Sakura Haze

Posting travel and realistic stories from my life in Japan.

[sakurahaze]

Hey there, I’m Saku and welcome to my blog Sakura Haze.

I’m a foreigner who has been living in Japan for the last 8 years, going from the well known JET Programme to working as a private hire. I love traveling and have been to 26 out of Japan’s 47 prefectures at this point. 

In a time of clickbaits and travel advice on videos less than 30 seconds, I wanted to help revive the blog space even if just a little bit. 

I’m looking forward to talking about everyday life in Japan, the good and the bad, what travel can look like in a not curated form, and answer any questions that you may have about Japan to the best of my abilities. I still have a lot to learn and experience, but I hope the things I have done can be of help to those who are just starting out. 

If you ever have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I’ll be happy to answer them.

[fujifingerz]

Her name was Nao and she was feeling sea sick but also really sad because she was headed back to college which was far away from her home...My japanese isn't very good...

I sat with her for a while and ended up asking a staff member for help. It was really bad weather that day, the sea was choppy so that was making her sea sickness worse...It was raining heavily with strong winds, and the staff member suggested she went out on the deck of the boat for some fresh air but it was TERRIBLE weather out there so I went with her. she ended up feeling better! and we waved goodbye once we got to our destination! Nao, I hope you're doing alright out there!

[sakurahaze]

Why I Stopped Saying 頑張れ

頑張れ (ganbare) when I first learned it was "do your best!" but after some time in Japan I have learned how problematic this phrase can be.

頑張れ isn't just "do your best" but rather this idea of "even if it's hard do it"...still that's fine right? Sometimes you go through difficulties when trying to achieve something you want. But what if you were told this by your boss when you've been relentlessly telling them about problems you're having in your position? When society tells you this in the middle of a deep depressive episode? When everything feels dark and you don't know what to do but you just need to 頑張れ through?

....Yeah I've learned 頑張れ has this connotation of do it even if it means bashing your head against a wall because people refuse to build a door. It's not "do your best" but kind of "do what society demands of you even if it's a detriment to yourself".

So I stopped saying it, because I didn't want people around me to hear this when I didn't know the depths of their struggles. Hell I'm going through this myself, having full on crying crash outs at work, and all I'm told is "頑張れ"

Respectfully no the fuck I won't 頑張れ.