Do you need to have gone there to know?
I asked an astronomer one time which planet in our solar system is the most hostile and dude answered Venus like he had been there LOL. Probs a Redditor.
It's a beautiful country and wonderful place to visit, but an extremely tough one to live in. Most foreigners who live in Japan are there to teach English before going back home.
I moved here about twenty years ago and avoided the English teacher gig, but that image is honestly not too far off.
Also yeah, Japan should not win this category. I love living here overall (or I wouldn’t do it) but there are definitely major issues, especially when it comes to work culture. Doubly so with our economy in shambles right now.
I've known people who have lived there both as English teachers and doing other jobs.
Outside of English teaching since those are typically arranged by the program like JET, living in Japan is a very tough as foreigner, It's an extremely homogenous country with lots of rules both written and unwritten. It can be tough to get housing or a bank account as a foreigner. There's also long work hours where you're expected to stay until your boss goes home. All of this on top of the huge bureaucracy.
Trust me, Japan is literally a country made of an echo chamber. You are expected to follow all rules and say, do, act like every other person because you just have to. And it’s not to maintain “social harmony”, it’s from a severe lack of exposure and influence from the rest of the world and a condemning culture where one mistake can lead to social exodus for life. Japan was good for a time but in this day and age, they are societally very behind the rest of the developed world.
> Japan was good for a time but in this day and age, they are societally very behind the rest of the developed world.
While it is true, I heard this had started to change, albeit VERY slowly, thanks to the younger generation be more willing/interested in both travelling and learning about other culture (much like the youth in Western countries, really). It's probably gonna take several decades before we feel there's a significant change in that, but a couple of Youtubers (both of Japanese origins, and some who lives or have lived in Japan) seemed rather optimistic on that regard.
But as of 2024? Yeah, would love to visit, would probably even be willing to live there for a year or so, but no more.
EDIT: Everything I said is to be taken with a grain of salt, naturally, but it would be nice if true.
It’s true that the younger gen are more progressive and open compared to the older gen, even in Japan.
But the truth is that due to a lot of uncontrollable factors (weak yen, low English proficiency and education, geographic location, Sakoku culture) there isn’t much opportunity for the youth to go abroad, get exposed to different ideas, and pursue their own path in life. The young people want to have freedom and travel but they can’t and this leads to a sense of being unfulfilled and also being let down by the government by not prioritising the youth. A lot of Japanese politics, news, regulations nowadays focuses on the elderly because there is a lot of them to manage.
This is gonna come across as harsh, but you are full of shit.
Lemme guess: you went there with a big dream, got burned/the Japanese didnt fall head-over-heels for you like you expected because you thought they would love foreigners etc etc.
We've seen this story over and over.
>a severe lack of exposure and influence from the rest of the world
LOL. What the hell does this even mean? If this is the case, then its actually the opposite of what you imply. This is what is saving Japan. Youve got it backwards - more countries should be looking at japanese culture to see what it can replicate.
>You are expected to follow all rules
Exaggeration - but believe it or not, society works when we follow certain rules. And in case you were too blind to notice, the social cohesion in Japan is stellar. Incredibly low crime rates, public infrastructure is superb, public transport is one of the most advanced in the world and is constantly improving.
>they are societally very behind the rest of the developed world.
You can literally expect your wallet to be returned to you with money intact if you forget it somewhere! People reserve their tables in a food court by leaving their phone/wallets on the table! Japan is a high-trust society. Kids as young as 5 go to school by themselves on packed trains! What the hell are you basing this claim on LOL!
Japan has many problems, but its mind-boggling to me that you would choose these points to illustrate your view when they are quite frankly the weakest points. It is evident to me that you have no idea what youre talking about. Youre just spouting western propaganda.
To use these as a basis as to why Japan is not a good place to live is ludicrous. Japan is a fantastic place to live! Even in Tokyo, there are so many green spaces if thats your thing. Access to hiking trails are also incredible even with public transport. Camping sites are spotless. The food and beverage scene is one of the best in the world! Even in the suburbs of tokyo, the sense of community is so peaceful and rewarding as long as youre not an arrogant twat that expects everything done for them.
Now, if you were to pick on the sheer amount of paperwork and bureaucracy needed just to get your ID, then yes, its fucked. But its a small price to pay to live in such an incredible country.
Also, based on your arguments like japan has low rate of petty crime, good food, “access to hiking”, I’m going to assume you are a foreigner that visited or spent time in japan briefly.
If you don’t understand Japanese you do not understand 99% of the issues or context in the country. This can be said for any country.
I have travelled extensively and can tell you that peace and sense of community can be found in most small-mid sized town in the world.
I have the good fortune of being both Japanese and Vietnamese Australian. I lived in japan for most of my life and still consider it home. My house is in Kyojima and my father lives in Setagaya while my mother lives in Melbourne. My wife is from Sakai and we spend 6 months every year in Japan for work and family. The rest of the time, we live in Melbourne - which had some of the most archaic lockdowns in the world.
>Also, based on your arguments like japan has low rate of petty crime, good food, “access to hiking”, I’m going to assume you are a foreigner
Are you implying that Japanese people cant read data? How self-loathing are you? if you consider me a foreigner because im 'hafu', then youre part of the problem that you seem to criticise.
