Link to section👭 Friend Group
Higher Japanese ability was linked to having more Japanese friends. Among respondents with no Japanese ability, 91% said their friend group was all or mostly non-Japanese. For those with business or fluent Japanese ability, that figure dropped to 44%.
Link to section🗻 Hobbies
Even outside of work, respondents spent much of their time in front of a screen. Their top three hobbies were playing video games, programming, and watching movies or TV.
Link to section🗾 Initial Attraction
Responses to this question varied by nationality. For American citizens, the top reason was an interest in the Japanese language. For Indian citizens, it was career opportunities. For Japanese citizens, it was family.
Link to section👍 Positive Aspects
Convenience ranked highly as a positive aspect of Japan across all nationalities. American and Japanese citizens were more likely to value Japan’s health care, while Indian citizens rated travel and adventure especially highly.
Link to section👎 Negative Aspects
The top negative aspect of life in Japan was the same across all nationalities: poor compensation. After that, non-Japanese citizens most often cited isolation and cultural barriers, while Japanese citizens were more likely to mention pressure to conform.
Link to section🧑🏫 Developer Communities
Half of respondents said they weren’t active in any developer communities.
Among those who were, members of TokyoDev’s Discord had a median compensation of ¥7.5 million, compared to ¥9.5 million for participants in TokyoDev’s in-person events. Discord members also had slightly less experience, with a median of 6 years compared to 7 years for offline participants.