Why Japan Looks the Way It Does: Zoning [video]
Japan has a serious problem with lack of sound proofing in most of the buildings you&#x27;ll come across, as well an insane amount of paper work involved in everything you do. Finding a house, moving, trashing large items, getting a car license, dealing with the bank, and pretty much every aspect of life you can think of, involves a lot of paper work as well as your physical presence.<p>If you&#x27;re a foreigner who is moving to Japan, this problem is tripled, as well as some discrimination (not necessarily racism) you might find while looking for housing, due to fear of foreigners just leaving. These issues aren&#x27;t very clear when you&#x27;re there on a tourist visa due to how easy everything seems. Unless you have a company dealing with this stuff for you, you&#x27;re going to have some headaches.<p>There&#x27;s also odd day to day things, such as being unable to withdraw money from ATMs after hours, which is mind-boggling to a foreigner like me.<p>Otherwise, Japan is an amazing well oiled peaceful machine that just requires A LOT of paper work to get going.