Expand your social circle in Japan

Member since 30 May 2013

PriscillaViP09 June 2016 07:15:06

42358

Hello everyone,

Moving to Japan means leaving one's family and friends behind. Creating a circle of friends or joining an existing one should therefore be paramount in order to fight loneliness in your host country.

But how can one develop a social network in Japan? Where and how to meet people there?

How easy is it to meet locals? What about cultural specificities?

Share your advice and experience!

Many thanks in advance,

Priscilla

josephting Member

Member since 25 November 2013

josephtingMember13 June 2016 07:35:34

Socializing in Japan is really no different from any other countries. You just have to be aggressive. There are so many people around.

Other than that, there are also many events held to make new friends. There are many locals who are eager to meet foreigners.

Japanese are quite conservative so if you are aggressive, you will be on your way in no time.

Hansson Guest

HanssonGuest14 June 2016 04:23:56

I am in Japan usually once a month or once every couple of months, with my wife and two young children. We have good friends in Tokyo, Mishima, Osaka, Yokohama and Nagoya as well as a few scattered around this area. Many of our friends are business people, photographers and musicians and people in the music industry.

So for anyone who finds it difficult to find friends, it is very easy if you join groups or clubs where people have a similar interest. It could be a photography club or a handicraft club or a hiking group. We also always watch live Japanese bands play when we are in Japan and we are friends with many musicians as well as some of the fans of those bands. We meet up at different venues to see our favourite musicians perform.

But whenever we are in Japan we meet more and more friends and we keep in touch so that we can meet up every time we visit Japan.

So I agree that socializing in Japan is no different to any other country. People are friendly and generous and genuine. Remember, always bring a gift to give to your friends, they will usually do the same for you.