正文翻譯

What is it like living in Japan as a foreigner?

作為一個(gè)外國(guó)人住在日本是什么感覺?

評(píng)論翻譯

Drake Duhaylonsod
I’m currently living in Japan as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) - I live in Fukushima’s Iwaki, and it’s absolutely wonderful.
I used to live in Hawaii, and I absolutely disdain big city life, ridiculous amounts of obnoxious tourists, overly nosy and pushy locals… so my slow life here in Iwaki is perfect. It fits who I am, and what I expect in life.

我目前住在日本，是一名助理語(yǔ)言教師——我住在福島的巖城縣，那里的生活非常棒。
我曾經(jīng)住在夏威夷，我很鄙視大城市的生活，討厭至極的游客，過分管閑事和咄咄逼人的當(dāng)?shù)厝恕晕以趲r城的慢生活是完美的。它符合我的身份，也符合我對(duì)生活的期望。

I don’t care too much for shrines and temples, and there are inconveniences with being an Asian in Japan, but….

我不太喜歡神社和寺廟，作為一個(gè)亞洲人在日本有很多不便，但是……

Living in Nagoya as a married expat with small children
So this was when my family eventually joined me in Japan. Also, I specifically point out Nagoya because it seems the location matters. Apparently, Nagoya isn't a very friendly place. When I complained to some Japanese friends that people in Nagoya weren't very friendly towards foreigners, they told me that people in Nagoya weren't very friendly to other Japanese either. Obviously, not ALL are unfriendly but it seems enough of them are to get themselves stereotyped.

已婚，有小孩，住在名古屋
這就是我的家人最終來到日本與我一起生活的樣子。另外，我特別指出名古屋，因?yàn)樗奈恢糜袉栴}。顯然名古屋并不是一個(gè)非常友好的地方。當(dāng)我向一些日本朋友抱怨名古屋人對(duì)外國(guó)人不太友善時(shí)，他們告訴我，名古屋人對(duì)其他日本人也不太友善。顯然，并非所有人都不友好，但似乎他們中的許多人的處事方式都已定型了。

If you have a baby and need a stroller, what a hassle! Space is a premium in Japan so most places where you need to push your stroller are narrow: doors, corridors, spaces between tables and chairs in restaurants, etc. This causes inconveniences for you and others. And others don't seem to hide their annoyance at you. Forget about bringing your heavy duty stroller from abroad. To get around, you're going to need a light and compact Japanese model that you can fold and keep in your pocket (ok, I exaggerate).

如果您有孩子需要嬰兒車，那就麻煩了！在日本，空間是非常珍貴的，因此大多數(shù)需要推嬰兒車的地方都很狹窄：門，走廊，餐廳桌子和椅子之間的空間等。這會(huì)給您和其他人帶來不便。而其他人似乎并不會(huì)對(duì)你隱藏對(duì)你的煩惱。不要考慮從國(guó)外帶來您的重型嬰兒車了。想要外出的話，您需要一個(gè)輕巧緊湊的日式嬰兒車，可以折疊放在口袋里的那種（好吧，是我夸張了）。

The subway system is excellent! Unless you have a stroller (or are in a wheel chair for that matter). Not all subway stations (in Nagoya) have elevators or even escalators. We lived next to such a station so whenever my wife wanted to go anywhere not walking distance she had to managing going up and down flights of stairs with a stroller, a baby, and a young child. Did she get any help? Did I mention that people in Nagoya aren't very friendly?

這里的地鐵系統(tǒng)很棒！除非您有嬰兒車（或諸如此類的輪式車子）。并非所有的地鐵站（在名古屋）都有電梯甚至自動(dòng)扶梯。我們住在這樣的車站旁邊，所以每當(dāng)我的妻子想去任何超出步行距離的地方時(shí)，她都不得不帶著嬰兒推車，嬰兒和年幼的孩子想方設(shè)法上下樓梯。她會(huì)得到別人的幫助嗎？我是否提到過名古屋人不是很友善？

Never mind about not being friendly. Many are downright rude. Imagine you get off the subway train and are now waiting for the elevator to take you up. What many will do, especially teenagers and young adults, is as soon as the elevator doors open they'll just cut in front of you from the sides and fill up the elevator with you still standing outside the elevator waiting to get in. And it's not because you're a foreigner. I've seen them do this to others with strollers and even to old people too.

