Comments by "Jordan, inside-outsider in Japan" (@Jordan-inJapan) on "What’s Dating like in Japan for Foreign men ?" video.

I agree with the point that the communication style generally used by Japanese people can make having an intimate relationship with them difficult for non-Japanese people. Not only is it less common for people here to talk about their feelings openly, there is also an assumption that we are able to ‘read’ the emotions or even wishes of our close friends or romantic partners. This can be frustrating for both parties involved. (Personal experience!) That said, in most cases I’ve known where relationships didn’t work out, it actually had more to do with lack of language skill than anything cultural. Well, I’ve been married to a Japanese woman for the last 15 years, so I guess I’m getting the hang of it! 😆
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@Ashi20-q4s Can’t complain. 😆 Nation-level cultural differences aside, our ‘family cultures’ are actually pretty similar, so I think that’s made it easier.
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@PerryKobalt ah, I didn’t mean “culture” like that of a specific country or ethnic group or anything like that. Just that my wife’s parents have a lot in common with mine, as far as values, interests, etc. So even though my own cultural background is Euro-Canadian, it wasn’t all that hard to integrate myself into a Japanese family… since that particular family just kind of ‘made sense’ and felt familiar to me. (I hope I’M making sense...😆)
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@Tonixxy 😂 I did not expect to get this question here. But fair enough… This is an over-generalization, but it’s based on an element of truth. The old joke is that ‘if you want a sex life after having kids, you just have to have an affair. (Or pay for it.) Sexual attraction / romantic feelings are seen as natural for young people and newly-weds. But 10 years later it would have been seen as kind of embarrassing and over-indulgent. “If you have that much energy left after work, then you aren’t working hard enough.” There isn’t really any positive (traditional) cultural image of a romantically engaged ‘married with children’ couple. I mean, they would be portrayed as eccentric weirdos in a movie. BUT guess what, younger Japanese people watch Netflix. And guess what, they want to enjoy their lives too. So yeah, people’s expectations of what a marriage is have been shifting for a while. (Lucky for me. 😆)
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@Ashi20-q4s Thank you so much. All the best to you too!
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@OatmealTheCrazy I know I know.😂
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@lukelim5094 Nope, just normal “hard” mode. 😆
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I was wondering the same thing.
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@Bunnybananabunny Thank you so much! 🍻
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