Freedom to move, neighbors and local areas

Tatami has a strange smell. Most of the locals I talk to love it. I don’t mind it but I wonder if I’ll get tired of it.

We are finally moved in to our new place and it’s nice to be able to move around and stretch my arms freely…finally.

It’s still quite a small place so we are trying to add as little furniture as possible and we even took out the sliding doors that separate the kitchen just to give it a spacier feel to it.

I don’t exactly love having to duck every time I pass through a doorway. I’m always worried I’m going to hit my head, but we have a window…a big window and a balcony!

Our neighbors seem to be half older (widowed?) women, we hadn’t seen much of anyone else until yesterday. I saw one couple in their 20’s who look like they like to drink and a ywoman in her early 30’s. The walls are thick here, much more so than older houses, but the floor seems to make sounds downstairs if we stomp around. I guess I will have to be careful what exercise I do here.

I’ll probably get away with playing guitar in the afternoon but nighttime will likely get reported.

There is a massive difference in dealing with neighbors between rural Japan and Tokyo. In the countryside, it’s commonplace to greet your new neighbors and make friends or at least be friendly. The old tradition was to bring long noodles as a gift for a long relationship.

In Tokyo if you knock on your neighbors door they will likely hide and pretend not to be home. People tend not to have guests over because the walls are often thin and most people separate their private (home) life, social life and work life entirely.

We specifically chose a place with thick walls and as I mentioned, we live in the punk rock/subculture capital of Tokyo because it’s easy to make friends and feel connected.

People are still pretty shy with their neighbors. I haven’t knocked on any doors yet, though I thought about it. I might try.

In the hallways so far, half tNohe people I run into respond to a greeting with an automated response. It reminds me of high school kids who are told to greet their teachers and do so to avoid getting in trouble. Some others wouldn’t make eye contact and just nodded.

I’m not sure which is better though, in America, you get all kinds of neighbors and sometimes they can be friendly to the point where you lose some privacy or they could be even less friendly than the average Tokyo neighbor, and sometimes really inconsiderate…than there are some really really nice neighbors.

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Not my neighborhood but there’s an alleyway about 2 minutes away that looks just like this

I’m always quite satisfied with my neighborhood. Whenever I move to a new city I look for unique areas that are where artists and unique people gather because it always makes it easier to meet friends.

The only thing I wish we had more of was healthy local food. Traditional food in Japan is so healthy but these days ramen and local fast food is more common and our area is popular for drinking so most of the food food is at bars. I rarely drink alcohol and it’s a little rude to go to those places and only order food (the profit margin on food is tiny compared to drinks) so we eat mostly Vietnamese, Thai, and one or two chain restaurants (even though I really really prefer local). At the chains I get a fried fish set with pickles rice and miso soup, or sometimes miso pork and eggplant.

If you have any questions about life in Tokyo feel free to ask. I’m not a local obviously but I’ve spent a lot of time here and have a lot to compare it to

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Did you paint the interior of your house white? I heard it makes it feel more spacious.

I love how you chose your neighborhood so you could make friends because when house hunting, I always try to find places with the least humans 😆

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You can't paint an apartment that you rent for the most part, only a tiny percentage of places will let you do that, but our walls are already a white beige color I think.

It's funny. I only wanted to live here cause I like the feel and I can make friends but now I barely go out

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Oh, here we are allowed to paint our interior.

You should go out more since that is the reason you wanted the house.

What do they say, "you only live once" right.

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Once my back is a little better, I'll go out more often, although I am really busy building the business, writing novels, blogging and doing other community stuff online.

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Congratulations on the move! I remember when I moved in here my wife baked some banana cake and we took to the immediate neighbours. Some of them have been really nice since and others still keep their distance. I can understand, it might be weird for them to have gaijin neighbours. I just try to be nice and go about my day!

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Perhaps some of them didn't like banana bread ;^)

how is that even possible?

