First choice would be a nordic country. They generally rank high up in metrics like health, happiness, etc…
Close second behind those would be New Zealand.
Probably Japan. I like the culture and how everyone seems decent, or at least know to mind their own business.
ultra conservative culture tho
I like many things about Japan, but not the work-a-holic culture.
Not a female then.
New Zealand I’ve never been and know little about the day to day life of a new zealander, but it looks so beautiful and quiet there.
They generally come up tops in country listings for good gov stuff. They’re not perfect but I like them!
After last night, most certainly I wish I took French in highschool so I could be taking French now in college. Just to move out of the USA and to greener pastures like Switzerland. Haven’t heard any bad news about them going fascist yet.
There’s a country in Europe called Ireland.
I don’t know much about the politics and policies there, but what I do know is that if I drop the street view guy there, most places are green and pretty. That puts it pretty high up on my list.
Irish people generally feel a lot of empathy for Palestinians, as fellow victims of English colonialism.
I’ve been there. It’s really nice.
Almost anywhere in Europe would be nice, but Ireland sticks out to me.
They’re part of the EU, and they primarily speak English, so the language barrier wouldn’t be as bad. (though I’d be happy to study Irish/Gaeilge)
As for politics and/or the economy there, I don’t know much, but I am pretty sure they haven’t elected a fascist who’s quoted Hitler.
Not quoting Hitlerz but the “prime minister” did say about rent for a one bedroom apartment being over €2k that “people need to remember that one man’s rent is another man salary”.
The president is nice though, although he’s just a decorative position, he seems like a very sensible Hobbit.
New Zealand would be a fun place to relocate. While it does suck they’re part of the 5 eyes as their government loves snuggling up to the US, the life outlook of the citizens is admirable. The money someone has or doesn’t have isn’t a consideration regarding how someone is viewed. A millionaire and a home-free individual are seen similarly when first met thanks to this mindset. Both mountain towns and island towns have a laid back approach to each day, which would be a nice change of pace. New Zealand is also both, as it’s an island with a couple huge mountains. Snowboarding and surfing are a ton of fun, especially when the travel time is minimal. So ya, New Zealand would be a solid choice in my book!!
France. The whole population is bold and sassy.
If I had it to do over again (born/raised in the US, living in Japan), I might pick Norway or Finland over Japan, but overall I’m fairly happy where I am.
Just curious, why do you prefer those countries over Japan? Anything lacking there?
Japan’s economic policy always has been weird, but lately things just keep appearing to get worse with like 30 years worth of shrinkflation happening all at once and wages not raising with inflation at all. The yen has slid against the dollar to pretty terrible rates. While it sucks for me personally wanting to do things like visit family overseas, it also plays a role in imports. Especially post 3-11 when they started turning off nuclear, a lot of fuel for everything, including keeping the lights on, must be imported. The low JPY basically just benefits the export markets.
More progressive, basically. The person who came second for PM wants to continued forced unified surnames (at least when both people getting married are Japanese) and has a bunch of positions on things like LGBTQI that drag progress backward. It also reads like she would revoke broadcasting licenses for news channels whose politics she doesn’t like. We already legally have to pay a yearly fee (kinda like a UK license fee, I think) for owning anything capable of receiving a TV signal. This was initially done (at least in part) to fund NHK (Japan’s BBC or PBS or whatever) outside of the government. They still have self-censored and at times aired wildly bullshit, racist things (particularly around corona). The position is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanae_Takaichi and, if another PM election which is not unlikely soon, I suspect she might win.
Eh… Unless you are actually Japanese, you’re probably going to be hanging out with other ex-pats, or just very lonely.
Japan is an extremely conservative and insular country. They don’t really mind people visiting for the most part, but they don’t really think highly of people actually immigrating there.
There are ethnic Koreans who have lived in communities in Japan for hundreds of years who are still considered outsiders and are treated like second class citizens.
Eh… Unless you are actually Japanese, you’re probably going to be hanging out with other ex-pats, or just very lonely.
I disagree here. Learn the language and hang out where Japanese hang out.
Japan is an extremely conservative and insular country. They don’t really mind people visiting for the most part, but they don’t really think highly of people actually immigrating there.
The “they” here is doing a lot of work. Certainly, a number of people are anti-immigration as they see an erosion of their tradition and some, the I suspect it an ever-shrinking minority, Others are mostly fine with immigration if it’s “the right kind/race of immigrants”. I have a loving family here in my in-laws with whom I am often involved (grandpa loves writing letters). As for immigration itself, in the ~10 years I’ve been here, they’ve added new visas with quicker paths to permanent resident status. One can apply for citizenship after 5 years (though it requires renouncing all others which is why I don’t do it – I do wish they’d change that).
There are ethnic Koreans who have lived in communities in Japan for hundreds of years who are still considered outsiders and are treated like second class citizens.
I don’t know exactly what you’re referencing here. There are zainichi Koreans who are in a weird spot. There is more racism to people from the neighboring countries than perhaps others, but that’s also not universal. A lot of Koreans that are here because their homes/families were in the north don’t take Japanese citizenship and, often, don’t really feel Japanese either; they feel their identity is north korean, but don’t move their either for obvious reasons. As such, they don’t take Japanese citizenship and are basically waiting to “go home”. I used to hang out with one and my wife knew a couple and they are in an interesting spot. They often also go schools run by nork-friendly institutions and some (many? all?) do at least visit pyongyang once, but they’re well aware of how much they are taught and shown is carefully curated and not typical. Anyway, the not taking citizenship and not going home does rub some (especially the far right) the wrong way and they’d rather they GTFO. Edit: a lot of the families were brought over, often involuntarily, during Japan’s colonization of Korea and WWII.
Racism is definitely something that I think is shrinking over time, but definitely still too high and a problem to be addressed.
Estonia. Digital privacy is my thing and Estonia is the world’s only e-government. They also have the strongest privacy laws.
Ireland, I speak the language, plus they seem comparatively reasonable.
Italy , its such a beautiful country.
Canada (from US.) I like where I live, I just don’t like the government.
I’d like to live in Switzerland, beautful nature and they seem to have a very stable political system that is fairly responsive to the citizenry and its welfare. They know they have a good thing and they work to keep it that way, plus might run into Shania Twain so thats cool too!
Also easier to learn French and German since its everywhere around you and I guess the defaults
Singapore. One of the few (if not the only) developed country in the east/southeast Asia region where you can get by not having to learn a new language. Great public transportation. I’m an urban person so dense megacities are my thing. I’m also Asian so I blend in.
+1 Singapore. Good food, I don’t stand out in a crowd, future city.
I’d be with you if they allowed medical cannabis. They will execute you for using medicine essentially.
Yup, their draconian drug laws are definitely a big concern if you partake (regardless if for medicinal or recreational reasons). I personally do not, so it’s not a particular issue for me.
