Changing Horses in Mid-Stream: Moving from California to Japan

After 45 years of living in the San Francisco Bay Area, 22 of them married to a Japanese woman,  Ikuko and I decided to sell our home and move to Japan. We hatched this notion some 7 years ago and after much work prepping our house for sale. jettisoning a lifetime's accumulation of 'stuff' we no longer needed and overcoming a 2-year delay, primarily covid, we finally made our goal a reality.

The purpose of this online journal (I never liked the word 'blog'. To my ears it's onomatopoeic for the sound one makes when projectile vomiting after a bought of Olympic-level drinking, but I digress) is to share with loved ones not so much day to day activities but my impressions of life in Japan from the point of view of a 'gaijin', which literally translates to 'outsider'. So, I will start at the airport...

We arrived at Narita, Japan's main international airport, on 7 July at 1440 (Japan typically uses the 24-hour clock) Thursday afternoon Japan time. Over the last 22 years, I've flown into Narita 11 times. Every time it has been a hive of comings and goings and so was quite busy and always crowded. Not so this time. It seemed to me our flight was the only arrival and so entry and immigration were comparably a cakewalk though with some differences from previous visits. First of all, we had to pass through a gauntlet of airport personnel checking our covid testing status (we needed to test negative 72 hours prior to departure and show proof thereof upon arrival). Almost none of the personnel were Japanese; they were all gaijins, mostly eastern Europeans from what I could see. Previously all airport staff had been Japanese. Once we had passed through entry and immigration and entered the Nartita's main concourse, I was quite surprised to see the area almost bereft of people. It seemed eerily ghostly to me compared to my previous experiences. Gone were the kiosks for booking accommodations for buses traveling south to Tokyo, as well as the shops selling food and drink to patrons. The covid restrictions certainly have had an impact. I imagine once the country is fully open to tourists, hopefully soon, then the airport will return to the hustle and bustle it has always known.

So now the transition has begun. As of today, 16 July, we have been in Japan for 9 days and the feeling of actually living here hasn't fully set in yet. I still feel like I'm on holiday, with some exceptions. Stay tuned...


Comments

mudbox said…
I'd be interested to see how prevalent the use of gaijin workers, as you saw at airport, has become. My sense was that Japan had discouraged immigration for support work, unlike USA's reliance on our latinx neighbors for less conventionally desirable work. Looking forward to your updates. All best to you and Iku-san.
July 16, 2022 at 7:40 PM
Kurisu aka Chris said…
I'll let you know about that. There was at least one young women at the hotel in Narita we stayed on our first night who was not Japanese. Since then I have not seen any other gaijin workers. In fact, gaijins like me are few on the ground around here. Once we move on to Yokohama next week I expect I'll see more.
July 17, 2022 at 8:27 AM
Marisol Maddox said…
Interesting! I am surprised to hear the airport personnel were mostly Eastern European! That, and my dad's question, are making me want to check out Japan's immigration stats!
August 11, 2022 at 7:10 AM
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