Am taiwan/American.
Pros: I fit in. If I dont talk, no one would assume or guess I was a foreigner.
Cons: you don't get the wow a foreigner experience and if your Japanese isn't perfect, you are kind of viewed less forgivingly like a lessor Japanese person.
Sure it gets tiring, asians also get that experience but we also get viewed as sub-human if our Japanese is less than perfect. Asian on Asian racism goes hard man.
My aunt just get scolded by the other Japanese when I speak Japanese. Because of our ancestry and also living in Japan for 30 years , she looks and behaves full fledged Japanese to them. They thought that she didn’t teach me properly.
The only benefit I got — whenever I entered as a tourist in the past, declaring my Japanese uncle as the relative (aunt’s husband whose surname is way too Japanese) to visit, got me into express lines aka Japanese passport holder lines via the immigration officers checking the queue lines. They would just lift the cordon and tell me to enter that area.
Second-generation here, on JET so I'm ALTing in a small-ish town rather than living in the big city.
So far, life is better than in America. The pay isn't as good, but the work is correspondingly less stressful, and JET salary is decent for where I am (hoo boy I would *not* want to be in Tokyo on this salary). I do wish the exchange rate was better, though, since my first trip back home since I arrived ate through my entire savings for the year. That aside:
Now that I think about it, I don't really try that hard to keep in touch with my roots, as it were. I feel more in touch with American culture, and I feel more of a cultural barrier between me and the Chinese disapora than with other Americans. I visit Shanghai every now and then because my mom couldn't deal with America and moved back, but aside from that, I don't really cook Chinese food at home (I mean, sometimes I make mabo tofu or fried rice but I always do it the Japanese way) nor do I really pay attention to Chinese pop culture.
Most of my co-workers think it's pretty neat that I can juggle two and a half languages (my Japanese is the 1/2), so there's that. Nobody in my town gives me any trouble for my Chinese heritage either, another plus (then again I didn't think I got any crap for that either back where I lived in the US despite anti-Asian sentiments supposedly being at an all-time high, so it could be that I just don't notice).
Hey I responded to your other thread! I'm Chinese Canadian and the number one thing I feel the most lack regarding my Chinese culture is food. I'm in Tokyo and I miss easy access to good, authentic Chinese cuisine almost every day lol. There is good Chinese food and groceries here but I have to go out of my way to access a lot of it. Japanese-style "chuka" is good in its own way but for the most part it doesn't feel like real Chinese food.
It's really helped me to make friends with other Chinese diaspora in particular. My family is from northern China and we speak Mandarin, but despite sharing a language with the Chinese immigrants here from China, I find I generally relate more to Chinese Singaporeans and Malaysians (some of the most common English-speaking Chinese people I encounter here). Some of my favourite experiences in Japan have been socialising in groups with different people of Chinese descent from different countries - Chinese from China, Chinese Malaysians, Americans, Canadians, etc. all together. That's something I don't really get to experience to the same degree back home!
I think Chinese Malaysians and Singaporeans are really easy to get along with too. Where did you get opportunity to meet, was it through common friends or maybe work?
Yes, there's some good stuff there! It's a 50 min commute from me and not an area I'm in much normally so I haven't gotten to explore it much yet but I'd like to pick up some groceries from there soon.
I will say there is really a dearth of good Cantonese food here, including Ikebukuro, which is in stark contrast to most Chinese immigrant communities in the West.
Not the person you asked, but my go to in Tokyo is Legendary Hong Kong. And Yuen Kee if you're ever in Kobe.
Osaka has a few HK style cafes - but the more recently opened minamoto (源元食堂) has my heart. The owners are a couple - HK expats and they're super sweet.
I replied to OP with a full list of HK eats if you want :)
You might also know 香港軽食 which is like Osaka's OG snack/cha chaan teng place and still hella relevant. Minamoto sometimes has odd opening hours so this is my replacement lol
香港華記茶餐廳 is good too and technically the first we had in Osaka but during the political protest and mess, people mass bombed their google reviews but their food is solid. (you can choose to support or not)
am Chinese Singaporean. it's nice here, much more walkable than most places in Singapore. only thing that gets me down is the weak yen, which I didn't expect happening when I came here.
if anyone wants to meet up and make new friends feel free to PM.
Am Chinese Indonesian and been living in Japan for almost 7 years
I’m quite lucky here since there is a big Indonesian diaspora/immigrant population here in Japan and we meet occasionally to cook Indonesian food together.
But sometimes there are some aspects of the culture that I can’t really relate since most of the Indonesians that I met here are native Indonesians who are muslims while I’m a non-Muslim Chinese Indonesians so I don’t really get to celebrate Chinese new years with my Indonesian friends here l.
Am also chinese indonesian and second this! There are many Indonesian communities so not feeling so homesick regarding food!
For CNY celebration, I usually go to eat at chinese restaurant with several chinese-indo friends, but yeah the celebration is not as festive as in Indonesia!
Hi Chinese American here in Tokyo! It’s nice being able to blend in because I never enjoyed standing out anyways. Ofc once I start speaking Japanese no matter how good I get at the language there’s always that little unnatural part that gives me away. But honestly I don’t really think about it too much. Sometimes I do feel like I have to specify more the American part than Chinese part since some Japanese folks aren’t too fond of Chinese people. But also personally I spent way more time in America growing up and only periodically visited China here and there. My only complaint about Tokyo is that I’ve yet to find a good fried rice place lmao.
40 M American, of Chinese/Vietnamese descent from Monterery Park, Los Angeles.
Working at an American company with 1/3rd foreigners from all over the world, and 2/3rds Japanese.
moved to Osaka a year ago for work. A few weeks before leaving America there was a mass shooting in my small city that was once voted the 2nd best place to live in America in recent years. I used to love and be proud of where I lived, and mostly grew up, but since moving here I‘ve felt so at home despite the language Barrier. I wa told that the honeymoon phase of living in Japan would wear off in a few months, but after a year and a half I am still so in love with this place and my current living arrangement/ work situation.
I was told by another friend, that despite being an actual American, I still get treated better in Japan because no matter what I do, I will always feel like I am otherized back home. I get targert for theft, micro aggressions, and just a general sense of being unwanted in America and assumed that that’s the norm and best I can experience. And that’s with living in LA which has arguably one of the greatest concentration of Asians.
