Recent opinion polls here have shown that by a substantial margin, Japanese expatriates are happier overseas than they are back home. This is particularly true for women, and especially so for those who have lived in Western countries. Some factors cited in these polls are obvious, like the more spacious homes and lower cost of living that are typical in the West. But the polls have also revealed more subtle reasons. Some cited, for example, the habit of people in Japan of identifying themselves strongly with groups, like their company or school, instead of the individualism practiced elsewhere.
Women often cite the lower status of females in Japan than in many other developed countries.
When Makiko Okada, who is 48, returned from the United States in the early 1960's, people like her were so unusual that she was turned away by public schools. The sheer volume of Japanese people living overseas has reduced the oddity factor considerably since then, but in many ways Ms. Okada, who is now the director of a program for returning students at International Christian University High School in Tokyo, says the adjustments she has felt compelled to make as an adult are even more frustrating. Japan is a much more male oriented society than the United States, although I think that is changing a bit. Still, as a female, I constantly have to tone down my views when I give an opinion, and work very hard not to intimidate my peers. Other women told of having to remember not to smile too freely around men in the workplace, lest they take it as a sexual advance, and to keep their voices in the high, dulcet tones still commonly adopted by working women.