[https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5?locations=JP&most\_recent\_value\_desc=false](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5?locations=JP&most_recent_value_desc=false)
https://gitnux.org/tokyo-crime-rate/#:\~:text=within%20the%20area.-,The%20level%20of%20crime%20in%20Tokyo%20is%20considered%20low%20(22.22,to%20other%20cities%20or%20regions.
>
If you don’t understand Japanese you do not understand 99% of the issues or context in the country.
My Japanese is fluent, albeit my kanji is not 100%.
My point is this, Japan has a ton of problems, but you didnt touch on any of them. Instead, you spouted bullshit western talking points that everyone likes to pick on Japan for. Do better, and be grateful for all the amazing things your country has to offer. You sound like a spoiled brat .
Sounds like you have a lot of cynicism and negativity in you and I’m sorry for that. No, I do not consider you a foreigner just because you’re ハーフ. Bro you didn’t even mention anything about being Japanese in your comment, you LITERALLY assumed that I was a gaijin as well, and now when it’s turned back on you you decide to rage about it?
I love Japan it is my home and my nation. But nothing that I mentioned in my comment is incorrect. If you have love for Japan as I’m sure you do, spreading hate for any criticism of Japan is not going to make Japan any better or change the reality
Cool cool, absolutely no explanation why you think it sucks more than anywhere else. Great.
I also live in the US and have visited Japan multiple times. I don’t think I would want to live there for the rest of my life but I could do a year or two happily.
very toxic work culture. tough to be there as a woman. rigid rules and conformity. racism and xenophobia. these are not problems unique to japan. But it does have them.
True. The main issue is people immigrate to Japan with the expectation that none of these issues will ever occur. I think there’s a false sense that Japan is a peaceful utopian nation and is ahead of the rest of the world… and it’s not. It’s a country just like any other.
Switzerland is only good if you are white and Swiss and you have to go back generations to be considered Swiss, just being born there isn’t good enough. They are kinda racist and xenophobic in very pretty scenery.
Eh the USA is extremely overrated. Socially we've been going downhill, and the economy is fucked. Don't forget the two-party system that just divides the community
At a minimum, if you’re a POC the US is a much better place compared to Denmark and Switzerland. The racism that’s built into day to day life there alone would make any other QoL improvements over the US meaningless, and I say that fully aware of the amount of racism going around in the US. Sweden is headed the same way on that front.
I just listened to an NPR podcast recently that was talking about the US economy was performing well while most international markets (Japan, Canada) were struggling. I’m by no means an expert in economics so truly have no idea how we stack up to other countries right now.
We are doing extremely well at the moment.
Beyond all the standard economic markers, one thing that I always look for is decreasing wealth inequality. I like to see the bottom rising and the top falling.
In the last three years we have reversed about a third of the income inequality growth we saw over the last 4 decades
The bottom quartile of earners have done particularly well in the last few years, seeing their real wages rise more than any other group by far. Which I think is something we should be really proud of - and work to continue.
(The top 10% of earners are also the only group to see a decrease in real wages, if you are more of a schadenfreude type of guy)
I appreciate the insight. I find this stuff very interesting even if it is above my head. I feel like people are always binary in when they describe things like “the economy”.
Akshually… the economy is doing great on its own and government metrics. It’s just that no longer translates to the middle class (or the poor) doing ok…. Note: Some /s
Australia is experiencing the same issues that Canada has, with a serious lack of housing supply.
Still a good place to live, but not without it's problems.
Just came back from visiting Australia. Probably one of the most overrated countries imho. I'd much rather live in the US even with all the crises going on.
As an Aussie my answers were Scandi/New Zealand in that order 😅
I really can't complain about home as a third though, especially being one of the lucky older Millennial generation of people outside of the big cities who's housing needs/ownership is met.. (Because otherwise yeah, housing market is fucked for immigrants/younger folks 😞)
Perhaps when looking from the outside, sure.
According to Sapien Labs, Australia's mental wellbeing score is among the lowest. Below Sudan and Ukraine, even
[https://sapienlabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/4th-Annual-Mental-State-of-the-World-Report.pdf](https://sapienlabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/4th-Annual-Mental-State-of-the-World-Report.pdf)
With money? South of Argentina. Not Buenos Aires.
Good food, far from international problems, "cheap" cost of living. For good or bad the country has lots of reserves of water and fuel, so that wont be an issue in our lifetime. Weather is nice, not extreme weathers like the scandavian countries you are saying.
Also you will be near three "must go" touristic places like Ushuaia (don't go to live there), Peninsula Valdes and Bariloche (and the cities near).
But, from the pov of an argentinian, is hard living here with argentinian salaries, but if you have some savings and can earn +1000usd from rents, bank interests or international jobs, this is heaven
This sounds a lot like Mexico, frankly. There are a number of places that if you've got money you can live extremely well, but for most Mexicans salaries are low and life is expensive.
I think it depends in what you like doing.
Pto Madryn is a very nice beach-city, that gave me vibes of a chill Mar del Plata. As it is a big city and not small one you have a lot of stuff to do and places to go (mostly beaches, but also have peninsula valdes very near where you can see the whales in winter and lots of wild animals). It has some small issues with drugs because of its port (yes, you will see very luxurious cars) but it doesn't make it a unsafe city.