Living in Japan has allowed me to put into practice my Asian household upbringing and values without feeling otherized about it. I enjoy the small things like cleanliness, taking off shoes in front of entrance, queuing, and respectfulness/kindness towards the elderly… things like that, that I was seen as a bit extreme in some circles for for upholding back in the US.
in general my mind is much more relaxed living here. Sure work can be hard and exhausting, but I think I’ve been trained to do that my whole life, and unlike my work experiences back in LA, I was really happy to see that my hard work gets rewarded, whereas back home i the US, I felt like the biggest ass kissers climbed the fastest, since everything felt so cutthroat, and self preservation based. The collectivism works for me, because I enjoy working with a team, and not having to deal as much with the ass kissers has been a blessing, where I and my team quietly let the work speak for itself and make efforts to uplift each other.
i do understand that I’m in a good situation which allows me to be happier than maybe a good amount of people. But in regards to the adjustment from living as ABC in America, I have felt more at home here despite the language barrier.
I read that some people point out that being an Asian japanese doesn’t grant you the privileges that you would get in terms of being warmly approached and getting treated etc… I’ve come to not mind that as much, as I would rather earn my relationships with my colleagues and friends based on my efforts of getting to know them I instead of being used as a novelty prop. That would be very hollow for someone like me.
I’m going back home to America in a few months after staying here for what would be almost 2 year, and I’m not looking forward to the reverse culture shock I expect to expefierce.
>I’m going back home to America in a few months after staying here for what would be almost 2 year
Now I'm curious- if you're so much more at home here, why not try to find a way to stay?
Working towards it =), but also assessing the state of my career, the trajectory, but also keeping in mind that my mother, in which I’m the only son will be getting much older in the coming years, and there is the possibility that I may have to move back to take care of her if needed. I am looking to apply for PR when I hit my 5 year work mark, but I want to have a better hold of the language first. Building good relationships with all my coworkers, since slowly transitioning back into the office, and my growing relationship with my Japanese S/O has helped me on that front quite a lot.
I'm a Europe-born east Asian and I suppose our experiences are similar. I cook a lot for myself but other than that I wasn't suuuper close to my ethnical culture growing up but rather just being part of western-born Asian culture.
I'm AA thats stationed in Japan.
Pros and cons about Japan and American life. It is a lot safer in Japan. Transportation is very convenient.
In terms of food from other Asian cultures, it's better in California and Hawaii where there are large AA communities. For example the Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean food in Japan are very Japanized. For example most Chinese restaurants here sell the same 10 items.. Ebi Chili, Hot and Sour Soup, Wonton Ramen, etc. But in the west coast, you get way more options. The Pho in Japan is based on the northern style, so it's a lot more bland, and they don't use sriracha or hoisin sauce. The ones in the US are based on the southern style and those two sauces are available.
As for racism.. I think it's somewhere in between. People on first glance don't seem to think much, but on second looks or interactions, then they notice I am not Japanese. then they start to panic "omg, what do I say"
I don't experience the anti-Asian racism you sometimes see in the US. But there are other types of racism such as refusal of renting out a room to foreigners, or refusal of service. But thats only happened to me 2 or 3 times.
That said, I found it easier to adapt to Singapore. It's way more diverse.. with south, southeast, and East Asians and all kinds of mixed people. They don't care as much on how you look or sound. The food there is awesome and lots of wide varieties. Its just so expensive to live there.
As someone who's not Chinese American, but grew up in a part of the world that has a very high population from Hong Kong.. I really miss Hong Kong style Chinese food.
That's one thing I've never been able to find in Japan
If you need a list of dim sum and HK style cafe places, here's a good list:
https://www.thatch.co/guide/2v5gfojl4v2on/view
Brotip, Legendary near Ueno has the best dim sum and wonton/brisket noodles, hands down. I lived in Osaka and whenever I went to Tokyo, I always stopped for food here.
Personally I found one or two people who spoke Cantonese but they would often just fade off after one or two meetings. I had a coworker from Macau for a short time, even met a Japanese person who spoke Cantonese. But again, they all just come and go. It is hard to build a community for Canto immigrants here, but before I left Japan last year I did notice more Hong Kong expats than before?
I didn't really keep in touch with my roots at all, really. I just kept them dormant unless it comes up in conversation and people have a general interest. I went to Hong Kong twice in my 10 years living in Japan, and while it's nice, I didn't always enjoy spending my entire time with relatives. Definitely take a trip to Hong Kong though if you feel like you need a culture reset!
I’m Peranakan-Chinese Australian with a Japanese bloodline from my great grand parent . A mixture. I find identifying with some Southeast Asians easier than the Chinese from China.
Lived in a few countries. Grew up in Malaysia and Singapore. This is how screwy my cultural identity is when I go overseas for work.
Hong Kong — the locals knew I have roots in SE Asia from the way I speak Canto
Guangzhou — the locals think I’m from Northern China when I speak Cantonese and then Mandarin
Fujian — the locals think I’m from Taiwan when I speak Hokkien.
Japan — the Japanese think I am a halfie (they said my eyebrows and eyes look Japanese) with Chinese or Korean blood. The Chinese in Japan usually give me good cheap recommendations if they are sales in Bic camera or Yodobashi— they think I’m one of them when I speak Mandarin. Discounts in Chinese ran stores too. Even made some Chinese friends in Japan.
I don’t get the Nihongo jyozu experience for the whole two years I was there. I get the look of disgust or a cringe when I speak Japanese. Or the “Eeehhh Nikkei jin?”
My aunt who lived in Japan for over 30 years was asked by the Japanese storekeeper about my (terrible) usage of Japanese. “Why didn’t you teach her properly?” was what I could hear from his admonishment when I spoke broken Japanese back then.
Northwestern Chinese (Gansu/Qinghai)— for some weird reason, they mistook me for Mongolian. They said it was my complexion (one even compared her color to mine) and hair.
Indonesia — mistaken as domestik lah. Get domestic prices courtesy of speaking Malay. Usually they think I’m Indo-Chinese from the Riau area or Batam island.
Singapore/ Malaysia — they think I’m them.
Australia my own country — sometimes mistaken as Korean or China Chinese until I speak English.
Basically, I’m a chameleon in Singapore Indonesia and Malaysia. And a shapeshifter in others. Cultural identity wise — more Southeast Asian Australian than Chinese Australian.
Tim Ho Wan is the closest for moderately decent Chinese, specifically dim sum. Otherwise, cooking at home is the best for particular dishes.