不用介意他們的不友善。許多人是徹頭徹尾的粗魯。想象一下，您下了地鐵，現(xiàn)在正在等待電梯把你送上去。許多人，尤其是青少年和年輕人，會(huì)做的事情就是，一旦電梯門打開，他們就會(huì)從側(cè)面搶在你的面前進(jìn)入電梯，并在你仍然站在電梯外等待進(jìn)去的情況下將電梯塞滿。這不是因?yàn)槟闶峭鈬?guó)人他們才這么做。我見過他們對(duì)其他推著嬰兒車的人這么做過，甚至他們對(duì)老人也這樣做。

Along the way, I got severe depression and now I am taking medications. My Japanese teacher, knowing my depression and seeing how weaker I have become, told me to wait until I get back to my country, in case I want to kill myself. I was once told by my other Japanese homeroom teacher, “You're too honest and straight forward, it hurts other people’s feelings” - This was her way of telling me to keep a low profile and perhaps, score less? I already lost more than half of my hair, my weight went from 46kg to 35kg and I still have trouble sleeping and trying to get the meaning of my life back. The thing is, I grew up having Japanese visitors at home for years. My family always welcomed them as guests, and yet, seeing their true colors after living there was a huge shock . Obviously I want nothing more to do with them. Nothing at all.

一路走來，我患上了嚴(yán)重的抑郁癥，現(xiàn)在我正在服藥。我的日語(yǔ)老師知道了我得了抑郁癥，看到我變得那么虛弱，就告訴我等等就可以我回到自己的國(guó)家，以防我想自殺。我的另一位日本班主任老師曾經(jīng)告訴我：“你太誠(chéng)實(shí)和直率了，這會(huì)傷害到別人的感情?！?她告訴我要保持低調(diào)，也許，可以少得幾分。我的頭發(fā)已經(jīng)脫落了一半以上，我的體重從46公斤掉到了35公斤，我仍然難以入睡，還在努力找回生活的意義。事實(shí)上，從小到大，我家里常年都有日本游客。我的家人一直歡迎這些人，把他們當(dāng)客人對(duì)待，但是，在日本生活之后我看到他們的真面目，我感到非常震驚。顯然，我不希望再與他們有任何瓜葛。一點(diǎn)關(guān)系也不想有。

In my opinion, considering my own experience, the student exchange program is slavery. Japan sucks us foreigners dry, in exchange for their crappy visa. They use foreign students to do their dirty work, which THEY are supposed to do. Such as cleaning public places, picking up trash all over there, dancing on the roads for festivals, begging for money when an earthquake hits one of their cities, which they call volunteer/charity work. That's not why I paid a fortune and joined the school for. Be extremely cautious when you choose a language school. They may tell you that the cost covers everything, but that’s a big lie. You will still be expected to pay for many other things including text books, occasions, meals during extracurricular activities, and all the unnecessary things. And you won’t get any help or advice from them regarding studies unless you suck at it and they personally like your stupid helpless self. Not to mention the dormitory was in horrible condition. Not worth the amount of your time and money. And if you get terribly sick from overworking? Or if your employer refuses to give you the company’s contact number for you to contact them in an emergency? According to the school, It's your damn fault. When I finally wanted to quit school, the school had me pay for another month, just to blackmail me saying, “book your ticket to leave within one week and show us or we won't refund your money”. And the principal’s farewell for me? “Make sure to give us all your money before you leave!” Not to mention they were so hungry for money they mistakenly charged both the school and me before I left, for the same thing, and the officials came to me asking to pay the bills which I already paid. I am honestly disgusted. They do not have a drop of humanity, decency or manners.

