General living issues

when they met in the same class, they were still distant. The nomikai only gave an illusion of a sense of belonging.

As a French person, Carla tended to speak her mind. She also felt that her humor was too dark for Japanese. Thus, she kept filtering her words when speaking to Japanese people. She missed talking about everything with her friends. Since she was still in Japan, she needed to follow Japanese rules and culture. “Because I am working, so I am really putting on their levels. I really follow the work norms. I am French, and I do not like people ordering me to do something. In Japan, there are always rules written. Some of them are pretty obvious. They do not need it to be written,” she explained.

All participants in Japan agreed that Japanese honne-tatemae is very challenging.

Japan is at the top of the list of the high-context culture (Hall & Hall, 1990), and has all the characteristics of high-context cultures, e.g., indirect communication, reliance on contextual cues, and respect for long silences. Hall (1983) described honne as sensitivity towards one’s own private self, and tatemae as sensitivity towards others and as a public self. In other words, honne means real feelings, while tatemae is the facade or the face that people show in public. Japanese tend to behave using the honne when interacting among the uchi or in-group, and use tatemae when dealing with soto or outsiders.

Consequently, it is not easy to interpret what Japanese people actually mean.

very stressful, according to Carlos, Lucas, and Fatin. Real estate agencies in Japan rarely have English-speaking staff. They would explain everything in Japanese, and all the information, including house contracts, was also written in Japanese. Moreover, Lucas added, it was not unusual for the agencies to put pressure on the students to decide faster.

“They keep telling you like, ‘if you do not make the contract now, then we are going to run out of houses. So, you better hurry up’.”

Carlos highlighted the strict rules of real estate agencies and the house itself. In his living situation, people cannot be loud, and they should be very quiet in the evening. Even a small noise would be considered to be a loud noise. Japanese cannot be flexible at all for these kinds of rules.

Fatin pointed out some weaknesses of the housing system in her university.

According to her, the Kyushu University dormitories have a quota for Japanese and international students. Starting from her year, the university would allow only half a year for international students. However, the Japanese have one whole year. This university’s quota system makes things harder for international students. The university should be more accommodating.

Sophia was happy with her scholarship since it provided her a fully-furnished dormitory room for a whole year. They lent her almost everything, such as cooking utensils, clothes, and a bicycle. She said, “if I have some difficulties, I always talk to them and ask for advice. I also need to go to the office sometimes to report and things like that.”

5.1.3.4.2 Financial stress

Tan came to Japan five years ago as an undergraduate student, and she was receiving a scholarship for four years. When continuing her study as a master’s student

at Kyushu University, her parents supported her financially. However, she decided to become more independent by being self-sufficient. Consequently, she tried to work as hard as possible, around 26-28 hours per week during summer break. However, when the school started, she would reduce her work to only on weekends for less than 20 hours.

She insisted that financial stress did not affect her study in Japan and that she would try to apply for a scholarship to be more focused on her study.

Putri had financial problems due to family issues. Although she received a scholarship from MEXT monthly, the stipend barely covered her needs. She worked as a night-shift sorting staff. She worked from 11 p.m. till 4 a.m., and she had to go to her lab from 9 a.m. till 7 p.m. She could save up some money, but she became too exhausted to study and do her experiment. As a result, she quit her job once she had enough savings.

5.1.3.4.3 Diet-related issues

Carla did not have any restrictions on her diet, so she experienced no problems related to her diet. However, she was concerned about vegetarian and vegan food in Japan.

She had vegetarian and vegan friends who could not find food easily. Japanese do not have various salads. She was happy that Kyushu University was trying to accommodate the needs of vegetarian, vegan, and Muslim students by providing halal corners at the coops.

Muslim students agreed that they could easily buy halal food at their university.

Tan and Putri were grateful that Kyushu University cared about Muslim students. The university has halal cafeterias in Central and West Zone of Ito Campus and recently opened a place to pray at East Zone. One thing that could be improved regarding these cafeterias was the menu variety, Fatin opined. Cafeterias only have Egyptian and Indian

food. It would be better if they also have Japanese food or fast food, like burgers. She missed having fast food because it is cheap, fast, and delicious.

Correspondingly, Desi reported that Ritsumeikan APU also has a halal cafeteria.

Halal food trucks and restaurants were also available in the city. Recently, Beppu mosque’s imam cooperated with some Japanese restaurants to provide a halal menu, such as ramen and karaage or Japanese style fried chicken. The owners of the restaurants were very enthusiastic about learning about Islam. Some supermarkets started to provide halal meats as well.

Although buying halal food is getting more accessible at universities, Muslim students still found difficulties, for instance, when they attended class parties or club gatherings. Fatin reported that she could not eat food when she joined her class’s party at a restaurant or when she joined a gathering of international students’ organization. She doubted that the organization would accommodate halal food for her and other Muslim students because they are in the minority.

5.1.3.4.4 Relationship issues

Meanwhile, in Japan, Putri, Desi, and Fatin experienced a very different pattern of relationships compared to those in their home country. These Indonesian and Malaysian students could not get close to their Japanese classmates or lab members. Desi spoke of how her classmates could be distant and set some boundaries with her. Putri thought that the Japanese in her laboratory were inflexible, even in informal situations. Fatin described them as shy and awkward. In contrast, they could befriend strangers in their home countries within minutes. However, in Japan, it takes longer to make a relationship with local people.

Similar to the case in Indonesia, the Japanese were probably hesitant to speak to international students because of their English proficiency. Phuong, like Fatmata, felt that Japanese students in her university seemed to avoid speaking English to her. They also do not want to get to know more about other cultures. If they tried to speak English to her, she would gladly put more effort to speak Japanese more. Phuong believed that being open-minded is essential for the Japanese to communicate with non-Japanese people. She also mentioned about interpersonal relationships in Japan was not as strong as those of Vietnamese people. Japanese people were more individualistic and had no interest in other people’s business.

Lucas had a negative experience related to a romantic relationship with a Japanese person. He was dating a Japanese person for some months, yet this person just disappeared all of a sudden. Later, he learned that ghosting like this is a common thing that Japanese people do. He said if a Japanese person wants to finish a relationship, they will disappear. Luckily, he has found someone better now.

5.1.3.4.5 Bureaucracy

Sophia and other international students in Japan thought that administrative procedures in Japan are a little bit difficult. When Sophia entered Kumamoto University, she needed to sign some documents. There was a document that had to be sent to Brazil.

Her parents had to sign it and send it back to Japan, or else, she would not receive her stipend. It was troublesome because it took three weeks for the documents to arrive in Brazil. She also had to spend quite a lot of money to send the documents.