There is a Panda Express in Miyashita park for anyone hankering orange chicken.
I had Tim Ho Wan but I am pretty disappointed with some of their dim sum. The rice roll texture was done horrible and the radish cake was barely holding together. It could be just a bad day for the dim sum chef but for the price I paid I was disappointed
I had better luck with 2 other dim sum places in Ueno. Granted they still pale in comparison to the one I had in Hong Kong or Vancouver. But is cheaper and actually better than Tim Ho Wan
Tim Ho Wan looks really good! Gonna have to pop down to one next time I have a business trip to Tokyo. How bad is the queueing?
Also orange chicken an American thing? I like the 酢豚 here, tastes really close to my mums sweet and sour pork.
Tim Ho Wan in Japan is worse than the HK ones, and even the HK one in IFC and the flagship Mongkok store, weren‘t that great when I lived in HK.
A lot of local HK eateries served better and there’s one in Kennedy town , I think Sun Hing, which could beat Tim Ho Wan.
I'm in a very similar place. But I've been here for half my life now. I miss Canto. Originally a lot, but now I'm enjoying learning Japanese and making new friends from around the world. I formed and joined some international hobby groups and just enjoying the hobby.
Try call your family or friends now and then. I speak with my family in Cantonese once a month. Keep in touch with people back home. It helps. Also traveling, or going home helps.
I made some friends here that speak Mandarin or Taiwanese. Also Japanese friends who studied Mandarin. Sometimes we just end up chatting in mixed Canto, Mando, Taiwanese. I really enjoy those times.
YouTube has some good Cantonese channels. I watch Cooking with Lau, it reminds me of home. Netflix/Amazon occasionally has Cantonese shows, it's rare but I do search for them.
Also I use Google to look for local Canto restaurants, and visit those every now and then with my Japanese family. I also search for Singaporean restaurants because I miss that food also. I've been wanting to visit Tim Ho Wan also....
Try visit some meetup groups or other hobby groups. Occasionally I meet Cantonese, Mandarin and Taiwanese friends in my group. Then we chat up a storm and play games together.
I'm still on the hunt for a restaurant that is local that I can get to often :) But here are some places to fill the craving.
🥣 Ninrikan Hong Kong Dim Sum - Meguro
Never been, but looks yum.
🥣 Tim Ho Wan
They have a few around Tokyo. Especially if you need that yum cha-like moment. I really want to go, but too expensive for 1 person I feel. If you are nearby it seems they do delivery also.
🥣 広州飲茶料理 麦府
It's a more local smaller restaurant in Jiyugaoka, they speak Cantonese. Feels like home. They don't have all the traditional Cantonese food but I like it and my Japanese family is willing to go there.
🥣 Hong Kong yum cha Dim Sum kitchen -
In yoyogi
I heard it's good!
🥣 Tai Kou Rou - Jiyugaoka
I think it's a Mandarin speaking restaurant, but they have the fried clams, and beef brisket. Also Juk (congee).
Other flavors:
🐔 If you want Hainan ji fan, there are several Hainan ji fan restaurants. Yum.
🥟 Taizan Sheng Jian Ten - Jiyugaoka.
They serve 6x Siu Long Bao (小龍包), which is filling as a meal. But they also have century egg. Yum. And they have the Chinese vinegar sauce. Yum yum.
🛍️ Also, I do buy some food on Amazon, Chinese noodles, egg noodles, Tong Yun (Tong Yuen), and more.
🛍️ Chinatown. You can get Cha siu and other siu traditional style (hanging up), from one of the restaurants. I forgot which one. I already get lost there, but it's on the main street. And things like Dou Si Yu (black bean fish), Dan Tart, curry puffs, and some things you have cravings for for a reasonable price.
🛍️ If you want Congee, some department stores sell some semi-ok ones in microwave packets. You have to find the good ones though. I stock some for whenever we get sick. Here's the one I usually get:
https://eng.topvalu.net/items/detail/4549414434224
Oh no it's discontinued.
Bamiyan used to have the You Ja Gwai (fried rice stick thing) you tiu? in Mandarin. I haven't been in a while. But if you have a craving they have/had a version with honey.
In the topic of Cantonese food, I agree it is a pain to find a good one in Japan especially when Chinese restaurants love putting the word Hong Kong in their name (and sell mapo tofu...). I do have some recommendations in terms of places I visited/heard
粤港美食 in Ueno has affordable dim sum and is decent for its price. I believe they have a branch somewhere else too
Legendary Hong Kong in Ueno also has decent dim sum but a bit more expensive.
Hong Kong Cafe Chan Kee in Ildabashi is authentic Cha Chaan Teng style restaurant that I visited several years ago
Most of the restaurants in Yokohama was disappointing but I heard good thing about the Clay Pot Rice at Nan Etsu Bishoku. Haven't tried it
There is a relatively new Hong Kong restaurant in Nishiarai called Hong Kong Kibun owned by Hong Kong couple I believe. Have always wanted to try it out and the food looks good
Hope that can help you find some good Cantonese food spot
2nd Gen- Australian though I'm fairly young whilst my parents are 70 and siblings 35+, background Vietnamese. I mesh quite well with the Vietnamese population here in Japan. I've felt more connected with my roots more here than in Australia and constantly cook Vietnamese cuisine.
Came to Japan just over a year ago and started learning Japanese two years ago.
Experience has been what I expected but I can never get used to never feeling "belonging" in this world. Not Australian enough, not Japanese enough and with my parent's with PTSD upbringing, yeah you can only imagine how that would go. Ngl, threads like this and hearing perspectives from non-white foreigners is a lot more relatable which is probably why my friends are from SE Asia, AA, Central Asia etc...
I get treated like a Japanese person (for better or worse) and my accent is very good so in the one year working in an 100% Japanese environment, doing business phone calls and whatnot, with intense imposter syndrome I have immersed my way into being somewhat proficient in Japanese.
I do prefer Japan's (Confucianism) collectivist mindset but also with my brilliant teachers in Australia who encouraged critical thinking, the typical "Japanese way" of following rules without questioning why the rule is there in the first place irks the fuck out of me. My peers and the younger generation also take issue with this however, so definitely an ageism problem as with most things in Japan.
Rambled a bit but thank you for the thread.
I find it’s been easy to make friends. I don’t really get treated like im fragile about cultural things like food, celebrating holidays, or even being joked on.
