Introduction
We will move abroad in 2025.
Originally, I had no interest in going abroad and had always planned to spend my entire life in Japan.
What kind of life style did I lead, why did I become interested in foreign countries, and why did I decide to emigrate?
I will write about how I feel now.
Teens and 20s who were conscious of being “normal”
In middle school and high school, I couldn’t communicate well and was bullied.
So I tried to keep a low profile.
When I fit in with my surroundings, I didn’t get bullied that much anymore. From there, I became conscious of being normal.
I was able to be buried when I was with the others.
I graduated from a public high school and went to college as my parents told me to.
I went to college because that is what everyone around me was doing, so it was natural for me to go on to higher education, and I could not think of any other option.
Influenced by my father, he told me, “Get a job that will never go away,” and I thought, “That’s a good idea.
At the time, my father was undertaking construction-related work for the government, and he seemed to think that such work would never disappear, even in this day and age.
For me, a job that would never go away, I became interested in environmental issues such as global warming as something that would “keep changing,” and I went on to college.
My father told me to go to work for a big, stable company, and I agreed, so I got a job at a major company in that industry.
I was so determined not to break the atmosphere at the weekly drinking parties that I always went along with those around me instead of expressing my own opinions.
I always went along with the people around me instead of expressing my own opinion because it was easier and less friction.
That life was “normal” for me for a long time.
Mid thirties, when “I made up my mind” and took action.
While there were several turning points in my life, I myself, like the majority of people in the world, continued to lead a life on rails.
I graduated from high school, went to college, and got a job at a decent company.
After that, I went back and forth between work and home, and on weekends, I enjoyed road biking and playing Mon-Hun. The routine repeated itself.
I don’t think about whether my current way of life is fun or boring.
It was just a sense that the daily routine was passing by without a hitch.
As this continued, he realized that he had not been able to give meaning to his life, which consisted of simply following his parents’ words, doing the work the company contracted him to do, and doing what his boss told him to do.
Working overtime until late at night, working sideways on jobs that came in, drinking and entertaining on social occasions, and recovering on the weekends.
I don’t like it.
I’m not having fun.
So “I want to change something.”
But I couldn’t come up with anything.
Because I had never made my own decisions before.
I would ask my parents, friends, or people at work, and they would say, “Because that person said so,” and I would always stand around so that I could blame others for the decisions I seemed to be making.
First, we need to be able to think for ourselves.
Then, let’s acquire the ability to think creatively. I decided to do so and took action.
Looking back, this was probably the first moment I decided on my own.
From then on, I joined and left various communities, tried new things, and was a three-day kid.
It was all of those things.
About six months later, I saw a call for applications on Facebook for “Join us in planning the Creative Grand Year-End Party.” I participated in the event.
I spoke for only 30 seconds, and after that, I became busy with work and we drifted apart.
A month later, I received a call from the organizer.
You’ve been chosen as the moderator.
This guy is screwed up.
That’s what I thought.
Isn’t it crazy to ask a complete stranger, someone you’ve only had a 30-second conversation with, to do the job?
Let’s sort it out before we decide, says my old self, there’s someone else who’s more qualified.
There is nothing but anxiety.
I don’t even know the people around me.
But I was thinking at the time, “If I don’t change something, I will never be able to change.
So, freaking out, I said, 「I’ll do it.」
In my late 30s, I started with “I want to do it” and met a lot of things.
Since then, I have had the opportunity to meet many people.
In addition, I toured all over Japan. (For more information, click here.)
I learned that there are many interesting places in Japan.
I meet people who become politicians because they want to run the world.
I was caught in a magnitude 6 earthquake and experienced the sirens.
I did DIY, painted, and got free lodging.
Harvesting ponkan (ponkan citrus fruit) and making sweets.
Learning about Ainu culture.
Feeling the future in cow dung.
Holding tuna.
Wandering the icy dark roads of midwinter alone.
Working in Mt. Aso.
I went to a sauna and a mysterious bar for the first time.
I felt that Japan was interesting and full of things I didn’t know.
While doing so, I had the opportunity to meet backpackers.
They have traveled a lot overseas, and their stories are so true that they seem to be lies.
I found myself excited by their stories.
I was not interested in going abroad, and more importantly, I thought it was dangerous, even though I had never even been there.
But the more I listened to their stories, the more I enjoyed them, and the more my thinking changed.
What the public would call a failure experience became a funny story when I heard from these people.
I was laughing too.
I want to see, walk, touch and experience for myself.
Even Japan is so interesting.
He immediately took the ticket and went abroad.
My first time abroad, my first word was “Nedved.
I remember the look on their faces when they said, “Oh my God, a Japanese has arrived.
It made my heart sweat, but it was fun.
Everything started with “I want to do it,” and meaning was an afterthought.
“My Place” and the Future
“Why do you live there? Why Japan?”
Because I was born in Japan. Because I moved for employment. I think there are many people like that.
I am one of them.
It’s not that bad.
But surely it would be more fun to be able to choose your own place in the world.
We are not bound by anything, nor do we have to put up with anything, but we can make our own decisions and live our lives.
If we have a wider margin of freedom to choose our lifestyle, we will be more free.
Anywhere you want
Any time you want.
Do what you want.
With the people you love.
That’s my place.
I do not believe it is tied to a physical location.
Then why not in Japan?
I sometimes think, “If that’s the case, why don’t I just live in Japan?
My parents tell me how hard it is, how dangerous it is, how expensive it is, what are you going to do when you get old?
What are they going to do when they get old? A lot.
But I’m looking forward to all those hassles.
I am sure that there will be many cultural and language differences between Japan and living abroad.
You might make a lot of mistakes.
But it would be cool to imagine them talking about it in a funny way when they become grandfathers. I think it’s cool.
If we could live anywhere beyond borders and language barriers, the world would be a much more enjoyable place to live!
Maybe they move abroad just to say that.
Reasons are like that.
I want to be active globally, I want to be able to speak English, and all that kind of thing, but it’s just a byproduct.
I just want to be a person who is practicing, that’s all.
I’m clumsier than everyone else.
So,
You have to act for now,
I try to take care of how I feel at the time.
in the end
Staying still won’t change anything.
Lamenting about someone or something will not change your life.
Then, you should take the plunge.
It would be fun to be myself, able to live anywhere.
And while talking to myself, I think back to the present, a year later, and paint it.
