I've only visited Japan once (I'm American), and as someone who had never been, I definitely saw a lot of things that seemed magical and I can understand the tendency to romanticize it.
Funny enough, I've been planning another trip (that was supposed to be for my daughters high school graduation, but COVID changed that)and spent a lot of time watching videos to get ideas and learn a bit of the language and culture, and some of the English speaking Japan based YouTubers opened my eyes to a lot of the areas where Japan definitely isn't magical.
It's been good to get some balance! I'm still excited to visit when we finally can.
Funny enough, I've been planning another trip (that was supposed to be for my daughters high school graduation, but COVID changed that)and spent a lot of time watching videos to get ideas and learn a bit of the language and culture, and some of the English speaking Japan based YouTubers opened my eyes to a lot of the areas where Japan definitely isn't magical.
It's been good to get some balance! I'm still excited to visit when we finally can.