It's a nice gesture of your wife though :^)

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I think neighbors are always pretty weird, gaijin or not. People have way more quirks than they are willing to admit, especially here where everyone pretends to be normal

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Finally, Good to hear that you've settled down, Me listening to your Tokyo stories makes me wanna add Tokyo to my (Life dream visit places).

In Tokyo if you knock on your neighbors door they will likely hide and pretend not to be home

I couldn't resist the temptation to add that this is another similarity to Tokyo and my homeland.
Ours is that we send our kids to tell anyone at the door that their parents are not at home.

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Hahaha I can really imagine that.

Let me know if you ever plan on visiting. I'll try to show you stuff nobody else will 🙃

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I’m not sure which is better though, in America, you get all kinds of neighbors and sometimes they can be friendly to the point where you lose some privacy

I thought this only happened in the movies. Truth is, while I wouldn't prefer the Japanese way of solitudeness or a little or mild hostility towards their neighbours I think I'll rather prefer an equilibrium: be friendly to your neighbours but do not infringe or their privacy, or study what or how they truly want to be treated. It's of course very good to study people in other to seriously know them because this is how you're going to end up relating to them. In Nigeria however, you'll obviously get away with any type of noise or nuisance you constitute because the system is not even working well to check these excesses.


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My neighborhood is pretty balanced but it's not the norm. In America it's just rolling a dice. You can run into absolutely anything.

Before I came back to Japan I was often woken up by brass bands playing chaotic music as part of a funeral....it was the loudest sound I've ever heard

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You finally made it to your new place, a least a little peace of mind can be experienced.

I'll never fully understand the cultures of the japanese but I indeed fancy the long noodles idea, would be a great way to connect with your neighbor.

In Tokyo if you knock on your neighbors door they will likely hide and pretend not to be home. People tend not to have guests over because the walls are often thin and most people separate their private (home) life, social life and work life entirely.

Wow, they're more and more things I can't understand, haha. Why do they hide?..is there something against relating with one another?..well I know most of this countries have strict laws so it's better to be careful.

Haaa, they'll surely want to sell off their alcohol and make cool money, I mostly see it happen in movies where they tend to drink alcohol with their food, now I know they do it real life.

Thank you for sharing more about your environment.

Hope you settle in well my friend 😌

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It's mostly about privacy. People really value their own privacy and try to respect each other's privacy.

One reason is that there is a lot of social pressure here and they don't want that pressure following them everywhere. Home is safe.

Thanks man!

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Ohhhh, I understand that now clearly..

Thanks for putting me in the light my friend.

No.. thank you!

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Finally, you're done with moving. I guess with time your shy neighbors may not be so shy, they're probably still observing you.

I’m always worried I’m going to hit my head

Idk, I feel like one day you'll definitely hit your head. I just hope it doesn't hurt so much

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lol you don't know Japanese...they can be shy while they are being shy....but yeah, I live in a town full of pirates so....

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Cities are weird , rural areas are more friendly, perhaps way too friendly.
My neighbors on the left shout all day, the ones to the right hardly seem alive.
We smile say good morning and we are done.
Although we have a couple down the lane who are quite natural and friendly, we meet more often.

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Sounds like my hometown. Everyone has a big personality and individuality. Some are great, some maybe better not to get too close

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People are the same everywhere, well almost I guess

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畳が臭いって、うけるwww 畳は古くなるとイグサが臭くなるよね。 たまには畳干し(たたみを取って干す)しないと、カビがやばくなるよ! 😅😁👍
🥦 !LUV 🥦

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もっと臭くなる!? やばい 
ビールを使って洗ってい行ってきたけど。。。ほんとうですか!?

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ビールを使って洗うの? まじ? 聞いたことないなぁ。。。でも、庭で年に数回干さないともっとカビで臭くなるよ😅

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I'll be careful! And I'll check the beer solution....sounds fishy.

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