A few of my friends back home in Canada sometimes wonder what I see in Japan, and why I stay here. Of course, there is a constellation of reasons, but one that I am waking up to everyday is the weather. I lived in Canada for almost thirty years, and I love the weather there (among other things) but getting my exercise was sometimes hard. I like to jog, you see. That’s all fine, and quite easy to do unless it is minus forty degrees celsius outside. Not to mention the snow and ice on the ground.
Of course, I don’t like to let a bit of cold weather stop me, and my policy was to keep running until it went below minus thirty degrees outside. I thought it might be dangerous when it was colder than that, particularly if I slipped and fell.
Well, here in Japan, I don’t have any of those worries. People begin to feel the cold here even when it is above zero. Which is to say that it never really gets cold here. I can jog all year long! Plus, in my part of Japan (Ikoma), it rarely snows. No ice! What a treat. I can keep on working out year in and year out.
This is one of the things I love about life in Japan. A nice comfortable and easy to live in climate that is for the most part, very forgiving.
What part of Canada are you from? I’m from Nanaimo, BC. It’s rarely below zero and people in Nanaimo jog year round (although i don’t!). Love to hear more about your hometown…