Japan

It was February 2020 when my flight took off from Barcelona. It was heading to Malaysia, where I was going to spend a few weeks visiting the country and taking a 10-day Vipassana course. The final destination wasn’t Malaysia or enlightenment. It was the Land of the Rising Sun: Japan.

After dreaming about this for so many months, the moment had finally arrived. After a year with the Work & Holiday visa in Australia and after a friend told me that there was a similar visa to go to Japan, I decided to apply and use the visa to discover the country of the samurais.

I landed in Japan on February 25, 2020, and within a few weeks, the country closed the borders due to COVID. The beginnings were difficult: I didn’t speak the language, didn’t know anyone, didn’t understand the culture, and couldn’t find a job. Most of the people I met during the first few weeks, who were also on the Working Holiday visa in Japan, decided to return to their respective countries.

It was a risky bet in a situation filled with uncertainty. But I decided to take the risk and came out victorious. Instead of 1 year, I ended up spending almost 2 and a half years in Japan. I lived in Osaka, Ishigaki, Hakuba, Tokyo (where I worked for 6 months at the Olympics), Nozawa Onsen, and in a small village in Fukushima where I worked for British Hills.

I visited a large number of prefectures and passed through the 5 main islands: Okinawa, Kyushu, Shikoku, Honshu, and Hokkaido. I worked in different sectors, made several friends, learned Japanese, and managed to understand a bit of such a special culture like the Japanese one. After Spain, Japan has been the country where I’ve lived the longest, and that’s why it will always hold a special place in my heart.

I have decided to use all those experiences lived in the Land of the Rising Sun to write different articles that will help you travel through Japan and better understand its culture. I hope they are useful to you! 🙂