Sophia’s World

At 40+, I changed countries, languages, and the rules of my own life.

Now building a different kind of future in Tokyo.

[Sophia’s World @sophiaworldnote]

@hiroe_yoshida It’s actually very common for Japanese men to take off their shoes indoors, including in libraries, gyms… and cafés?😆

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@aarai666 Could have been taken away right after the post 😂

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@flower6260 actually very ordinary and boring.

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@xianyuxiaoxiami Most of them suck up to foreigners while looking down on their own compatriots, even though they complain about Japanese people sucking up to Europeans and Americans.😂😂😂

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Actually, I can understand why some Japanese people want foreigners to leave Japan. I’ve encountered so many people in libraries who smell bad, make noises while chewing, or keep moving their chairs around. Most of them are men, with a few older people as well.

I’ve decided to bring perfume with me whenever I go to a public library! 😂

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@fxtrader Wonderful. Make it harder for immigrants to obtain citizenship and impose extra taxes on them. What a brilliant move — like locking the door and beating the dogs on their way out.😂

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Only a few of my former colleagues have managed to leave the system, and many of them have some kind of skills or expertise. Unfortunately, the majority have stayed in the system, while continuing to complain about their work or their superiors.

The main reason they haven’t quit is the pension. Almost everyone has heard that pensions for people working inside the system and those working outside it are quite different, with the latter potentially receiving much lower pensions than the former.

But I made it clear to them that people around our age or younger have absolutely no chance of receiving pensions at the current level.

Even the smartest people can’t predict what things will look like ten years from now. So how can we possibly imagine what life will be like beyond that?

Yet so many people make decisions based solely on their current circumstances, ending up making extremely conservative and, frankly, stupid choices.

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Received a message from a former colleague in China. Apparently, their superior has just decided to make everyone compete for the position.

Here’s a hot take: Too many officials nowadays have no idea how to build or develop anything. All they seem capable of doing is playing internal power games. It all feels so familiar when you look back at the past half-century.

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@PT3ras Neither eating healthy nor exercising a lot. Just eating very little.

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Hot take:

If you’re good at English, immigrating to Japan might be a much better option than moving to Germany.

Why?

Because I’ve met so many people from Germany who are really good at English.

But Japan? Good luck finding someone to have an English conversation with, online or in person. 😂😂😂

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@Fusionfoodizfv I don't know why, but I always feel a little scared whenever I can see Mount Fuji clearly.

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@ToruKumagai Not by Sophia University itself, but by one of its research institutes. Just to clarify.

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@OfOzITYHMxycZZY @qngshnbiy334501 😂

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Because Japanese is more closely related to Classical Chinese, and its writing system is fundamentally different from English. The so-called 50 sounds are also quite different from the English pronunciation system, just as some people from southeastern China struggle to speak standard Mandarin perfectly. What’s more, and this is just my personal opinion, I think it is also a way of addressing the challenges of an ageing society: keeping people closer to home and maintaining the population.

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@elonmusk @cremieuxrecueil It doesn’t happen often, but whenever it does, the media picks it up. Recently, though, I feel that the Japanese public’s sense of insecurity has been growing. Dramas like Vivant reflect this subtle but significant shift in the public mood.

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@nino_honmono I’m starting over from Season 1.

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One of the most inconvenient things about living in Tokyo is how difficult it is to find a place to exercise outdoors, especially in the city centre.

When I first moved here, I even used to dance workouts along the Meguro River. Looking back, I think I must have made quite a spectacle of myself. 😂 Now I don’t think I’d have the nerve to do that anymore.

I have a membership at a 24-hour gym, but it’s a cramped indoor space with barely any natural light.

If you want to exercise outdoors, you're pretty much limited to the activities that the facilities are designed for: stretching, running, playing catch, and so on. You can't really do anything that falls outside those conventional uses.

In that sense, Japan is a country where you’re free to do ordinary things, but doing something out of the ordinary almost feels like challenging the rules. You need an unusually strong sense of self to do that.🫶

[Sophia’s World @sophiaworldnote]

@PT3ras Bad money drives out good money.

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Hot take: Immigration is ultimately a race against time.

It all comes down to age more than people would like to admit. Your language skills, wealth, professional qualifications and international outlook all matter, but none of them can buy back the years you’ve lost.

Immigration is also a test of execution. I’ve seen so many people talk about preparing to immigrate for years, only to end up staying exactly where they are.

Perhaps they’re simply not cut out for it.

You don’t have the nerve. You can’t tolerate uncertainty. And if you can’t handle either, you’ll probably never leave your homeland.