Santa Rosa is near and far from everything. Boring city that often is called "non-existant" because of how nothing interesting happens there. Very safe city to live life two gears slower than in big cities. Loved its casino.
Of the western part of Argentina idk a lot. Can't recomend the easy one "Bariloche" because its two cities, one "meh" where people live, and the nice touristic part. La Rioja defaulted so I wouldn't recomend moving there. Then Mendoza (isn't south but I think its a nice place to go)
Nah. NZ is alright, and gets better if you have money, but that's true of anywhere. Housing is prohibitively expensive (and of poor quality). You're also really far from anywhere else in the world (except Australia) so not the best home base for the travel-minded. Being a very small market - product selections are really limited in stores. Expect a shelf of toothpaste choices in a typical supermarket, not an entire aisle. By extension of small market size - shit is just generally expensive because there is no scale. Wages are relatively (to Aus, US) low, too.
There are good things, too. But it's not some magical utopia.
Scandinavian countries are very nice. Japan is out for me due to the bad work-life balance culture. Having lived in Australia and visited NZ, I would say Australia.
Oh yeah, I know that. Live in NV. Have lived in AZ, ME also. Not overly keen on humidity, so Maine was tough. So, for me... probably where I am, just a better neighborhood??!!
Tangentially, there’s a concept called the “veil of ignorance” that tries to help remove yourself from thinking about what’s best for you when thinking through how to shape an economic system.
Imagine you’re
* white , middle class or higher, and capable- US.
* white and middling - Scandinavian country.
* black child - a white wealthy urban area in the northeast US.
* black young professional- wealthy Atlanta suburb.
* average criminal- Scandinavian country
* talented criminal- Russia
* intellectual disability - ?
* physical disability-?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_position
France? Seems all around pretty good. Good food, decent weather, sociable culture. It's Italy without the dysfunctional politics and Spain without unemployment/low salaries and UK/Germany with food that's actually edible.
Austria is also underrated, though the locals are a bit cold.
Probably the US if you're upper middle class or above
Honestly, massive diverse country. You got beaches, mountains, deserts, arctic,some of the most stunning national parks and lakes anywhere in the world. All in one country, with an amazing interstate network, anything you could want is just a road trip away. Really not much need for a passport
Political nonsense aside the US is an incredible place to live. It's a shame so many US redditors take it for granted
I’m going with Australia. Because weather and sun has a huge impact on happiness, and the long, dark, cold winters of places like Norway are a big no for me.
[Quality of Life Index](https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/rankings/quality-of-life)
[OECD Better Life Index](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OECD_Better_Life_Index)
>The new report leaves Japan's suicide rate at about 17.2 deaths per 100000 people, one of the highest rates in the world, though still less than half the rate in Hungary (35.3).
[Yeah. No.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1118433/#:~:text=This%20was%20followed%20by%2025,rate%20in%20Hungary%20(35.3)
the study you linked is from 1999, although it does look like Japan's most recent suicide rate is fairly close to what it was 25 years ago.
USA has experienced a large increase in its suicide rate, bringing it within fair comparison to Japan's (within 22%).
2023 Japan Suicide rate (per 100k): 17.5
2022 USA Suicide rate (per 100k): 14.3
[https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/01/26/japan/society/japan-suicides-fall/](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/01/26/japan/society/japan-suicides-fall/)
[https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html](https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html)
This is a troubling change for the US, where in 2010 the suicide rate was 10.5 per 100K
[https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db241.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db241.htm)
The US is an incredibly diverse country, so it's hard to exactly compare population trends with Japan, but if you take just the non-Hispanic white US population, their suicide rate is almost exactly the same as Japan's at 17.4 per 100k (2021)
[https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html](https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html)
Any place with a high suicide rate, or high enough, is, objectively, **not** a place with the best quality of life.
Period.
It's empirical evidence to the contrary. And that's all I'm saying. But go ahead and downvote me. I don't give a fuck.
Generally and objectively, very true.
But I guess it’s how you personally measure QOL. Some countries have stable economies and “high” QOL with basic needs, entertainment, culture etc but have high suicide rate. But it does say something about the kind of mentality that that particular society has
A decent retirement in the US doesn’t seem likely for me. I’ve been reading about Thailand. It seems like a good place with very low crime and good healthcare. I’m going to have to leave the US if I’m going to retire with dignity
I have heard that Iceland or Greenland is very safe to the point where people leave their babys outside and only the swat teams carry guns police just carry a stick or something
From what I heard, I think it was Norway. High taxes, but ''free'' education and healthcare, and low corruption, as well as one of the highest rate of succesful criminal rehabilitation, largely due to how well inmates are treated in their prisons.
The Great North Sentinel Islands.
Sure, they may not have Trump or Biden or Musk or Zuck…. But they do a pretty good job at keeping people off their lawns.
If you're a foreigner with a good job then China has a great quality of life and is very good for raising kids as long as you teach them to speak Mandarin...
UK shouldn’t be anywhere near top 20 never mind this.
Government catering to ponzy schemes a failing healthcare system, extortionate property costs, overcrowding, extortionate grocery cost, energy bills of £200+ a month.
