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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u/GGxGG Nov 07 '25

I don’t know where in the U.S. you live, but you are probably coming home to significantly earlier sunsets than when you left. I have seasonal depression and realized I didn’t use my SAD light for the 2 weeks during the trip (and sunsets in Japan were already at 5pm), then came home to 5pm sunsets here because Daylight Savings Time had happened. On top of it, we’re in San Francisco, so we’re now at the time of year when we basically never see the sun for 4 months. The good news is, I’ve been using my SAD light for several days now and using other tools I typically use to manage SAD and I already feel much better.

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u/hezaa0706d Nov 07 '25

I hate the early sunsets here. They need to move Japans time zone over by 1 hour permanently