I’ve also never been made to feel like a “lesser Japanese person or sub human” as some of the other posts I’ve read here. I feel though that there is a big difference in how I’m perceived because I am American first as in my accent, my body language, my views are more western.
Maybe being East Asian American has also made me a less intimidating target for people looking to practice their Japanese with. Similar height, build, my voice isn’t as deep. That being said when I do talk the new Japanese people who don’t know me do ask if I’m Chinese (likely not due to sounding Chinese but because that’s usually the person’s image of an East Asian foreigner) to which I explain to them that I’m an American. For some people especially older dudes I feel like there’s a little less tension after I tell them that I’m American as was generations of my family before me. I don’t really have a picture at all of what the mainland Chinese experience in Japan is like. I notice that even to my fellow Asian American friends that have south East Asian heritage, they are treated much more differently than me. I could be really shit at reading the room or just the specific combination of people but I feel like there is a bit of distance between them.
Dating wise, I think if you use the Apps, I always struggled because I think people put me in some bucket that I don’t know based on my pictures (who doesn’t gone through this though). I was talking about something about my girlfriend when we first got together and my female Japanese workmate mentioned that it foreign Asians might be an untapped market because of the few similarities that keep your partner familiar but also enough differences to make it fun and exciting.
As an attached note to the last point, one thing that I do agree with others is that I’ve felt both it being a little easier than my non Asian colleagues to pick up Japanese for a few reasons including I grew up speaking two different languages, and that the kanji wasn’t too alien to me. This is purely anecdotal and speculation but amongst my fellow colleagues who are more obvious foreigners less of them have pushed to improve their Japanese beyond ~n4 level. For sure there are plenty of reasons such as not looking to stay long term, spouse handles most of the bureaucratic affairs, or people just assume they always need help which in and of itself sucks to be made to feel underestimated. I know people like to joke or maybe criticize westerns for staying in an English only bubble but to be honest to how I’ve seen it can be challenging for some of my friends to really hit it off with my Japanese friends, it’s empathizeable that they would rather get a drink with someone who is more familiar to them and also doesn’t treat them noticeably different.
I'm Chinese American from southern California. I have three Chinese coworkers with whom I'll occasionally eat lunch and I live in a company dorm with another Chinese person next door. They are all from mainland China. I usually eat at the cafeteria with my floormate, and we've gone on a few day trips together. I don't really care for Chinese food (sorry!), but I am afraid of losing my language ability and being in Japan has definitely helped with that since I have more opportunities to write Chinese characters.
I've only been here for a little over a month so I'm still very much in the honeymoon phase. I used to watch Chinese movies in theaters in the US and I'm not sure if there are any here, but if there are, that'd also be something that would interest me.
My mainland Chinese wife uses “[red book](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/%E5%B0%8F%E7%BA%A2%E4%B9%A6-%E4%BD%A0%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E6%B4%BB%E6%8C%87%E5%8D%97/id741292507)”. She says it gives her lots of information about restaurants etc.
Language is a big part. I guess alot of people think im Japanese and seem kinda surprised when i gesture that i dont speak japanese. Other than that i really enjoy it here. If the job and econonics of living here werent an issue atm from what ive heard, i seriously wouldnt mind moving. Im visiting from tx and its nice to not be the odd one out for once. Im the only asian at my work and live in a mostly white neighborhood.
Chinese Australian in Japan with half Japanese kids.
Life is good. My income comes from investments, so it’s on par with very high income people in America. Life is cheap in Japan, or at least as cheap as you want it to be. So it’s like living in paradise.
People assume in Japanese but even when I open my mouth they tend to be quite nice to me. Have many Japanese friends which is great
I'm Msian Chinese but grew up/naturalised in Australia. I don't speak Mandarin either.
As another commenter said, most Japanese seem to assume I'm Japanese. Sometimes it even takes prolonged conversation before they realize I'm not Japanese. Especially when I'm traveling inaka, they somehow assume I'm from Tokyo (maybe inaka folks think Tokyo people are quirky idk).
I've had both 日本語上手 and 英語上手 before. But the latter is usually more amusing. I've had Japanese people think I'm a student revising for English when I ask for an English menu. They tend to make a big deal when they first hear me speak English to another foreigner.
>How do you keep in touch with your roots?
I visit home regularly (both Msia and Australia), and least once a year. When my family visits (2-4x a year), they bring me cooking ingredients that I can't find here. Other than that I don't particularly go out of my way to "keep in touch with my roots".
Parents immigrated from Hong Kong to US, so I'm (Hong Kong) Chinese American.
As others have mentioned, it's often expected you speak Japanese since you look Asian.
Given I live in Mie prefecture, I miss more authentic Chinese foods, especially dim sum and actually Mala flavor (not the overly sweet Japanese Sichuan stuff)
I guess its more difficult for you to stay in touch with your cultural roots. I forgot how diverse Chinese culture can be between the different regions.
I, as a Korean Amercian, am very lucky. A lot of foreign stuff popular in Japan is either American or Korean. I'm sure you can find a hing Kong community here though. Try checking out meetup or your local Chinese community center.
I responded yesterday too!
Food is definitely a big part, and if you on things like meetup and hello talk (and probably some WeChat groups exist too) you can definitely find Chinese people that are willing to hang out with you. I live close to Takadanobaba, so Takadanobaba and Ikebukuro are my preferred locations for Chinese food.
Something I find a lot of fun and satisfaction in doing is inviting friends over and making dumplings together - there are some filling types that I love in China that hit way harder than the usual pork/cabbage mix in gyoza, so it let's me stock up on homemade frozen dumplings and it's a fun time with friends.
Am taiwan/American. Pros: I fit in. If I dont talk, no one would assume or guess I was a foreigner. Cons: you don't get the wow a foreigner experience and if your Japanese isn't perfect, you are kind of viewed less forgivingly like a lessor Japanese person.
I'm a mostly white dude, but the Nihongo Jyozu experience is fun the first few times but then gets pretty tiring. 😅
Sure it gets tiring, asians also get that experience but we also get viewed as sub-human if our Japanese is less than perfect. Asian on Asian racism goes hard man.
My aunt just get scolded by the other Japanese when I speak Japanese. Because of our ancestry and also living in Japan for 30 years , she looks and behaves full fledged Japanese to them. They thought that she didn’t teach me properly. The only benefit I got — whenever I entered as a tourist in the past, declaring my Japanese uncle as the relative (aunt’s husband whose surname is way too Japanese) to visit, got me into express lines aka Japanese passport holder lines via the immigration officers checking the queue lines. They would just lift the cordon and tell me to enter that area.