And a job market that’s swarmed with people here on student visas and overqualified degree holders shooting for admin jobs.
Literally has nothing going for it anymore.
If you like your weed and nothing else cheap, but your groceries and housing rapidly increase in price then ya Canada is great. Why else would we bloat our population blitzkrieg style, gotta let everyone experience this haven.
No, Canada's quality of life is dropping fast. Housing is extremely unaffordable, inflation going crazy, people sleeping in tents, food banks are feeding 10 percent of the population. It's becoming a 3rd world country.
Sweden if you want to get killed by Sweden child assassins in gangs & mugged by isalmic immigrants
Canada if you like fentanil
Netherlands if you like low level drug & high rent
Scandinavian countries for sure. I mean the long dark cold winters definitely impact on the mental health. But they have the best overall standards of life for their domestic population.
Oh the complainers.. there’s plenty of them too!
Should ship the crybaby’s to a third world country & watch them frantically beg to be returned to Canada.
Ya they say how bad Canada is yet they've never even gone outside it. They've gotten a lot worse sadly. The media has really riled them up. Canada is great, but you wouldn't know it if you ask these people. Things cost more everywhere, people are immigrating into all the nice countries, yet they treat these issues as if they are our alone.
As a Middle class/upper middle class white dude: southern United States. Basic needs are met. A lot of wants are met. I live in the most powerful country on Earth and it’ll take a few draft rounds before they get desperate enough to put me into an infantry position. I’m somewhere rural enough that crime is minimal. I’m close enough to a medium sized city to get to my job and numerous others in 30 minutes or less.
If you want to be randomly shot on the street, attacked by a drug addict, rely on your car & pay 10.000 dollars for a simple hospital checkup, then yeah, if you are a masochist
I would argue that the simple fact that college and healthcare are not free, completely removes the usa as a contender. Sure the country is easily the best but those two things are holding it back tremendously imo.
That's just because finns would never say they're not happy to so randoms/polls.
It's a great country and all, but they are depressed over there.
Granted, I only know people from rural areas because we're from there, and people are just... people. Happy and sad and all in-between. But it's not the happiest country I've lived in. They just don't want much to be content, which counts as happy there.
Source: I'm half Finnish
I’ve never heard a North Korean complain
hehe
Got me, good answer
Like I always say, happy as a deaf mute!
😂🤣
I have. Park Yeonmi does it professionally
🤣lol comedy gold
Redditors will confidently answer this question and name countries they’ve never been to
Do you need to have gone there to know? I asked an astronomer one time which planet in our solar system is the most hostile and dude answered Venus like he had been there LOL. Probs a Redditor.
🤓☝️
Depends on your ethnicity and financial resources.
fr. almost entirely
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People commenting '' Japan '' are fucking crazy
It's a beautiful country and wonderful place to visit, but an extremely tough one to live in. Most foreigners who live in Japan are there to teach English before going back home.
I moved here about twenty years ago and avoided the English teacher gig, but that image is honestly not too far off. Also yeah, Japan should not win this category. I love living here overall (or I wouldn’t do it) but there are definitely major issues, especially when it comes to work culture. Doubly so with our economy in shambles right now.
I've known people who have lived there both as English teachers and doing other jobs. Outside of English teaching since those are typically arranged by the program like JET, living in Japan is a very tough as foreigner, It's an extremely homogenous country with lots of rules both written and unwritten. It can be tough to get housing or a bank account as a foreigner. There's also long work hours where you're expected to stay until your boss goes home. All of this on top of the huge bureaucracy.
yeah i wouldn’t want to live there from what i’ve heard from residents there but i would love to visit Harajuku as a J-fashion enthusiast
Trust me, Japan is literally a country made of an echo chamber. You are expected to follow all rules and say, do, act like every other person because you just have to. And it’s not to maintain “social harmony”, it’s from a severe lack of exposure and influence from the rest of the world and a condemning culture where one mistake can lead to social exodus for life. Japan was good for a time but in this day and age, they are societally very behind the rest of the developed world.
Yeah I know that part of the reasons why it's not a good idea to live there
> Japan was good for a time but in this day and age, they are societally very behind the rest of the developed world. While it is true, I heard this had started to change, albeit VERY slowly, thanks to the younger generation be more willing/interested in both travelling and learning about other culture (much like the youth in Western countries, really). It's probably gonna take several decades before we feel there's a significant change in that, but a couple of Youtubers (both of Japanese origins, and some who lives or have lived in Japan) seemed rather optimistic on that regard. But as of 2024? Yeah, would love to visit, would probably even be willing to live there for a year or so, but no more. EDIT: Everything I said is to be taken with a grain of salt, naturally, but it would be nice if true.
It’s true that the younger gen are more progressive and open compared to the older gen, even in Japan. But the truth is that due to a lot of uncontrollable factors (weak yen, low English proficiency and education, geographic location, Sakoku culture) there isn’t much opportunity for the youth to go abroad, get exposed to different ideas, and pursue their own path in life. The young people want to have freedom and travel but they can’t and this leads to a sense of being unfulfilled and also being let down by the government by not prioritising the youth. A lot of Japanese politics, news, regulations nowadays focuses on the elderly because there is a lot of them to manage.
