A reflection of my life as an Aussie living and working in Kyoto with appalling Japanese-speaking abilities.
It’s definitely not the best idea to live in a country where you don’t speak its common tongue, but I promise I really did try to learn! Unfortunately, being the slow learner that I am, I only reached a most basic level of Japanese, and while it was enough for me to get by (with help from Google Translate no less), it certainly made work life challenging. That being said, life in Kyoto for the past 3 years had been a rollercoaster in the best ways, and I do feel that I made strides not just in my professional working life but also in my spiritual journey.
The Quiet Life
Japan is a country of contradictions. Depending on where you look, it can be depicted as a busy, overcrowded city in Tokyo, or a calm and tranquil nature spot in Kyoto. My time living in Kyoto certainly gave me the best of both worlds, living in the quiet, peaceful town of Mukaijima, then commuting to the vibrant nightlife city of Gion for my night job. While you can find quiet towns like Mukaijima all over the world, the combination of a secluded area with a culture like Japan that values peaceful silence, that sense of calm truly gets to another level.
Calm Work Environment
My view on work environments may be biased, as my place of work was a quiet, traditional ryokan-style hotel in the heart of Gion, Kyoto’s geisha district. It also doesn’t help my case that I was a night shift worker, so my shifts were extremely calm and peaceful. That being said, I was involved in many morning rushes when a bunch of guests would need to check out early and organize taxis and luggage transfers, so that always got the blood pumping! However, the vast majority of my working hours were spent doing quiet admin work, cleaning up common areas, and watering the beautiful bonsai tree in the lounge.
Try it for Yourself!
I can’t tell you whether living and working in Kyoto is right for you, but I can certainly urge you to give it a go! My brother still lives in Kyoto to this day with no intentions of returning home to Australia (except for visits) in the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, 3 years was more than enough for me, and now that I’m back home, I can share my experiences with all my family, friends, and beloved readers!
To learn more about life in Japan, check out my book: The Japanese Pursuit of Perfection. This book features my most profound observations of Japanese culture and society as a foreign resident. Available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. Grab your copy today!