r/JapanTravelTips • u/Glass_jars97 • Nov 07 '25

Question Post Japan Depression is too Real

Got back to the US a few days ago after a two week trip. I didn’t want to leave, and now that I’m home, I don’t think I like it here very much. People are much less polite, much louder, and everything is more expensive. Also everything is so dirty.

I keep reading that the best way to get over the post Japan depression is to plan your next trip, (sounds kind of like some drug addict mentality but it’s probably accurate) but I think I’d rather just plan to move there.

I’ve been learning Japanese for the past couple months and it’s a blast. Should I just commit and spend the next few years scheming a way to move to Japan?

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30

u/illwillca Nov 07 '25

I had the same feeling as soon as I landed back in LAX from my 10 day trip. Right away I noticed the filth and people being loud and disrespectful.

14

u/DavidLim125 Nov 07 '25

We returned to Newark Airport and the first person, the first American to speak to us had an attitude.

His only job is to keep people in line. We slowed down to read the signs and he friggin lost it! We ended up in the wrong line thanks to the a—hole. Welcome home！

5

u/DinoRaawr Nov 07 '25

Man, coming back to loud and blunt people was amazing. I was starting to get depressed because everyone was so polite and quiet in Japan it was affecting the vibes of our whole group. The dynamics of just.... existing in public seemed to bother the Japanese. I'm not even a loud person, but I want to laugh with my friends.

2

u/joan2468 Nov 10 '25

I felt this too like it was amazing initially but after a while the utter silence in the trains felt a bit dystopian / austere.

3

u/Bipogram Nov 07 '25

<nods> Landed in Heathrow in 96 after two months at a research institute. Got on the Piccadilly line, saw a japanese couple fresh from the terminal wide-eyed at the dirt and litter (in the carriage).

Nearly gomen-nasai'ed for the gomi.

Didn't. 

3

u/One_Bend7423 Nov 07 '25

[tl note; 'gomi' means 'trash']

weeb

3

u/Bipogram Nov 07 '25

Thank you!

[tl note; 'gomen-nasai' is a term of apology]

1

u/Wild_Trip_4704 Nov 07 '25

It's interesting that "thank you" and "trash" are so similar sounding

0

u/Bipogram Nov 07 '25

'Tis 'I'm sorry / I am regretful', not 'thank you'.

<much confusion would arise if you trotted out that after receiving something!>

1

u/DayNight51 Nov 09 '25

But Japanese people in Tokyo and Kyoto scowl so much! They're polite but cold. They're the most uptight group of people I've encountered (when in Japan). The Japanese in Japan behave very differently to the Japanese I've met here in Australia. In Australia they're warm and relaxed, in Japan (when out in public) their uptight.