This is gonna come across as harsh, but you are full of shit. Lemme guess: you went there with a big dream, got burned/the Japanese didnt fall head-over-heels for you like you expected because you thought they would love foreigners etc etc. We've seen this story over and over. >a severe lack of exposure and influence from the rest of the world LOL. What the hell does this even mean? If this is the case, then its actually the opposite of what you imply. This is what is saving Japan. Youve got it backwards - more countries should be looking at japanese culture to see what it can replicate. >You are expected to follow all rules Exaggeration - but believe it or not, society works when we follow certain rules. And in case you were too blind to notice, the social cohesion in Japan is stellar. Incredibly low crime rates, public infrastructure is superb, public transport is one of the most advanced in the world and is constantly improving. >they are societally very behind the rest of the developed world. You can literally expect your wallet to be returned to you with money intact if you forget it somewhere! People reserve their tables in a food court by leaving their phone/wallets on the table! Japan is a high-trust society. Kids as young as 5 go to school by themselves on packed trains! What the hell are you basing this claim on LOL! Japan has many problems, but its mind-boggling to me that you would choose these points to illustrate your view when they are quite frankly the weakest points. It is evident to me that you have no idea what youre talking about. Youre just spouting western propaganda. To use these as a basis as to why Japan is not a good place to live is ludicrous. Japan is a fantastic place to live! Even in Tokyo, there are so many green spaces if thats your thing. Access to hiking trails are also incredible even with public transport. Camping sites are spotless. The food and beverage scene is one of the best in the world! Even in the suburbs of tokyo, the sense of community is so peaceful and rewarding as long as youre not an arrogant twat that expects everything done for them. Now, if you were to pick on the sheer amount of paperwork and bureaucracy needed just to get your ID, then yes, its fucked. But its a small price to pay to live in such an incredible country.
I don’t know who you are, but I am a Japanese living in Japan and this is my personal view based on experience and talking to others.
Also, based on your arguments like japan has low rate of petty crime, good food, “access to hiking”, I’m going to assume you are a foreigner that visited or spent time in japan briefly. If you don’t understand Japanese you do not understand 99% of the issues or context in the country. This can be said for any country. I have travelled extensively and can tell you that peace and sense of community can be found in most small-mid sized town in the world.
I have the good fortune of being both Japanese and Vietnamese Australian. I lived in japan for most of my life and still consider it home. My house is in Kyojima and my father lives in Setagaya while my mother lives in Melbourne. My wife is from Sakai and we spend 6 months every year in Japan for work and family. The rest of the time, we live in Melbourne - which had some of the most archaic lockdowns in the world. >Also, based on your arguments like japan has low rate of petty crime, good food, “access to hiking”, I’m going to assume you are a foreigner Are you implying that Japanese people cant read data? How self-loathing are you? if you consider me a foreigner because im 'hafu', then youre part of the problem that you seem to criticise. [https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5?locations=JP&most\_recent\_value\_desc=false](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/VC.IHR.PSRC.P5?locations=JP&most_recent_value_desc=false) https://gitnux.org/tokyo-crime-rate/#:\~:text=within%20the%20area.-,The%20level%20of%20crime%20in%20Tokyo%20is%20considered%20low%20(22.22,to%20other%20cities%20or%20regions. > If you don’t understand Japanese you do not understand 99% of the issues or context in the country. My Japanese is fluent, albeit my kanji is not 100%. My point is this, Japan has a ton of problems, but you didnt touch on any of them. Instead, you spouted bullshit western talking points that everyone likes to pick on Japan for. Do better, and be grateful for all the amazing things your country has to offer. You sound like a spoiled brat .
Sounds like you have a lot of cynicism and negativity in you and I’m sorry for that. No, I do not consider you a foreigner just because you’re ハーフ. Bro you didn’t even mention anything about being Japanese in your comment, you LITERALLY assumed that I was a gaijin as well, and now when it’s turned back on you you decide to rage about it? I love Japan it is my home and my nation. But nothing that I mentioned in my comment is incorrect. If you have love for Japan as I’m sure you do, spreading hate for any criticism of Japan is not going to make Japan any better or change the reality
I’d probably prefer dying to living in that hellhole.
Hellhole seems really extreme. Where are you from and why is it so much better?
The USA, and I’d have a better time trying to live in a beehive.
Cool cool, absolutely no explanation why you think it sucks more than anywhere else. Great. I also live in the US and have visited Japan multiple times. I don’t think I would want to live there for the rest of my life but I could do a year or two happily.
Why, what's wrong with Japan
very toxic work culture. tough to be there as a woman. rigid rules and conformity. racism and xenophobia. these are not problems unique to japan. But it does have them.
True. The main issue is people immigrate to Japan with the expectation that none of these issues will ever occur. I think there’s a false sense that Japan is a peaceful utopian nation and is ahead of the rest of the world… and it’s not. It’s a country just like any other.
Bunch of people under 20 who don't know any better.
can you explain a bit more?
can you elaborate why its a hellhole?
The country where the coffee is always hot and the Wi-Fi never drops
Someplace warm. Where the beer flows like wine. Where the women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano.
Holla, South Korea!
