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“My first time abroad, I got robbed. I was doing an internship in France when I decided to go to Pamplona to see Spain’s bull run. Coming from India, I’m always careful with my wallet, but just not that day. I instantly regretted it after a thief used a blade to slash open my pocket and steal my money. I reported it to the police but was told no English. Good thing a British lady who spoke Spanish helped me translate, otherwise I would’ve had a nervous breakdown since it was already 4 a.m. and the thought of walking 400 km back to France didn’t excite me. After calling my dad to cancel my credit card, the officer dropped me off to the bus terminal so I could get back to Toulouse. He wrote something on my passport to show the bus driver to let me board the bus without paying. But then the next bus wasn’t scheduled to leave for another two days. I was in despair when my luck started to turn around—free Wi-Fi! I was able to get a hold of someone at my internship who then arranged a ride on BlaBlaCar. I also miraculously ran into an old Indian friend of mine at the station, who let me borrow 50 euros. Only problem was, I had a big falling out with him, so I had to swallow my pride when I asked him for help. He was very sympathetic and we even buried the hatchet. I got back safe and was grateful for all the good Samaritans who showed me kindness. From then on, I vowed to pass it forward.” . . . #humansoftokyo #tokyointerlopers #外人 #外国人 #India #gaijin #humansofjapan #tokyo #東京 #Japanlife #lifeinjapan #インド #インド人 #ポートレート #japan #アジア人 #indian #tokyophotography #urbanandstreet #portrait #diversitymatters #rawurbanshots #tokyolife #gaijinlife #travelgram #diversity #goodsamaritan #kindness #留学 #studyabroad

“I’m trying to help kids back home in Ghana live better lives.” . . . . . . . #Ghana #ガーナ #アフリカ #アフリカ人 #humansoftokyo #tokyointerlopers #外人 #外国人 #黒人 #gaijin #humansofjapan #tokyo #東京 #Japanlife #japan #多様性人 #lifeinjapan #tokyolife #gaijinlife #NGO #donate #helppeoplelivebetterlives #kidsareourfuture #peopleoftokyo #foreignersinjapan #volunteer

私はとても恥ずかしがり屋なんです。強くそう自覚しています。頭の中でいつも考えていることは、「ああ、あんなこと言わない方が良かったかな」とか、「仮に、この人が私のこと好きじゃないとしたら？」なんてことです。でも今は、ムエタイのおかげで、何かをやり遂げられそうな気持ちです。リングに上がる時は集中します。自分じゃない誰かになろうとする心配なんかしないで、自分の全エネルギーを、顔面めがけてパンチを繰り出す相手へと集中させるのです。私はストレスから、このスポーツにのめり込んだんです。日本に来る大方の人と同じく、私はサービスのクオリティに感動しました。故郷のフランスでは外国人にフランス語を教えていましたが、ワーキングホリデービザで日本に滞在しようと決めました。ベーカリーで仕事を見つけた時、私は直面するであろう日本の顧客サービスの厳しい現実について分かっていませんでした。日本人はよくこんなふうに言います。お客様は神様です。3年後、あなたは私がいい経験をしたと思うかもしれません。いえいえ、とんでもないですよ。次に私は羽田空港で、またもやサービスの仕事を見つけ、そこでまた難しいお客様を相手に、仕事に臨むことになりました。ある日、友人がジムでキックボクシングを始めたと私に言いました。面白そうだと思って始めてみて、そして、もう本当に本当に好きになってしまいました。今、私のストレスを管理するのに役立っています。最初は怖かったんですけど、スキューバダイビングも始めてみました。もしあなたが2年前の私に、リングに上がって誰かに顔面めがけてパンチをしたり、15メートルも深い海へダイビングすることを話したとしたら、私は何をバカなことを、と思ったでしょう。今では、夢にも思わなかったことをやっていて、自分自身の限界を押し広げています。かつては何の自信も無かった女の子にしては、悪くないと思いますね。【翻訳：Yuri Moriyama】 #humansoftokyo #tokyointerlopers #外人 #外国人 #womenstories #gaijin #humansofjapan #tokyo #東京 #Japanlife #lifeinjapan #women #French #MuayThai #ポートレート #japan #フランス #スポーツ #チャレンジ #womenempowerment #attacktheshot #portrait #多様性 #empoweringwomen #フランス人 #lifeinjapan #tokyolife #諦めない #womenportraits #gaijinlife

