Why I Almost Gave Up Living in Japan Though I’m Half Japanese
And how I survived a challenging year
My name is Federica and I am 22. I moved from Italy to Tokyo in November 2021.
Over this past year, I went from feeling like things were happening too quickly, leaving me out of control, to feeling like I was choosing the life I wanted for myself.
Being half Japanese and half Italian, I experienced Japanese culture growing up, so I expected to have an easier time living here than I actually did. After only 6 months, I was ready to give up on Tokyo.
What are the reasons? Let me start from the beginning of my journey, giving you the reasons why I moved to Japan, and Tokyo in particular, before explaining how I overcame adversity.
Why I moved to Tokyo
My main reason for moving here was that I did not know what to do with myself after graduation (especially graduating from a little-known academic field of Online Culture). Since I had family in the country, I wanted to live in Japan for at least a year to see what it was like.
My intention was to have a year of exploration that would hopefully give me answers…