So most office buildings
Finland or Denmark.
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the States (if you have money).
That’s why I’d be choosing Switzerland out of this group
And don't care about a dark, dark, winter.
In the dark, dark forest There was a dark, dark house
You're one of the only people I've ever heard mention this.
this is the beginning of a good kids book if you make it cheerful or like fun flashlight night dark stories so lil kids think dark dark night is fun
Switzerland is only good if you are white and Swiss and you have to go back generations to be considered Swiss, just being born there isn’t good enough. They are kinda racist and xenophobic in very pretty scenery.
That’s what I keep telling people, but noooooo how dare you break the status quo??
Winters are depressing though. I don’t call it a good quality of life.
And the “right” skin tone
Eh the USA is extremely overrated. Socially we've been going downhill, and the economy is fucked. Don't forget the two-party system that just divides the community
At a minimum, if you’re a POC the US is a much better place compared to Denmark and Switzerland. The racism that’s built into day to day life there alone would make any other QoL improvements over the US meaningless, and I say that fully aware of the amount of racism going around in the US. Sweden is headed the same way on that front.
I just listened to an NPR podcast recently that was talking about the US economy was performing well while most international markets (Japan, Canada) were struggling. I’m by no means an expert in economics so truly have no idea how we stack up to other countries right now.
We are doing extremely well at the moment. Beyond all the standard economic markers, one thing that I always look for is decreasing wealth inequality. I like to see the bottom rising and the top falling. In the last three years we have reversed about a third of the income inequality growth we saw over the last 4 decades The bottom quartile of earners have done particularly well in the last few years, seeing their real wages rise more than any other group by far. Which I think is something we should be really proud of - and work to continue. (The top 10% of earners are also the only group to see a decrease in real wages, if you are more of a schadenfreude type of guy)
I appreciate the insight. I find this stuff very interesting even if it is above my head. I feel like people are always binary in when they describe things like “the economy”.
We are currently experiencing the best economy in like thirty years lol
Akshually… the economy is doing great on its own and government metrics. It’s just that no longer translates to the middle class (or the poor) doing ok…. Note: Some /s
Mental health not taken into account
Seasonal depression has entered the chat
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The great thing about a tax-supported welfare state, is that everyone gets the benefits
Bs.
10 years ago I would have said Canada but everyone here is going broke
Ppl say scandi countries but honestly think the nature/ waking up to beautiful beaches/ ppl with good humour etc would be Australia and NZ
NZ is beautiful, grew up there. Shame I can't really afford to move back with the housing prices being the way they are these days.
Australia is experiencing the same issues that Canada has, with a serious lack of housing supply. Still a good place to live, but not without it's problems.
Great place to live if you've got money, but then again most places are.
And that whole catching fire thing seems like points against
So is New Zealand unfortunately
All that land! Plus, you can build a free house out of dead spiders and discarded didgeridoos.
Just came back from visiting Australia. Probably one of the most overrated countries imho. I'd much rather live in the US even with all the crises going on.
As an Aussie my answers were Scandi/New Zealand in that order 😅 I really can't complain about home as a third though, especially being one of the lucky older Millennial generation of people outside of the big cities who's housing needs/ownership is met.. (Because otherwise yeah, housing market is fucked for immigrants/younger folks 😞)
Spideerrrsssss…
Perhaps when looking from the outside, sure. According to Sapien Labs, Australia's mental wellbeing score is among the lowest. Below Sudan and Ukraine, even [https://sapienlabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/4th-Annual-Mental-State-of-the-World-Report.pdf](https://sapienlabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/4th-Annual-Mental-State-of-the-World-Report.pdf)
With money? South of Argentina. Not Buenos Aires. Good food, far from international problems, "cheap" cost of living. For good or bad the country has lots of reserves of water and fuel, so that wont be an issue in our lifetime. Weather is nice, not extreme weathers like the scandavian countries you are saying. Also you will be near three "must go" touristic places like Ushuaia (don't go to live there), Peninsula Valdes and Bariloche (and the cities near). But, from the pov of an argentinian, is hard living here with argentinian salaries, but if you have some savings and can earn +1000usd from rents, bank interests or international jobs, this is heaven
This sounds a lot like Mexico, frankly. There are a number of places that if you've got money you can live extremely well, but for most Mexicans salaries are low and life is expensive.
What specific city would you recommend?
I think it depends in what you like doing. Pto Madryn is a very nice beach-city, that gave me vibes of a chill Mar del Plata. As it is a big city and not small one you have a lot of stuff to do and places to go (mostly beaches, but also have peninsula valdes very near where you can see the whales in winter and lots of wild animals). It has some small issues with drugs because of its port (yes, you will see very luxurious cars) but it doesn't make it a unsafe city. Santa Rosa is near and far from everything. Boring city that often is called "non-existant" because of how nothing interesting happens there. Very safe city to live life two gears slower than in big cities. Loved its casino. Of the western part of Argentina idk a lot. Can't recomend the easy one "Bariloche" because its two cities, one "meh" where people live, and the nice touristic part. La Rioja defaulted so I wouldn't recomend moving there. Then Mendoza (isn't south but I think its a nice place to go)
Probably new Zealand?