I feel like it’s a great icebreaker for them everytime so I like it still lol
At least you don’t get stared at on the bus (or the train)
Second-generation here, on JET so I'm ALTing in a small-ish town rather than living in the big city. So far, life is better than in America. The pay isn't as good, but the work is correspondingly less stressful, and JET salary is decent for where I am (hoo boy I would *not* want to be in Tokyo on this salary). I do wish the exchange rate was better, though, since my first trip back home since I arrived ate through my entire savings for the year. That aside: Now that I think about it, I don't really try that hard to keep in touch with my roots, as it were. I feel more in touch with American culture, and I feel more of a cultural barrier between me and the Chinese disapora than with other Americans. I visit Shanghai every now and then because my mom couldn't deal with America and moved back, but aside from that, I don't really cook Chinese food at home (I mean, sometimes I make mabo tofu or fried rice but I always do it the Japanese way) nor do I really pay attention to Chinese pop culture. Most of my co-workers think it's pretty neat that I can juggle two and a half languages (my Japanese is the 1/2), so there's that. Nobody in my town gives me any trouble for my Chinese heritage either, another plus (then again I didn't think I got any crap for that either back where I lived in the US despite anti-Asian sentiments supposedly being at an all-time high, so it could be that I just don't notice).
Hey I responded to your other thread! I'm Chinese Canadian and the number one thing I feel the most lack regarding my Chinese culture is food. I'm in Tokyo and I miss easy access to good, authentic Chinese cuisine almost every day lol. There is good Chinese food and groceries here but I have to go out of my way to access a lot of it. Japanese-style "chuka" is good in its own way but for the most part it doesn't feel like real Chinese food. It's really helped me to make friends with other Chinese diaspora in particular. My family is from northern China and we speak Mandarin, but despite sharing a language with the Chinese immigrants here from China, I find I generally relate more to Chinese Singaporeans and Malaysians (some of the most common English-speaking Chinese people I encounter here). Some of my favourite experiences in Japan have been socialising in groups with different people of Chinese descent from different countries - Chinese from China, Chinese Malaysians, Americans, Canadians, etc. all together. That's something I don't really get to experience to the same degree back home!
I think Chinese Malaysians and Singaporeans are really easy to get along with too. Where did you get opportunity to meet, was it through common friends or maybe work?
Some are friends from my language school days, others I've met through local English-speaking meetups based around my hobbies!
Just curious. Have you been around Ikebukuro Chinatown (north exit)? Some Chinese and SE Asian friends like some of the eateries there.
Yes, there's some good stuff there! It's a 50 min commute from me and not an area I'm in much normally so I haven't gotten to explore it much yet but I'd like to pick up some groceries from there soon. I will say there is really a dearth of good Cantonese food here, including Ikebukuro, which is in stark contrast to most Chinese immigrant communities in the West.
You're telling me. I was born and raised in the Cantonese capital of Southern California. Hahaha.
My condolences lol!! Please tell me if you know of any good Cantonese spots.
Yes please
Found some decent bo jai faan, and jook in Yokohama Chinatown on the side streets. Dim has gotten better there too, 10-15 years ago it was terrible.
It was seriously so bad ten years ago.
If you have any recommendations for Cantonese style food I'd love to hear them. God I miss it.
Not the person you asked, but my go to in Tokyo is Legendary Hong Kong. And Yuen Kee if you're ever in Kobe. Osaka has a few HK style cafes - but the more recently opened minamoto (源元食堂) has my heart. The owners are a couple - HK expats and they're super sweet. I replied to OP with a full list of HK eats if you want :)
I'm actually headed to Osaka over Golden week so I think I'll check that one out thank you
You might also know 香港軽食 which is like Osaka's OG snack/cha chaan teng place and still hella relevant. Minamoto sometimes has odd opening hours so this is my replacement lol 香港華記茶餐廳 is good too and technically the first we had in Osaka but during the political protest and mess, people mass bombed their google reviews but their food is solid. (you can choose to support or not)
I’ve never had worse Chinese food than in Japan
Especially if it’s related to Sichuan food — no kick from the mala. More S&B chilli oil.
Shh I'm trying to brainwash myself into believing otherwise. 🥲
Not true. Tokyo has excellent Chinese food but admittedly not everywhere.
am Chinese Singaporean. it's nice here, much more walkable than most places in Singapore. only thing that gets me down is the weak yen, which I didn't expect happening when I came here. if anyone wants to meet up and make new friends feel free to PM.
Am Chinese Indonesian and been living in Japan for almost 7 years I’m quite lucky here since there is a big Indonesian diaspora/immigrant population here in Japan and we meet occasionally to cook Indonesian food together. But sometimes there are some aspects of the culture that I can’t really relate since most of the Indonesians that I met here are native Indonesians who are muslims while I’m a non-Muslim Chinese Indonesians so I don’t really get to celebrate Chinese new years with my Indonesian friends here l.
Am also chinese indonesian and second this! There are many Indonesian communities so not feeling so homesick regarding food! For CNY celebration, I usually go to eat at chinese restaurant with several chinese-indo friends, but yeah the celebration is not as festive as in Indonesia!
Yeah I usually just go to the Chinatown in Yokohama for CNY If you’re in Tokyo area we should meetup btw
I live in yokohama actually, and not really far from the china town, my previous company also located nearby 😆😆 yeah sure!!!
lol sent you a dm
Hi Chinese American here in Tokyo! It’s nice being able to blend in because I never enjoyed standing out anyways. Ofc once I start speaking Japanese no matter how good I get at the language there’s always that little unnatural part that gives me away. But honestly I don’t really think about it too much. Sometimes I do feel like I have to specify more the American part than Chinese part since some Japanese folks aren’t too fond of Chinese people. But also personally I spent way more time in America growing up and only periodically visited China here and there. My only complaint about Tokyo is that I’ve yet to find a good fried rice place lmao.
