@sun @kaia parts of that might also be that most gaizin who go to japan are americans and life in japan is just very, very different than in america, no matter how similar it can seem from a short visit. At uni we had japanese textbooks aimed at americans, and they talked about a lot of 'culture shock' things that wouldn't be a shock at all to germans. Also, a few japanese people have told me that germany feels like a less strict version of japan, but still familiar.