Oct 11, 2025
Are you happier in Japan than your home country?
Saw a list today via TimeOut which covered their "Happiest Cities" for 2025. (https://www.timeout.com/news/the-20-happiest-cities-in-the-world-in-2025-according-to-locals-101025) A couple of cities in my home country made the Top 20 (Melbourne and Sydney), but Japan was noticeably absent. It got me thinking. Would you say you're happier here than you were in your country of origin? Would love to hear your arguments for or against, and why that's the case.
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on Oct 12
Very interesting that the rankings are very different to the Happy City Index. I'm happy wherever I am so long as I have some of my family with me - being an International Family means we never have our whole family in the one place at the same time! I have really great friends in Japan, but I miss my lifetime friends from childhood / teenage years when I am there. There are pros and cons to both, but I don't feel overwhelmingly that I am happier in one over the other. I am probably most myself in the city I grew up in though - Dublin.
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on Oct 12
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on Oct 12
I meditate on this question often. Sometimes ruminate... No city in Canada, my native country, made the list. I'm not surprised. Cost of living and a tight employment market in some sectors make Canadian cities unappealing, no matter how beautiful and rich in culture. I'm spoiled here - decent income in a field with stable employment, a decent cost of living, and chances to connect with amazing people, both foreign and Japanese. I also have some agency here, even as a non-citizen, thanks to initiatives of prefectural and municipal government projects that welcome my input.
3 Answers