You might be wondering how I got here…

How did I end up living in the northernmost island of Japan, Hokkaido? Well, let me tell you all about it!

My First Encounter

To begin with, I’ll tell you what first sparked my interest in Japan, albeit a small one initially. You might be guessing, anime or manga right? That’s close, but not quite! When I was in grade 6 at primary school, I was part of an extra literature class. And in that class, we read the book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr. This book is based on the true story of a Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki, an 11-year-old girl who developed leukemia from the radiation caused by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

It was a very moving book and afterward, I then developed an interest in making origami cranes. A year later, my friend discovered the small manga section in our school library and the series Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino had me hooked!

Unfortunately, the selection at our school library and the local library was quite small and each volume was quite expensive. So I quickly developed a preference for watching anime online instead. I do love watching anime, but I’ll save my recommendations for another post later!

My Second Encounter

I continued watching anime throughout high school and during my university studies. Although I enjoyed watching anime, at this time it hadn’t even crossed my mind to actually go to Japan in person (part of this was due to a holiday I had in China, which had put me off any future Asia travel ideas). But in 2016, the amazing anime film Your Name was released and it was absolutely incredible! It was after watching this film that my desire to visit Japan began, and I’d finally fulfill that desire in July 2018, when I came to Japan on a two-week solo holiday and hit the big cities. Looking back, I’d say that my life was forever changed the instant I saw the vibrant green rice fields from the airplane. Despite not speaking any Japanese, I felt incredibly drawn and connected to Japan, and I had the most amazing holiday!

Deciding to Move to Japan

I returned to Australia and immediately wanted to go back to Japan. I was lucky enough that an opportunity arose for me to join a volunteer program teaching English in Japanese schools for three weeks. So I was able to visit Japan again in December 2018, and I had a totally different, amazing experience that time! In the few short months between my return to Australia in August and the volunteer trip in December, I had begun contemplating working in Japan.

The timing of everything happening that year and planned for the next also encouraged me. Since my parents had decided to move from Melbourne to Brisbane, unsure of what study or job opportunities were available, I had decided not to move with them. It was a huge decision to make, so I hesitantly asked my parents what they thought about the idea of me moving to Japan. My parents have always been very supportive of me, but I was still surprised when they excitedly told me to ‘go for it’ and to ‘pack my bags’ instantly! In my mind I had the thought that I could miss my family from Melbourne or from Japan, obviously, the latter sounded way better. With that, I immediately began applying for jobs to teach English in Japan.

Job Offer and Placement

I’d been offered a position even before going on the second volunteer trip to Japan, with a departure date set for the end of February 2019. My company allowed me to submit my preference for where I’d like to live and work in Japan. Whilst I’m sure most people would love to live and work in a large city such as Tokyo or Osaka, that was the opposite of my preference. I love to visit those cities, but they are much too large for me to personally live in. So for my preferences, I said I’d like to live somewhere north of Tokyo, that gets a bit cold. Since Australia doesn’t get that cold in winter, I was keen on the idea of living in a colder climate. My company offered me a position in Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido and the second snowiest city in the world. I officially moved to Japan on the 18th of February 2019, and my life in Japan began!

If you made it this far, well done and thank you very much for reading my blog! This post ended up being a bit long but turns out I have a lot to share. I’m not sure whether my future posts will be of a similar length or shorter. But I will be sharing a variety of things such as what life is like living in the city and countryside, sightseeing spots I highly recommend, my experiences and some craft-related things such as knitting and crochet! I hope you’ll stick around to read more!

I’d also love to hear about your experiences! If you’re interested in Japan, then what was your first encounter that sparked your interest? Let me know in a comment!