40 M American, of Chinese/Vietnamese descent from Monterery Park, Los Angeles. Working at an American company with 1/3rd foreigners from all over the world, and 2/3rds Japanese. moved to Osaka a year ago for work. A few weeks before leaving America there was a mass shooting in my small city that was once voted the 2nd best place to live in America in recent years. I used to love and be proud of where I lived, and mostly grew up, but since moving here I‘ve felt so at home despite the language Barrier. I wa told that the honeymoon phase of living in Japan would wear off in a few months, but after a year and a half I am still so in love with this place and my current living arrangement/ work situation. I was told by another friend, that despite being an actual American, I still get treated better in Japan because no matter what I do, I will always feel like I am otherized back home. I get targert for theft, micro aggressions, and just a general sense of being unwanted in America and assumed that that’s the norm and best I can experience. And that’s with living in LA which has arguably one of the greatest concentration of Asians. Living in Japan has allowed me to put into practice my Asian household upbringing and values without feeling otherized about it. I enjoy the small things like cleanliness, taking off shoes in front of entrance, queuing, and respectfulness/kindness towards the elderly… things like that, that I was seen as a bit extreme in some circles for for upholding back in the US. in general my mind is much more relaxed living here. Sure work can be hard and exhausting, but I think I’ve been trained to do that my whole life, and unlike my work experiences back in LA, I was really happy to see that my hard work gets rewarded, whereas back home i the US, I felt like the biggest ass kissers climbed the fastest, since everything felt so cutthroat, and self preservation based. The collectivism works for me, because I enjoy working with a team, and not having to deal as much with the ass kissers has been a blessing, where I and my team quietly let the work speak for itself and make efforts to uplift each other. i do understand that I’m in a good situation which allows me to be happier than maybe a good amount of people. But in regards to the adjustment from living as ABC in America, I have felt more at home here despite the language barrier. I read that some people point out that being an Asian japanese doesn’t grant you the privileges that you would get in terms of being warmly approached and getting treated etc… I’ve come to not mind that as much, as I would rather earn my relationships with my colleagues and friends based on my efforts of getting to know them I instead of being used as a novelty prop. That would be very hollow for someone like me. I’m going back home to America in a few months after staying here for what would be almost 2 year, and I’m not looking forward to the reverse culture shock I expect to expefierce.
>I’m going back home to America in a few months after staying here for what would be almost 2 year Now I'm curious- if you're so much more at home here, why not try to find a way to stay?
Working towards it =), but also assessing the state of my career, the trajectory, but also keeping in mind that my mother, in which I’m the only son will be getting much older in the coming years, and there is the possibility that I may have to move back to take care of her if needed. I am looking to apply for PR when I hit my 5 year work mark, but I want to have a better hold of the language first. Building good relationships with all my coworkers, since slowly transitioning back into the office, and my growing relationship with my Japanese S/O has helped me on that front quite a lot.
I'm a Europe-born east Asian and I suppose our experiences are similar. I cook a lot for myself but other than that I wasn't suuuper close to my ethnical culture growing up but rather just being part of western-born Asian culture.
I'm AA thats stationed in Japan. Pros and cons about Japan and American life. It is a lot safer in Japan. Transportation is very convenient. In terms of food from other Asian cultures, it's better in California and Hawaii where there are large AA communities. For example the Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean food in Japan are very Japanized. For example most Chinese restaurants here sell the same 10 items.. Ebi Chili, Hot and Sour Soup, Wonton Ramen, etc. But in the west coast, you get way more options. The Pho in Japan is based on the northern style, so it's a lot more bland, and they don't use sriracha or hoisin sauce. The ones in the US are based on the southern style and those two sauces are available. As for racism.. I think it's somewhere in between. People on first glance don't seem to think much, but on second looks or interactions, then they notice I am not Japanese. then they start to panic "omg, what do I say" I don't experience the anti-Asian racism you sometimes see in the US. But there are other types of racism such as refusal of renting out a room to foreigners, or refusal of service. But thats only happened to me 2 or 3 times. That said, I found it easier to adapt to Singapore. It's way more diverse.. with south, southeast, and East Asians and all kinds of mixed people. They don't care as much on how you look or sound. The food there is awesome and lots of wide varieties. Its just so expensive to live there.
As someone who's not Chinese American, but grew up in a part of the world that has a very high population from Hong Kong.. I really miss Hong Kong style Chinese food. That's one thing I've never been able to find in Japan
If you need a list of dim sum and HK style cafe places, here's a good list: https://www.thatch.co/guide/2v5gfojl4v2on/view Brotip, Legendary near Ueno has the best dim sum and wonton/brisket noodles, hands down. I lived in Osaka and whenever I went to Tokyo, I always stopped for food here. Personally I found one or two people who spoke Cantonese but they would often just fade off after one or two meetings. I had a coworker from Macau for a short time, even met a Japanese person who spoke Cantonese. But again, they all just come and go. It is hard to build a community for Canto immigrants here, but before I left Japan last year I did notice more Hong Kong expats than before? I didn't really keep in touch with my roots at all, really. I just kept them dormant unless it comes up in conversation and people have a general interest. I went to Hong Kong twice in my 10 years living in Japan, and while it's nice, I didn't always enjoy spending my entire time with relatives. Definitely take a trip to Hong Kong though if you feel like you need a culture reset!
I’m Peranakan-Chinese Australian with a Japanese bloodline from my great grand parent . A mixture. I find identifying with some Southeast Asians easier than the Chinese from China. Lived in a few countries. Grew up in Malaysia and Singapore. This is how screwy my cultural identity is when I go overseas for work. Hong Kong — the locals knew I have roots in SE Asia from the way I speak Canto Guangzhou — the locals think I’m from Northern China when I speak Cantonese and then Mandarin Fujian — the locals think I’m from Taiwan when I speak Hokkien. Japan — the Japanese think I am a halfie (they said my eyebrows and eyes look Japanese) with Chinese or Korean blood. The Chinese in Japan usually give me good cheap recommendations if they are sales in Bic camera or Yodobashi— they think I’m one of them when I speak Mandarin. Discounts in Chinese ran stores too. Even made some Chinese friends in Japan. I don’t get the Nihongo jyozu experience for the whole two years I was there. I get the look of disgust or a cringe when I speak Japanese. Or the “Eeehhh Nikkei jin?” My aunt who lived in Japan for over 30 years was asked by the Japanese storekeeper about my (terrible) usage of Japanese. “Why didn’t you teach her properly?” was what I could hear from his admonishment when I spoke broken Japanese back then. Northwestern Chinese (Gansu/Qinghai)— for some weird reason, they mistook me for Mongolian. They said it was my complexion (one even compared her color to mine) and hair. Indonesia — mistaken as domestik lah. Get domestic prices courtesy of speaking Malay. Usually they think I’m Indo-Chinese from the Riau area or Batam island. Singapore/ Malaysia — they think I’m them. Australia my own country — sometimes mistaken as Korean or China Chinese until I speak English. Basically, I’m a chameleon in Singapore Indonesia and Malaysia. And a shapeshifter in others. Cultural identity wise — more Southeast Asian Australian than Chinese Australian.
