Jun 5, 2024
Loneliness and expat life
Something that seems to come in waves for me as an expat in Japan is loneliness. It's not an all the time thing – I have some great friends here, wonderful neighbors, and a sense of community. But there's still a feeling that I'm an outsider, to a degree, and I don't know that that will ever really dissipate.
I saw an article this morning which looked at Japanese nationals living abroad, with 45% of them reporting they dealt with feelings of loneliness. The most lonely Japanese nationals abroad were in Western Europe, with the least lonely Japanese nationals abroad concentrated in Africa.
Pic credit: Anthony Tran via Unsplash
The two main things that respondents mentioned that caused their loneliness were not knowing the local language (31.6% of respondents) and cultural gaps (27.9%).
I'd say those things are fairly in line with my own feelings of loneliness from time to time living here. I also think it can be amplified for me at certain times of the year, such as the winter months where it's so snowy all the time that it impedes a lot of activities (unless you want to be skiing or boarding all day) and the ability to interact with others.
Do you deal with feelings of loneliness as an expat in Japan? Have you tried to identify the core reasons behind those feelings?
2 Comments
JTsu
on Jun 5
Loneliness can be a constant for me, with some situations being more isolating than others. Sometimes it's the language barriers, sometimes cultural norms, and sometimes microaggressions from people who can't be bothered to listen when I do speak their language to them. It's also hard to make friends as an adult and not really easier as an expat with limited native vocabulary.
genkidesu
on Jun 6
@JTsu 100% agree that it's harder as an adult. My kids seem to make friends with any other kids their age, but I think as an adult we don't always have that 'repeat exposure' to people like we did back at school which I think makes those bonds easier to forge.