feel disillusioned by Japan and don't know if it worth just going home

i'm currently in Kyoto, and i'm from the uk. The main thing that shocked me when i got here is how gray and concrete this city is. people online talk about how its nature mixed with city, peaceful, historic. but 90% of the city is wide roads with tiny pavements that you're expected to share with cyclists, boring concrete buildings and ugly overhead cables obscuring the sky. Theres hardly any greenery, parks or benches and walking outside feels very chaotic and is far from the "pedestrian paradise" people talk about Japanese cities being. i find this city to be a lot more car centric than i expected same with nearby osaka and nara.

for the past 3 months i've been exploring Kyoto and i've seen some nice things, ate good food ect. there are beautiful views and temples here and there are some other things that i love like small buisneses averywhere and mountains in the distance, but i feel like i've seen everything i need to see since most the new areas i go to have this same concrete, unpleasant vibe to them and im just fed up of it now.

i keep comparing to british cities which i feel are more relaxed. more parks, grass, flowers, trees. i feel like there are even more song birds or even pigions that i can constantly hear in uk but in Kyoto all i hear is cars (am i crazy or are there like no birds in Japan except for crows?). and i cant go on a quick breather away from the city in a park since they're all far from where i live. Usually when i feel down i just go on a walk, but going on a walk in this city just elevates my stress levels like 10x unless i get on a packed bus to a nicer area.

Even small things like overhead wires obstructing the sky are just getting to me. idk british cities just feel more livable to me which seems to be an unpopular opinion online. i dont think i apreciated how green england is until i left and now i wanna see grass again. i guess a lot is on me for having expectations and moving to a big city of 1m people when i generally prefer nature and countryside (what a fool). also i do speak japanese so thats not the reason im not liking it.

generally, ive put of admiting it but i feel like this city and maybe Japan isnt for me. but ive only been here 3 months and maybe im just being a negative british person. has anyone been in the same situation and stayed and ending up loving it? hating it more? is it worth staying in a city im not vibing with for 9 months just to see?

Posted Dec 9, 2025, 9:03 AM UTC

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