That is brutal, and also I think Japan would be a tough place to be a foreign resident with mental health needs. Even though I've never been to Japan, I know many Japanese people and have several friends, and a common theme is they all say their culture is not equipped to handle depression, failure, and other social problems.
The fact they have a word for "death by overworking" is very revealing. That being said, something in that country has grabbed you and kept you for that long, so I'm sure overall your mental state there is much better than it would be in the USA.
It was a local. I think Japan actually has a good foundation compared to other countries, but there is too much shame in taking advantage of it. What I mean is welfare and safety nets here are better than other places in a lot of ways. The problem I think is that people don’t talk about their problems because they are scared they will make problems from others. That’s leads to a lot of passive aggressive people in the workplace who hate their jobs and don’t have anyone to talk to.
If they look to western counterparts, that worry is justified, With all the complaining and arguing all the time. but I think we all need to find a balance.
My mental state depends most on my ability to do the work I came to this world to do. I feel it’s gotten a lot easier online, so location doesn’t matter as much to me anymore.
Community IRL helps a lot, but I always feel like a loner in the community because I like having my space. There are really nice communities here but it takes a while to bond with them.
My only real complaint is how normal obscenely busy schedules are but you find that even in their days off, people want a full packed schedule 🤷♂️
The fact that people don’t get up in my face ever is actually incredibly liberating though