在我看來，就我自己的經(jīng)驗(yàn)來說，學(xué)生交換計(jì)劃就是變相奴役。日本榨干了我們這些外國(guó)人，以換取簽證。他們利用外國(guó)學(xué)生做本來應(yīng)該他們做的骯臟的工作。例如打掃公共場(chǎng)所，到處撿垃圾，在節(jié)日的道路上跳舞，在地震襲擊他們的一個(gè)城市時(shí)向我們要錢，他們稱之為志愿者/慈善工作。這就是為什么我付了大筆錢并進(jìn)入學(xué)校的原因。選擇語(yǔ)言學(xué)校時(shí)要格外謹(jǐn)慎。他們可能會(huì)告訴你，費(fèi)用已經(jīng)涵蓋了所有內(nèi)容，但這是一個(gè)很大的謊言。你仍然要為許多其他的事情付錢，包括課本、場(chǎng)合、課外活動(dòng)的飯錢，以及所有不必要的事情。你不會(huì)從他們那里得到任何學(xué)習(xí)上的幫助或建議，除非你學(xué)得很爛，而他們很喜歡你愚蠢無(wú)助的自我。更不用提宿舍的狀況了。不值得你花那么多時(shí)間和金錢。如果你因?yàn)檫^度工作而生病了呢?或者你的雇主拒絕給你公司的聯(lián)系電話，以便于讓你在緊急情況下聯(lián)系他們?學(xué)校會(huì)說，這都是你的錯(cuò)。當(dāng)我終于決定退學(xué)的時(shí)候，學(xué)校又讓我多交了一個(gè)月的學(xué)費(fèi)，只是為了要挾我說:“訂一張一周內(nèi)離開的機(jī)票給我們看，否則我們不退錢?！边€有校長(zhǎng)為我送行呢?“走之前一定要把錢都給我們!”“更不用說他們對(duì)錢如饑似渴，在我離開之前錯(cuò)誤地向?qū)W校和我收取了同樣的費(fèi)用，那些官員還來找我要求支付我已經(jīng)支付過的賬單?！蔽艺娴母械綈盒?。他們一點(diǎn)人性、禮貌和風(fēng)度都沒有。

It may seem like a dreamland for you before you go there, but I assure you, the reality is quite different.
Btw, this school I went to was Kyushu Japanese Language school (KLS) in Kagoshima.

在你去那里之前，對(duì)你來說，這似乎是一個(gè)理想的國(guó)度，但我向你保證，現(xiàn)實(shí)是完全不同的。
順便說一句，我去的這所學(xué)校是鹿兒島的九州日語(yǔ)學(xué)校（KLS）。

Brandon Holmes
, Currently live in Tokyo, lived off and on in Japan past 20 years
The question is pretty vague so can not offer much beyond a general answer.
In addition to some good answers already provided, it is going to depend on a lot of factors. I think something that hasn't and is rarely addressed is that the single biggest factor affecting your life in Japan is your Japanese fluency. Most expats in Japan can not speak Japanese even at a basic conversational level.?

這個(gè)問題提的相當(dāng)模糊，所以只能籠統(tǒng)地回答。
除了已經(jīng)提供的一些好的答案之外，它還取決于很多因素。我認(rèn)為有一件事沒有也很少被提及，那就是影響你在日本生活的唯一最大因素是你的日語(yǔ)流利程度。大多數(shù)在日本的外國(guó)人不會(huì)說日語(yǔ)，即使是最基本的會(huì)話水平都不具備。

This would be no different for example than a Chinese person living in San Francisco and not understand English. There is a common misconception that most Japanese can speak and understand English similar to say visiting Germany. This is not the case, but through "International Hand Gesture Language", talking English more slowly and loudly (think the movie Rush Hour and CAN YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH), guessing .

這和一個(gè)住在舊金山不懂英語(yǔ)的中國(guó)人沒有什么不同。有一種普遍的誤解，認(rèn)為大多數(shù)日本人都能說和理解英語(yǔ)，就像你去德國(guó)旅行時(shí)一樣。不是這樣的，你只能通過“國(guó)際手勢(shì)比劃語(yǔ)言”，放慢語(yǔ)速，大聲說英語(yǔ)(想想電影《尖峰時(shí)刻》，和 你能聽懂我嘴里說的話嗎)，猜測(cè)著進(jìn)行交流。

The second biggest factor is your race, gender, physical appearance, nationality and even age. All those things which people are (theoretically) programmed not to affect interactions , but in fact do, will be greatly amplified in Japan.

第二大因素是您的種族，性別，外表，國(guó)籍甚至年齡。那些人們（理論上）生來就具備的所有不影響交流但實(shí)際上會(huì)影響到交流的因素在日本都會(huì)得到極大的放大。

There are no discrimination laws. If you look at some job postings, you may see a listing for a flight attendant as "Light skinned attractive woman, less than 50kg, at least 167cm and between the ages of 22 and 30". Once she hits 30, she will either be transferred or let go. Schools that do home stays for students have difficulties because the Japanese family may only want a blonde, blue eyed female student that's not fat but legally the school can't accept such a request. Companies the same thing. You may see an foreign recruiting agency trying to get around things by putting a requirement of "no more than 10 years work experience", which is their roundabout way of saying the Japanese client requested someone under 30.

