A lot of people move to Japan and think, “If only I could speak better Japanese, I’d be free to express myself and enjoy company/social life like in my home country!”

Not so fast. Languages aren’t equal. Languages are culture. Western culture is individualistic; English is the language of self-expression (chicken and egg, don’t ask me which comes first).

Japanese culture is collective, and Japanese will linguistically curtail your ability to express yourself. You can brute force it, but that’ll stick out as much as bad Japanese or your big foreign face.

It’s great for safety, peace on crowded trains, and not having to hear how terribly your cashier’s day is going. But god have mercy on you if you work for a Japanese company.