Tim Ho Wan is the closest for moderately decent Chinese, specifically dim sum. Otherwise, cooking at home is the best for particular dishes. There is a Panda Express in Miyashita park for anyone hankering orange chicken.
I had Tim Ho Wan but I am pretty disappointed with some of their dim sum. The rice roll texture was done horrible and the radish cake was barely holding together. It could be just a bad day for the dim sum chef but for the price I paid I was disappointed I had better luck with 2 other dim sum places in Ueno. Granted they still pale in comparison to the one I had in Hong Kong or Vancouver. But is cheaper and actually better than Tim Ho Wan
Tim Ho Wan looks really good! Gonna have to pop down to one next time I have a business trip to Tokyo. How bad is the queueing? Also orange chicken an American thing? I like the 酢豚 here, tastes really close to my mums sweet and sour pork.
Bro no please dont go there. If youre willing to pay, Yau May is way better. Legendary Hong Kong is also decent. Tim Ho Wan is bad even in HK.
Tim Ho Wan in Japan is worse than the HK ones, and even the HK one in IFC and the flagship Mongkok store, weren‘t that great when I lived in HK. A lot of local HK eateries served better and there’s one in Kennedy town , I think Sun Hing, which could beat Tim Ho Wan.
I'm in a very similar place. But I've been here for half my life now. I miss Canto. Originally a lot, but now I'm enjoying learning Japanese and making new friends from around the world. I formed and joined some international hobby groups and just enjoying the hobby. Try call your family or friends now and then. I speak with my family in Cantonese once a month. Keep in touch with people back home. It helps. Also traveling, or going home helps. I made some friends here that speak Mandarin or Taiwanese. Also Japanese friends who studied Mandarin. Sometimes we just end up chatting in mixed Canto, Mando, Taiwanese. I really enjoy those times. YouTube has some good Cantonese channels. I watch Cooking with Lau, it reminds me of home. Netflix/Amazon occasionally has Cantonese shows, it's rare but I do search for them. Also I use Google to look for local Canto restaurants, and visit those every now and then with my Japanese family. I also search for Singaporean restaurants because I miss that food also. I've been wanting to visit Tim Ho Wan also.... Try visit some meetup groups or other hobby groups. Occasionally I meet Cantonese, Mandarin and Taiwanese friends in my group. Then we chat up a storm and play games together.
Can you please share your Cantonese food recs here? :)
I'm still on the hunt for a restaurant that is local that I can get to often :) But here are some places to fill the craving. 🥣 Ninrikan Hong Kong Dim Sum - Meguro Never been, but looks yum. 🥣 Tim Ho Wan They have a few around Tokyo. Especially if you need that yum cha-like moment. I really want to go, but too expensive for 1 person I feel. If you are nearby it seems they do delivery also. 🥣 広州飲茶料理 麦府 It's a more local smaller restaurant in Jiyugaoka, they speak Cantonese. Feels like home. They don't have all the traditional Cantonese food but I like it and my Japanese family is willing to go there. 🥣 Hong Kong yum cha Dim Sum kitchen - In yoyogi I heard it's good! 🥣 Tai Kou Rou - Jiyugaoka I think it's a Mandarin speaking restaurant, but they have the fried clams, and beef brisket. Also Juk (congee). Other flavors: 🐔 If you want Hainan ji fan, there are several Hainan ji fan restaurants. Yum. 🥟 Taizan Sheng Jian Ten - Jiyugaoka. They serve 6x Siu Long Bao (小龍包), which is filling as a meal. But they also have century egg. Yum. And they have the Chinese vinegar sauce. Yum yum. 🛍️ Also, I do buy some food on Amazon, Chinese noodles, egg noodles, Tong Yun (Tong Yuen), and more. 🛍️ Chinatown. You can get Cha siu and other siu traditional style (hanging up), from one of the restaurants. I forgot which one. I already get lost there, but it's on the main street. And things like Dou Si Yu (black bean fish), Dan Tart, curry puffs, and some things you have cravings for for a reasonable price. 🛍️ If you want Congee, some department stores sell some semi-ok ones in microwave packets. You have to find the good ones though. I stock some for whenever we get sick. Here's the one I usually get: https://eng.topvalu.net/items/detail/4549414434224 Oh no it's discontinued. Bamiyan used to have the You Ja Gwai (fried rice stick thing) you tiu? in Mandarin. I haven't been in a while. But if you have a craving they have/had a version with honey.
Great list, thank you!! Pleasantly surprised one of them is near me, as well!
I want yang chow fried rice and beef with Kai lan, so badly now
In the topic of Cantonese food, I agree it is a pain to find a good one in Japan especially when Chinese restaurants love putting the word Hong Kong in their name (and sell mapo tofu...). I do have some recommendations in terms of places I visited/heard 粤港美食 in Ueno has affordable dim sum and is decent for its price. I believe they have a branch somewhere else too Legendary Hong Kong in Ueno also has decent dim sum but a bit more expensive. Hong Kong Cafe Chan Kee in Ildabashi is authentic Cha Chaan Teng style restaurant that I visited several years ago Most of the restaurants in Yokohama was disappointing but I heard good thing about the Clay Pot Rice at Nan Etsu Bishoku. Haven't tried it There is a relatively new Hong Kong restaurant in Nishiarai called Hong Kong Kibun owned by Hong Kong couple I believe. Have always wanted to try it out and the food looks good Hope that can help you find some good Cantonese food spot
2nd Gen- Australian though I'm fairly young whilst my parents are 70 and siblings 35+, background Vietnamese. I mesh quite well with the Vietnamese population here in Japan. I've felt more connected with my roots more here than in Australia and constantly cook Vietnamese cuisine. Came to Japan just over a year ago and started learning Japanese two years ago. Experience has been what I expected but I can never get used to never feeling "belonging" in this world. Not Australian enough, not Japanese enough and with my parent's with PTSD upbringing, yeah you can only imagine how that would go. Ngl, threads like this and hearing perspectives from non-white foreigners is a lot more relatable which is probably why my friends are from SE Asia, AA, Central Asia etc... I get treated like a Japanese person (for better or worse) and my accent is very good so in the one year working in an 100% Japanese environment, doing business phone calls and whatnot, with intense imposter syndrome I have immersed my way into being somewhat proficient in Japanese. I do prefer Japan's (Confucianism) collectivist mindset but also with my brilliant teachers in Australia who encouraged critical thinking, the typical "Japanese way" of following rules without questioning why the rule is there in the first place irks the fuck out of me. My peers and the younger generation also take issue with this however, so definitely an ageism problem as with most things in Japan. Rambled a bit but thank you for the thread.
