Dad, illustrator based in Japan.
Age 33
Saitama japan
Joined on 11/12/17
Posted by aki-T144 - November 12th, 2017
Hey everyone, I have been using Newgrounds for quite sometime but I never usualy post >.<
Anyway, I`m aki-T144 originaly from the UK but I have been living in Japan for the last 4 years working as a teacher/ storyboard artist and comic book artist with my wife 2 dogs and my hedgehog.
I love cyberpunk/fantasy/scifi art I also have my own webomic called VOID, if you get a chance please check it out.
http://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/void/list?title_no=86397
Hey! Welcome to NG! Must be pretty awesome living in Japan!
XD its ok, It can be a hard place to live, but i have my wife and pets with me so that helps!
Guess living space might be the biggest difference? Been wanting to travel there a long time, though I'm used to large open spaces devoid of people so would probably be a pretty big change. :) Anything else though? Costs? The cultural part seems pretty amazing. Great food. Positive people...
Well Japan is a great place to visit, just don't come here thinking everyone LOVES anime, it isn't like an anime world like many people expect. My wife is Japanese so she has taught me a lot about Japanese culture but there is also alot to learn. It is quite an expensive place to live. I wouldn't say positive people... A lot of people are but the depression rate here in Japan is VERY high, there is a lot of xenophobia still towards foreign people too. However that being said, I do love living here.
Hmm no note on living space though? Is it better than I'm assuming? Is EVERYTHING costly? Food, living expenses (rent, water, gas, electricity?), entertainment? Regarding xenophobia, wonder if it's both with old and young people - was under the impression it's mostly the old generation? The depression rate, is that anything that you notice personally? Hope you don't mind the wall of questions, would be interesting to get some first-person perspectives here. :) Also curious where you met your wife?
I live just outside of Tokyo and my apartment is reasonably big. But when I was living in Tokyo I had a tiny apartment, just a bed, desk, kitchen and bathroom and it cost about $900 a month, gas and other bills come out to about 400 a month but as I split it with my wife it’s 200.
It depends, many foreign people come over here thinking “EVERYONE IS GOING TO LOVE ME” but it isn’t the case, many people come here for a number of things. Try and hook up with people, anime otaku and people who are genuinely interested in the culture. Unfortunately the first 2 I mentioned are more popular and many Japanese people get really weirded out by these types of people.
I have had a few negative things happen to me in the past, I was on the train once and this younger guy told me to get off the train because during rush hour it’s meant to be for japaneee people only...
myself and my wife got interviewed on tv during my first year and at first it was a nice interview, talking about Valentine’s Day ect until they said to my wife “why are you with a foreigner? You should be with a japanese guy...” my wife was so pissed.
Also at my station last year there was a protest basically saying “get foreigners out!” Many people dressed in black hiding their faces started insulting me and my wife, calling her a slut and shaming her. I reacted badly and told the main guy to show me his face and stop being a coward but he just backed down right away....
I met my wife in shinjuku station the last night I was in japan. She dropped her card so I gave it back to her, we happened to get on the same train and to say thanks she offered me dinner. Sadly I was going home the next day so we exchanged emails and kept in touch. I eventually moved here for good, and got married 2 years ago.
No worries it’s nice talking to people.
Good to know about the costs, and that Tokyo pricing! :O Wonder how big 'reasonable big' is?
Oh man, really subtle xenophobia there... except that last example, really doesn't sound fun. I guess you speak Japanese somewhat fluently too? Nicer to hear about that get-together story.. Like small consecutive nods of destiny! :)
Wonder if there's any kind of casual dress code over there btw, any unwritten norms you need to follow or total freedom? How about tourists with tattoos (don't have many myself, but I hear those are reserved for gangs, curious how people respond)
Good to hear. :)
MerwinAtticus
Hey man I checked out your comic, and I really loved the art work.
And your art style is really cool, I wish i could do stuff like that.
I hope you make it big someday :D
Good Luck further !
aki-T144
Hey thanks so much! I work hard on it, it’s a little slow gettin off the ground but I hope more people read it.