“It’s kind of strange that a Greek guy came to Japan thanks to Japan-Sweden relations. I was studying in a Swedish university and somehow by stroke of luck, we got a chance to visit Japan and we liked the place. We applied for a job here, and to be honest, the company had never interviewed any foreigners before. We decided to stay back here and haven’t gone back since! There is something I really like about Tokyo - the noise. Don’t take me the wrong way, but Athens, where I come from, is also as noisy as Tokyo. There are people walking around all the time. By noise, I don’t mean I like people shouting outside restaurants asking you to come in but rather the liveliness of Tokyo all the time. I prefer the noise, even though I am not part of it, I like the noise. Coming from Sweden, I was looking for something like that. In Sweden, during weekdays and especially during winters things get very slow and very quiet. I like the difference in culture here, I mean it’s not as cosmopolitan as elsewhere like Paris or somewhere. But I like the difference in Asian culture - the cultural diversity I can experience as a foreigner in Tokyo. Asian societies can be similar, but they are very different from me. I get to be in touch with people from Japan, China, Philippines, Indonesia, India, Taiwan, French, Russians on a daily basis. I didn’t know much about Asian culture when I was in Europe, so I am exploring that right now. I can see how people see things differently, it doesn’t mean I am right and you are wrong, it’s just difference in perspectives.” Story and 📸: @arpitjain099 . #humansoftokyo #tokyointerlopers #外人 #外国人 #gaijin #humansofjapan #tokyo #東京 #Japanlife #lifeinjapan #スエーデン #Greece #ポートレート #japan #Sweden #Swedish #tokyophotography #urbanandstreet #attacktheshot #portrait #diversitymatters #rawurbanshots #ギリシア #tokyolife #ギリシア人 #Greek #gaijinlife #lifewelltraveled #neverstopexploring

“I was heartbroken and a bit bored of my finance job in London so I decided to do some soul-searching while exploring the world for a couple of months. I found myself in South East Asia then Japan. A week before leaving, I met an Indonesian girl at a bar after she noticed I had a bag with the word ‘Bali’ written on it. We hit it off right away, started going out, and I decided to come back to Japan and find a job here. I’m French, she’s Indonesian. Her family’s in Indonesia (some of them in Japan) and mine’s in France. We’re figuring out where to live and what I want to do in terms of work. It’s easy to fall into a routine and keep on going. But my grandmother and mom are getting older and they don’t support my decision to live in Japan. My grandma doesn’t even know why I’m in Japan. My mom knows, but she doesn’t support my personal choices, such as being in a same-sex relationship. But that’s fine, I just do what makes me happy. Right now, we live together and hope to get married in the future. Of course as a same-sex, binational couple, we have our fair share of difficulties, owing to cultural differences and way of communicating.” (Anne-Laure coaches professionals and provides corporate training on http://innodeezconsulting.co.uk/ She also has a photography blog: http://www.annelaure-orosco.com/) . . . #humansoftokyo #tokyointerlopers #外人 #外国人 #womenstories #gaijin #humansofjapan #tokyo #東京 #Japanlife #lifeinjapan #women #フランス #フランス人 #ポートレート #japan #LGBT #French #tokyophotography #urbanandstreet #attacktheshot #portrait #diversitymatters #rawurbanshots #フランス語 #tokyolife #samesexmarriage #womenportraits #gaijinlife

"When my husband got a job offer in Japan, I was working in advertising as a designer and account manager in Mexico. It was super cool that he found a great job at a good company, doing what he loves. But while I supported the decision to move here, what about me? What am I supposed to do in Japan? After all, next to family, people usually spend most of their time at work. I noticed a lot of the people in Japanese language schools were in the same boat. They got married and moved here, but only one of them is in a good position while the other one is just muddling along life. If someone knocks on their door, they won’t know what to do because of the language barrier. But you can’t live in an English-speaking-bubble forever. If you need to go to the dentist, see a doctor, or get a haircut, you can’t always go to where there are English-speakers. That’s not living. I also realized we have to keep being the person we were before going abroad. Although we must leave things behind, start afresh, and make new friends when adapting to life overseas, you have to continue who you truly are. I’ve met people who used to have great jobs before coming to Japan. They were in sales, marketing or tourism, but now work part-time at a convenience store after following their heart. It's not bad, although kind of sad.” (To see @vivianazula1 photo gallery, visit: www.vivianphotography.net) . . #humansoftokyo #tokyointerlopers #外人 #外国人 #womenstories #gaijin #humansofjapan #tokyo #東京 #Japanlife #lifeinjapan #women #Mexico #Mexican #ポートレート #japan #メキシコ #メキシコ人 #tokyophotography #urbanandstreet #attacktheshot #portrait #diversitymatters #rawurbanshots #スペイン語 #tokyolife #nevergiveup #womenportraits #gaijinlife

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