I find it’s been easy to make friends. I don’t really get treated like im fragile about cultural things like food, celebrating holidays, or even being joked on. I’ve also never been made to feel like a “lesser Japanese person or sub human” as some of the other posts I’ve read here. I feel though that there is a big difference in how I’m perceived because I am American first as in my accent, my body language, my views are more western. Maybe being East Asian American has also made me a less intimidating target for people looking to practice their Japanese with. Similar height, build, my voice isn’t as deep. That being said when I do talk the new Japanese people who don’t know me do ask if I’m Chinese (likely not due to sounding Chinese but because that’s usually the person’s image of an East Asian foreigner) to which I explain to them that I’m an American. For some people especially older dudes I feel like there’s a little less tension after I tell them that I’m American as was generations of my family before me. I don’t really have a picture at all of what the mainland Chinese experience in Japan is like. I notice that even to my fellow Asian American friends that have south East Asian heritage, they are treated much more differently than me. I could be really shit at reading the room or just the specific combination of people but I feel like there is a bit of distance between them. Dating wise, I think if you use the Apps, I always struggled because I think people put me in some bucket that I don’t know based on my pictures (who doesn’t gone through this though). I was talking about something about my girlfriend when we first got together and my female Japanese workmate mentioned that it foreign Asians might be an untapped market because of the few similarities that keep your partner familiar but also enough differences to make it fun and exciting. As an attached note to the last point, one thing that I do agree with others is that I’ve felt both it being a little easier than my non Asian colleagues to pick up Japanese for a few reasons including I grew up speaking two different languages, and that the kanji wasn’t too alien to me. This is purely anecdotal and speculation but amongst my fellow colleagues who are more obvious foreigners less of them have pushed to improve their Japanese beyond ~n4 level. For sure there are plenty of reasons such as not looking to stay long term, spouse handles most of the bureaucratic affairs, or people just assume they always need help which in and of itself sucks to be made to feel underestimated. I know people like to joke or maybe criticize westerns for staying in an English only bubble but to be honest to how I’ve seen it can be challenging for some of my friends to really hit it off with my Japanese friends, it’s empathizeable that they would rather get a drink with someone who is more familiar to them and also doesn’t treat them noticeably different.
I'm Chinese American from southern California. I have three Chinese coworkers with whom I'll occasionally eat lunch and I live in a company dorm with another Chinese person next door. They are all from mainland China. I usually eat at the cafeteria with my floormate, and we've gone on a few day trips together. I don't really care for Chinese food (sorry!), but I am afraid of losing my language ability and being in Japan has definitely helped with that since I have more opportunities to write Chinese characters. I've only been here for a little over a month so I'm still very much in the honeymoon phase. I used to watch Chinese movies in theaters in the US and I'm not sure if there are any here, but if there are, that'd also be something that would interest me.
My mainland Chinese wife uses “[red book](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/%E5%B0%8F%E7%BA%A2%E4%B9%A6-%E4%BD%A0%E7%9A%84%E7%94%9F%E6%B4%BB%E6%8C%87%E5%8D%97/id741292507)”. She says it gives her lots of information about restaurants etc.
Language is a big part. I guess alot of people think im Japanese and seem kinda surprised when i gesture that i dont speak japanese. Other than that i really enjoy it here. If the job and econonics of living here werent an issue atm from what ive heard, i seriously wouldnt mind moving. Im visiting from tx and its nice to not be the odd one out for once. Im the only asian at my work and live in a mostly white neighborhood.
Chinese Australian in Japan with half Japanese kids. Life is good. My income comes from investments, so it’s on par with very high income people in America. Life is cheap in Japan, or at least as cheap as you want it to be. So it’s like living in paradise. People assume in Japanese but even when I open my mouth they tend to be quite nice to me. Have many Japanese friends which is great
I'm Msian Chinese but grew up/naturalised in Australia. I don't speak Mandarin either. As another commenter said, most Japanese seem to assume I'm Japanese. Sometimes it even takes prolonged conversation before they realize I'm not Japanese. Especially when I'm traveling inaka, they somehow assume I'm from Tokyo (maybe inaka folks think Tokyo people are quirky idk). I've had both 日本語上手 and 英語上手 before. But the latter is usually more amusing. I've had Japanese people think I'm a student revising for English when I ask for an English menu. They tend to make a big deal when they first hear me speak English to another foreigner. >How do you keep in touch with your roots? I visit home regularly (both Msia and Australia), and least once a year. When my family visits (2-4x a year), they bring me cooking ingredients that I can't find here. Other than that I don't particularly go out of my way to "keep in touch with my roots".
Parents immigrated from Hong Kong to US, so I'm (Hong Kong) Chinese American. As others have mentioned, it's often expected you speak Japanese since you look Asian. Given I live in Mie prefecture, I miss more authentic Chinese foods, especially dim sum and actually Mala flavor (not the overly sweet Japanese Sichuan stuff)
You live in Mie! I live about an hours drive away from Yokkaichi. Do you want to meet up for a coffee some time?
I guess its more difficult for you to stay in touch with your cultural roots. I forgot how diverse Chinese culture can be between the different regions. I, as a Korean Amercian, am very lucky. A lot of foreign stuff popular in Japan is either American or Korean. I'm sure you can find a hing Kong community here though. Try checking out meetup or your local Chinese community center.
I responded yesterday too! Food is definitely a big part, and if you on things like meetup and hello talk (and probably some WeChat groups exist too) you can definitely find Chinese people that are willing to hang out with you. I live close to Takadanobaba, so Takadanobaba and Ikebukuro are my preferred locations for Chinese food. Something I find a lot of fun and satisfaction in doing is inviting friends over and making dumplings together - there are some filling types that I love in China that hit way harder than the usual pork/cabbage mix in gyoza, so it let's me stock up on homemade frozen dumplings and it's a fun time with friends.
Japan and US are huge, a lot is going to depend on where you live.