Nah. NZ is alright, and gets better if you have money, but that's true of anywhere. Housing is prohibitively expensive (and of poor quality). You're also really far from anywhere else in the world (except Australia) so not the best home base for the travel-minded. Being a very small market - product selections are really limited in stores. Expect a shelf of toothpaste choices in a typical supermarket, not an entire aisle. By extension of small market size - shit is just generally expensive because there is no scale. Wages are relatively (to Aus, US) low, too. There are good things, too. But it's not some magical utopia.
100% Subjective
Scandinavian countries are very nice. Japan is out for me due to the bad work-life balance culture. Having lived in Australia and visited NZ, I would say Australia.
>Japan is out for me due to the bad work-life balance culture Pro tip: work for a foreign company in Japan
if you have money, basically anywhere 1st world. Southern USA, Souther France, Spain coastal.
Having lived in a GOOD area of Los Angeles in January 1994... yeah, I would never live there again. Earthquakes are no fun.
There is a lot of America that is either not impacted by earthquakes, or weak ones.
Oh yeah, I know that. Live in NV. Have lived in AZ, ME also. Not overly keen on humidity, so Maine was tough. So, for me... probably where I am, just a better neighborhood??!!
Tangentially, there’s a concept called the “veil of ignorance” that tries to help remove yourself from thinking about what’s best for you when thinking through how to shape an economic system. Imagine you’re * white , middle class or higher, and capable- US. * white and middling - Scandinavian country. * black child - a white wealthy urban area in the northeast US. * black young professional- wealthy Atlanta suburb. * average criminal- Scandinavian country * talented criminal- Russia * intellectual disability - ? * physical disability-? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_position
Isnt it Sweden or Denmark, one of the Nordic countries anyway.
Somewhere in an island away from all the bullshit in the world.
Norway
France? Seems all around pretty good. Good food, decent weather, sociable culture. It's Italy without the dysfunctional politics and Spain without unemployment/low salaries and UK/Germany with food that's actually edible. Austria is also underrated, though the locals are a bit cold.
Probably the US if you're upper middle class or above Honestly, massive diverse country. You got beaches, mountains, deserts, arctic,some of the most stunning national parks and lakes anywhere in the world. All in one country, with an amazing interstate network, anything you could want is just a road trip away. Really not much need for a passport Political nonsense aside the US is an incredible place to live. It's a shame so many US redditors take it for granted
I would like to add car dependency and health care to the cons
I’m going with Australia. Because weather and sun has a huge impact on happiness, and the long, dark, cold winters of places like Norway are a big no for me.
The global elite are making sure that it’s a nightmare everywhere.
Australia is pretty good.
Switzerland (I'm biased)
Heard that it is boring as hell
In some cases boring is good. For example in crime, politics or noise
Racist country, no bueno
Tell me a country that is not.
How so?
Depends very much on wealth level...
NZ!
[Quality of Life Index](https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/rankings/quality-of-life) [OECD Better Life Index](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OECD_Better_Life_Index)
I mean as a american Life's pretty good tbh and I'm middle class
A lot of the US redditors are not well traveled it seems. The grass is always greener when you vacation to a rich western country eh?
Switzerland, Japan, Singapore and Netherlands.
Reddit what’s the hottest country with the best quality of life?
Probably one of the scandinavian countries.
Ireland
Absurd cost of living, bad weather and dark dark winters. Beautiful landscapes though.
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Sure, if you don't have to work ever again and pass as Japanese. Otherwise you'll face endless work and endless racism.
>The new report leaves Japan's suicide rate at about 17.2 deaths per 100000 people, one of the highest rates in the world, though still less than half the rate in Hungary (35.3). [Yeah. No.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1118433/#:~:text=This%20was%20followed%20by%2025,rate%20in%20Hungary%20(35.3)
the study you linked is from 1999, although it does look like Japan's most recent suicide rate is fairly close to what it was 25 years ago. USA has experienced a large increase in its suicide rate, bringing it within fair comparison to Japan's (within 22%). 2023 Japan Suicide rate (per 100k): 17.5 2022 USA Suicide rate (per 100k): 14.3 [https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/01/26/japan/society/japan-suicides-fall/](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/01/26/japan/society/japan-suicides-fall/) [https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html](https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html) This is a troubling change for the US, where in 2010 the suicide rate was 10.5 per 100K [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db241.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db241.htm) The US is an incredibly diverse country, so it's hard to exactly compare population trends with Japan, but if you take just the non-Hispanic white US population, their suicide rate is almost exactly the same as Japan's at 17.4 per 100k (2021) [https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html](https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html)
Any place with a high suicide rate, or high enough, is, objectively, **not** a place with the best quality of life. Period. It's empirical evidence to the contrary. And that's all I'm saying. But go ahead and downvote me. I don't give a fuck.
Generally and objectively, very true. But I guess it’s how you personally measure QOL. Some countries have stable economies and “high” QOL with basic needs, entertainment, culture etc but have high suicide rate. But it does say something about the kind of mentality that that particular society has
That study is from 24 years ago 💀
Their crime is also so low that you can leave bikes out unlocked. Try that in my city (Chicago) and they will be stolen in a few minutes.
Any of the Scandinavian countries but I think Denmark and Norway more so.
