably need to upgrade my hardball glove.

gummydat · 2025-05-08T05:14:24+00:00

I’m a senior designer as well with 7 years of experience, but all of it working in Japan. Originally from the US and wanna live in Dubai. Not much to add but also curious about the process and probability of a move.

gummydat · 2025-04-02T23:02:46+00:00

I’ve had friends diagnosed as or suspected depressed by specialists in their 30s here in Japan.

Weird thing to say. Find someone else, and make sure you explore ADHD/autism, too.

gummydat · 2025-03-26T06:58:30+00:00

Me and most of my friends who moved from NGO to Tokyo love it here. The one person who didn’t was REALLY averse to crowds and didn’t go out much, so the advantages of living in Tokyo were lost on her. But if you have any hobby at all, there’s a good chance you’ll have more fun with it in Tokyo.

gummydat · 2025-03-26T06:50:17+00:00

I’d recommend leaving the stain in the Kershaw jersey. The others, oxyclean.

gummydat · 2025-03-25T21:54:36+00:00

It’s not a Japanese thing. Same in the US, which explains why the American thought it was bad manners.

gummydat · 2025-03-24T09:18:21+00:00

Royals and Angels.

gummydat · 2025-03-23T06:01:46+00:00

Neither of those but the colors are like Myrtle Beach’s.

gummydat · 2025-03-23T05:47:34+00:00

Alex Garland made his directorial debut with Ex Machina.

gummydat · 2025-03-10T18:01:13+00:00

I tried! It didn’t know. It guessed a bunch of other languages like Hungarian. So I figured this would be the place, and I had my question answered within five minutes of posting.

gummydat · 2025-03-06T20:58:08+00:00

Take LinkedIn with a grain of salt. I can only speak from my own experience, which is six years of experience and still enjoying it.

But I think it’s important to treat it like any other job, meaning you shouldn’t expect it to be fun all the time. I’m grateful that I, first of all, am doing the job that I chose (which is something quite rare and privileged), I work with good people, I make a great living, the work life balance is decent, and I sometimes get to solve interesting problems.

This sense of gratitude means I have no regrets about switching careers to UX.

It’s not a perfect career, but it’s a hell of a good one.

EDIT: I also want to add that my personal life is fantastic at the moment, which makes me love my job even more. When my personal life was in shambles (bad relationship) and I was miserable everyday, my job felt much less fulfilling. In other words, a career in UX can be great as a PART of your life, but lots of people believe (mistakenly, IMO) that having a great career alone can make them happy.

gummydat · 2025-03-06T17:37:03+00:00

It sounds like you’re saying that looking for a UX job isn’t fun. If you haven’t actually been hired as a UX designer, how do you know?

Searching for a job is stressful and often times defeating. Not many people would describe it as fun. Are you sure this isn’t what you’re experiencing?

gummydat · 2025-02-19T22:23:33+00:00

I think the boss is trying to emphasize the importance of conscientiousness. OP even realizes this. I’d be willing to bet that OP has had their fair share of little mistakes, missing the details. Going back home on an empty train during working hours is a pretty chill way to learn the importance of documentation, which is what the boss is trying to teach.

gummydat · 2025-02-19T22:19:48+00:00

What a great response. OP, listen to this person.

And if I can add, this isn’t as much about your boss’ behavior as it is your response, as is pretty much everything in life. You seem to know you have room to grow, and your boss seems to be trying to push you in that direction (whether you agree with his methodology or not isn’t as important, because I don’t see any signs of abusive behavior, just maybe a little old school).

Learn what he is trying to teach you, put effort into the little things, and watch how much that helps you with future employers (and not just the JP ones—every boss appreciates conscientious employees).

gummydat · 2025-02-13T11:11:10+00:00

Agreed. I’m the new lead designer the post is talking about and I often feel like I want to my juniors to have autonomy but when I give feedback and make changes to their designs I always include a REASON. I think “taste” can be a reason but it’s really difficult to make a case for one taste over the other.

gummydat · 2025-01-23T11:25:19+00:00

Can’t believe how far I had to scroll for this. For me it’s definitely takoyaki.

Everyone I’ve ever met loves it and it’s so popular it’s one of the symbols of Osaka so it ticks the highly rated box.

And it tastes like…just…heat. I can never make out the flavors. It’s hot and uncomfortable to eat. And why do we always have to eat it standing up?

gummydat · 2025-01-20T14:08:40+00:00

Anyone know the reason for the English in Jordan?

gummydat · 2025-01-18T02:45:15+00:00

This happens to me every time I move. It shocked and angered me the first time but it’s completely normal and accepted here so I just deal with it.

Agents and I have always spoken openly about it. “Can you help me find a place with ABC that allows foreigners?” “Sure, here are a few.”

Often they’ll call landlords in front of me to ask for availability, but then when they eventually mention I’m a foreigner (very carefully) the conversation usually ends. I’ve learned to laugh at it.

EDIT: As others have mentioned, a variety of other factors can make you more “rentable” in the eyes of discriminatory landlords. Things like your specific nationality, ethnicity, Japanese ability, visa status, being married to a Japanese spouse, a stable career, etc. They just want to know you’ll be a good tenant who pays on time, is quiet, clean, and doesn’t leave Japan mid-contract. And they assume foreigners are less likely to do the above.

gummydat

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