Small Towns in Japan

Four-decade resident of Japan here. While small towns might have their appeal, for me the real Japan is the Yamanote Line between Shinjuku and Ikebukuro on a Friday evening in summer, the cars packed with sweaty drunk and sober people of all kinds, talking and laughing and reading and looking at their phones and dozing off as they sway against each other when the train stops at Takadanobaba.

I lived in a small village deep in the West Fukushima mountains for a bit. Population: ~1000.<p>The summers bustle with rice, baby&#x27;s breath, and millions of dragonflies in the paddies. The mountain water is so clean it almost tastes sweet, and people keeps tight tabs on the comings and goings of each other.<p>It&#x27;s one of the most densely alive places I&#x27;ve experienced, with food growing everywhere, even in the cracks of the driveway, and mountain creature sounds wafting about.<p>Heck, the place even casually boasts village remains dating all the way back to the mesolithic and the second oldest swamp in Japan.<p>I wouldn&#x27;t say it&#x27;s any more or less real Japanese than other places here, but it&#x27;s definitely singular!

A friend of mine said they would love to move out from Tokyo to these towns - lower rent, much more nature - but as a foreigner you would be extremely isolated if your japanese is not perfect, and due to rampant racism.

&quot;Where the Real Japan Resides&quot; lol

Granny is making Canada great again there, with the maple leaf tempura.