Ofc most of these issues can be mitigated via our own choices.
But, the plan is still Phd in Europe or Japan depending on what research program I require.
My time in Japan was amazing, but that was in spite of how they were treating me rather than as a result of it.
Prepare for a lot of disrespect, even if you are a self-conscious gaijin others of your aesthetic's reputations precede you (they also are a bit sexist vs women in general). If you're sensitive to people's opinions and faces it can feel like a constant assault over little things like having a wide berth of four train car seats between you and everyone else, being sat in corners of the restaurant where others won't have to look at you, etc. Many over assuming you don't know the language will talk loudly to their friends while pointing at you and stuff, it's different when compared to anywhere else I'd gone.
It takes some getting used to, but a few of my old college mates look to have made it work by learning to shrug it off.
If you want a fun time though, look into Osaka. It takes the artistic culture of the place and injects Vegas-like absurdity into it. It's the main place to get what they called "Japanese Soul Food", which is them preparing it in a less healthy way and then deep frying it in their own mix of things. It was the first time I had concerning levels of heart burn, but it tasted amazing.
It was also where I saw the only openly trans Japanese person, riding a really over the top bike in a lolita dress made for his her size. Each section of Japan has their own little mascot to represent it too, and the one for Osaka, the Billiken or "The God of Things As They Ought to Be", was made by a U.S. Gaijin and placed within the one place effectively endorsing Hedonism, it's a complete contradiction against Japanese culture. It was also the only place where significantly less judgement was going on, they were there to have a good time and forget about how stuffy life can be.
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I stayed in a really nice Jazz Hostel while there, the place was super chill, the energy was different, and it was randomly across the street from a Hello Kitty parking lot.
In general I learned there that you want to find the artists, musicians, and the ones who've traveled at least once or twice in their lives to experience another culture (rather than for business or something). One of the cooler Japanese guys I saw was a host for a Mexican restaurant in the area, where he'd air Spanish Soap Opera with Japanese subtitles. It was a headtrip, but you could tell that he no longer felt fully like he was only a member of one culture... which has a way of singling them out. The ones who silently rebel against the status quo of the place tend to showcase that with weirder fashion too, it has a way of standing out in a place where many have the same clothes and the same cars (unless you hit their fashion districts where some go off a bit more).
The place is amazing, even the silence natural at some of their temples inspires reverence (by contrast to the ones that sold out to white tourism to stay alive), but living there takes understanding the disrespect that comes naturally there. I'd love to go back, but I couldn't live there by myself.
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