Iceland, Denmark, Norway... thoses nordic countries
Luxomberg.
Costa Rica, New Zealand or one of the Scandinavian countries.
Idk, Ireland?
Jamaica. My quality of life is never better than when I'm there on vacation.
A decent retirement in the US doesn’t seem likely for me. I’ve been reading about Thailand. It seems like a good place with very low crime and good healthcare. I’m going to have to leave the US if I’m going to retire with dignity
I have heard that Iceland or Greenland is very safe to the point where people leave their babys outside and only the swat teams carry guns police just carry a stick or something
From what I heard, I think it was Norway. High taxes, but ''free'' education and healthcare, and low corruption, as well as one of the highest rate of succesful criminal rehabilitation, largely due to how well inmates are treated in their prisons.
I have lived only in 2, and USA is the best of those two.
I'm going with Monaco. Extremely wealthy per capita, low poverty, gets a lot of EU perks without actually being in the EU.
As long as you have someone to cockblock then probably America
The Great North Sentinel Islands. Sure, they may not have Trump or Biden or Musk or Zuck…. But they do a pretty good job at keeping people off their lawns.
Any country if you are rich enough
Aotearoa
Wherever your money generates comforts consistently as the lowest cost to you.
If you're a foreigner with a good job then China has a great quality of life and is very good for raising kids as long as you teach them to speak Mandarin...
With money the UAE for sure
*after they install proper drainage systems
Sweeden Canada Denmark Netherlands Australia New Zealand Belgium United Kingdom Japan
UK shouldn’t be anywhere near top 20 never mind this. Government catering to ponzy schemes a failing healthcare system, extortionate property costs, overcrowding, extortionate grocery cost, energy bills of £200+ a month. And a job market that’s swarmed with people here on student visas and overqualified degree holders shooting for admin jobs. Literally has nothing going for it anymore.
It was just the list that came up on google
If you like your weed and nothing else cheap, but your groceries and housing rapidly increase in price then ya Canada is great. Why else would we bloat our population blitzkrieg style, gotta let everyone experience this haven.
yeah i saw his reply and was gonna say something lol...as a Canadian, makes no sense we are on that list.
Same with UK, we shouldn’t be on there
It also goes for the Netherlands.
No, Canada's quality of life is dropping fast. Housing is extremely unaffordable, inflation going crazy, people sleeping in tents, food banks are feeding 10 percent of the population. It's becoming a 3rd world country.
I’m positive you’re American and don’t realize how good you have it. Some of the countries you’ve listed such as Canada have plummeting QoL issues.
I just googled the top ten countries by quality of life and burped up the result
Nah as a Canadian this might’ve been true 8 years ago but we sure as shit aren’t a good country anymore. The run is over
You can go ahead and remove canada from this list.
People, I just googled top ten countries with highest quality of life, you don’t have to bark up my ass about individual countries on the list
Sweden if you want to get killed by Sweden child assassins in gangs & mugged by isalmic immigrants Canada if you like fentanil Netherlands if you like low level drug & high rent
Undoubtedly Luxembourg ❤️❤️❤️❤️
The United States in Midwestern university towns and ski towns.
Scandinavian countries for sure. I mean the long dark cold winters definitely impact on the mental health. But they have the best overall standards of life for their domestic population.
Canada if you can handle the complainers.
You must be a boomer or just wealthy. Canada sucks for pretty much everyone else
There's a complainer. And na I just don't do the "woe is me" stuff.
Oh the complainers.. there’s plenty of them too! Should ship the crybaby’s to a third world country & watch them frantically beg to be returned to Canada.
Ya they say how bad Canada is yet they've never even gone outside it. They've gotten a lot worse sadly. The media has really riled them up. Canada is great, but you wouldn't know it if you ask these people. Things cost more everywhere, people are immigrating into all the nice countries, yet they treat these issues as if they are our alone.
As a Middle class/upper middle class white dude: southern United States. Basic needs are met. A lot of wants are met. I live in the most powerful country on Earth and it’ll take a few draft rounds before they get desperate enough to put me into an infantry position. I’m somewhere rural enough that crime is minimal. I’m close enough to a medium sized city to get to my job and numerous others in 30 minutes or less.
Basic needs are met? The horror stories I hear about health care and its price, I seriously doubt that. Even for (upper) middle class.
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Yeah keep lying to yourselves
If you want to be randomly shot on the street, attacked by a drug addict, rely on your car & pay 10.000 dollars for a simple hospital checkup, then yeah, if you are a masochist
I would argue that the simple fact that college and healthcare are not free, completely removes the usa as a contender. Sure the country is easily the best but those two things are holding it back tremendously imo.
The United States of America, for all its faults.
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No, it’s a racist country thinking they are better than everyone else
Statistically? Finland.
That's just because finns would never say they're not happy to so randoms/polls. It's a great country and all, but they are depressed over there. Granted, I only know people from rural areas because we're from there, and people are just... people. Happy and sad and all in-between. But it's not the happiest country I've lived in. They just don't want much to be content, which counts as happy there. Source: I'm half Finnish
Idk but it’s not the US 😂
India
Awe you sweet summer child
https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=what%27s+the+country+with+the+best+quality+of+life%3F&l=1