Day 127 of writing every day.
When it comes to Japan, many people have this fascination with Tokyo, the capital city. This feeling is shared both from within and without the Japan. I, for one, am not really interested in the overcrowded capital that’s known for jam-packed trains and denizens said to be cold and distant (at least from a Kansai perspective). Heck, they stand on the left side of the escalator when the norm here is to stand on the right in Osaka.
I don’t blame people who are drawn by the idea of a city landscape filled with neon lights at night and the hustle bustle making it feel like you’re where at the center of where everything is happening. FOMO draws young people here, if anything, and there seems to be an abundance of jobs since so many companies seem hell bent on putting all their eggs in one city. I for one wouldn’t want so many people and things to drain into Tokyo like things have been trending, from the perspective of national security.
However, it feels like I’m almost always faced with the question of if I’d consider jobs in Tokyo, which is home to a large majority of Japanese tech companies, and I’m assuming Japanese branches of foreign entities. So many people come from elsewhere to Tokyo it makes you wonder who the original Tokyoites are and who just moved in and decided to join the squeeze.
If I had just arrived in Japan and didn’t have a dojo that’s become my primary reason for staying in Osaka, then perhaps I’d consider the possibility of working in Tokyo, if only for a change of pace and the need to find a job that just isn’t present in Osaka. But I imagine even if I did go to Tokyo, I’d get sick of it and do a U-turn or I-turn. Such language is used to mean someone who left their hometown and decided to move back out after a while, either returning home or settling elsewhere that better fits their dream life.
I’ll just have to work hard and be smarter than the competition in Osaka to make it here. So, no thanks, Tokyo. I find my life in Osaka comfortable enough and I’m not planning on moving.
Thanks for reading!
One Chance Works 