What Japanese workers abroad can teach us about expat life in Japan

A new survey by Bizmates Inc. that was reported in via The Mainichi recently caught my eye, because I thought it would be applicable to the expat community here on City-Cost. More than 90% of Japanese companies said they've had employees return home early from overseas postings, and the main reason wasn't language or logistics, but culture.

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According to the survey, over a third of companies said their returning staff struggled to adapt to local values and workplace customs. Communication issues came next, followed by an attachment to Japan's own ways of working. Language barriers were much lower on the list, which I thought was a good a reminder that the hardest part of living abroad often isn't what you say, but how you connect.

I think as expats in Japan, many of us have probably felt that same cultural friction in reverse at times from the unspoken rules that come with life here. I found it oddly reassuring to know that cultural adaptation challenges work both ways.

The survey also found that fewer young Japanese workers are willing to take overseas assignments. Perhaps they see how disorienting it can be to step outside familiar systems where hierarchy, harmony, and "reading the air" play such an important role.

Bizmates' conclusion was pretty clear, that language skills alone aren't enough to survive abroad. The real key is cross-cultural understanding, learning how to think, communicate, and collaborate across invisible divides. I think that's something every expat in Japan eventually learns too. Speaking the language can help you get by, but empathy and curiosity are a big part of what makes you feel at home.