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Japan Will Not Make You Happy
And neither will any country, travel, or experience in themselves
“Wherever you go, there you are — the same person, with the same patterns of thought.” (Marcus Aurelius in The Meditations)
This is not only about Japan. Replace Japan with France, or going to college, or getting married; the same ideas can apply to all of that.
I want to share my experience of living in Japan for 12 years and the idea that “moving to another country will make you happy.”
Spoiler: it won’t.
I will also go into how I have found happiness and a thriving life in Japan by focusing on purpose instead.
Dream Land
I started my love affair with Japan back in college when I watched The Last Samurai. The romantic ideas of samurai honor, writing haiku about cherry blossoms and the brevity of life, living in a rural village, all swept me up.
From there, I studied the language and eventually moved to Japan as an English teacher when I was 28.
I never thought as plainly: Japan will make me happy.
But I did feel it.
I assumed I’d pick up on some special vibe of inner peace while living out in the rice fields. I’d date…
