You're right to some extent, and many people have similar stories about living in Japan. However, I do think the younger generation is quite a bit more open th

You're right to some extent, and many people have similar stories about living in Japan. However, I do think the younger generation is quite a bit more open than past generations may have been, so I expect things to change slowly over time. Personally, the baseline quality of life I'm able to live here is quite a bit higher than anywhere I've been in the United States. Wherever I go, I'll be more than satisfied with a group of 5-10 close friends, and in a city like Tokyo over over 14 million people, I can certainly find what I'm looking for socially, even if not every individual person I encounter is a potential close friend. I tend to to multicultural events here anyway, where people are predisposed to open themselves up to non-Japanese.