沒有歧視相關(guān)的法律。如果你查看一些工作招聘啟事，你可能會(huì)看到空姐的招聘信息是“膚色白皙、魅力女性，體重不超過50公斤，身高至少167cm，年齡在22 - 30歲之間”。一旦到了30歲，她要么被調(diào)任，要么被解雇。為學(xué)生提供寄宿服務(wù)的學(xué)校遇到了困難，因?yàn)槿毡炯彝タ赡苤幌胍粋€(gè)金發(fā)碧眼，身材不胖的女學(xué)生，但從法律上講學(xué)校不能接受這樣的要求。公司也一樣。你可能會(huì)看到一家外國(guó)招聘機(jī)構(gòu)試圖通過提出“不超過10年工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)”的要求來回避問題，這是他們拐彎抹角地說日本客戶要求應(yīng)聘者年齡在30歲以下的方式。

People's perceptions/experiences also change over time. When I finished undergrad, I quit a corporate job and moved to Osaka working as a English teacher and bartender. The race influence is pretty dramatic and immediate, with Caucasians instantly becoming the life of the party while darker skinned foreigners were either ignored, shunned or down right avoided. This really changed over time though. Often people who stayed over a year, their feelings about Japan changed quite a bit. Caucasians who stayed often started to resent and become bitter towards the Japanese society while Asians and blacks started to embrace it. I felt many became bitter because they were enamored by the initial infatuation they received and upset that it didn't pan out into opportunities beyond an English teacher.

人們的觀念/經(jīng)歷也會(huì)隨著時(shí)間而改變。大學(xué)畢業(yè)后，我辭掉了公司的工作，搬到大阪做英語(yǔ)老師和酒保。種族的影響是非常戲劇性和立竿見影的，白種人迅速成為了聚會(huì)的核心人物，而膚色較深的外國(guó)人要么被忽視，被回避，要么被完全回避。但隨著時(shí)間的推移，情況發(fā)生了變化。通常那些在日本待了一年以上的人，他們對(duì)日本的感覺會(huì)有很大的變化。留下來的白種人開始對(duì)日本社會(huì)充滿怨恨，而亞洲人和黑人則開始接受它。我覺得很多人都很痛苦，因?yàn)樗麄儽蛔畛醯拿詰偎曰笞?，而令人失望的是，除了?dāng)英語(yǔ)老師之外，這里并沒有給他們帶來更多的機(jī)會(huì)。

What I heard from blacks, especially Americans, was that even with the bad interactions it was a lot better than experiences in the US and they found many Japanese interested in the black sub-culture that they could drown out the negativity. Asians realized that while they aren't given any special treatment for being foreign like Caucasians, found that they would generally be more accepted for having a common face and history.

我從黑人，尤其是美國(guó)黑人那里聽到的感受是，即使有不好的互動(dòng)，也比他們?cè)诿绹?guó)的經(jīng)歷要好得多，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)很多日本人對(duì)黑人亞文化很感興趣，而且他們可以隱藏他們的負(fù)面情緒。亞洲人意識(shí)到，雖然他們不會(huì)像白種人那樣因?yàn)槭峭鈬?guó)人而受到任何特殊對(duì)待，但他們通常會(huì)因?yàn)閾碛泄餐拿婵缀蜌v史而更容易被接受。

Education and job are highly regarded in Japan, and most of Asia. If you are well educated and have a great career, you will be treated well and respected even more so than in the US.
Lastly, where you are coming from will of course greatly change your perception. If you are coming from a small town in Idaho moving to Shinjuku of course it's going to be different than someone from Midtown.?

日本和亞洲大部分地區(qū)都高度重視教育和工作。如果你受過良好的教育并擁有一份偉大的職業(yè)，與美國(guó)相比，你將得到更好的待遇和尊敬。
最后，你來自哪里當(dāng)然會(huì)極大地改變你對(duì)日本的看法。如果你從愛達(dá)荷州的一個(gè)小鎮(zhèn)搬到新宿，這當(dāng)然會(huì)和從市中心搬來的人感受不一樣。

Keep in mind these are all general observations over the past 20 years. Obviously each person's experience is going to vary. Of course someone will write that this is not their experience but that in no way changes what I myself have experience or observed.

請(qǐng)記住，這些都是我基于過去20年的一般性觀察的結(jié)果。很明顯，每個(gè)人的經(jīng)歷都會(huì)有所不同。當(dāng)然，有人會(huì)說，這不是他們的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，但這不會(huì)改變我自己的經(jīng)驗(yàn)或觀察。