Making Japanese friends

Could just be a me thing, but I feel its harder to make friends in general. As I get older I have more responsibilities and less time. So now its a battle to keep in touch with the friends I used to have! At least that's how it is for me.

Are there any Christians here? It would be a pleasure to meet you!

Personally I find it very difficult. It's very easy to find people to have fun outside, drinks and do fun activities but when seeking a deeper relationship it's not that easy. I find it very difficult to find people with the same interests and values as mine (it's probably not because of locals). I have only a few good Japanese friends and it took a long time to build the relationship. Just my experience btw.

I think it has become much easier for me to make friends as my Japanese skills improved, but it can still be hard to make friends as a working adult. I have a few close friends, and a few coworkers that I hang out with outside of work, and I'm satisfied with that.

I definitely feel like Covid has made it more difficult to meet people though. I used to go to Meetup or international exchange events, but those are all canceled now..

I totally understand. I think the only people I've ever met that wanted to hang out were people wanting to learn English from me. Unfortunately, they were not really true friends and they often would move to another place and we'd lose touch.

I know how you feel. I too find it really difficult to make real friends. There are loads of people that know me and will talk with me, but it's never more than superficial. I'm not completely sure why, but I feel that mostly people that I really enjoy their company are simply too busy with work. It's a real work culture here. Every time I suggest doing something they are unable because of work. The other part is my lack of proper Japanese speaking skills. I've tried, but I lost motivation several years ago. I do have one good friend but he is a foreigner like me and we do have time to spend together occasionally. I would suggest picking up an activity that involves people. I play volleyball and although I don't have close friends, most of my regular friends are from there. Good luck with your friend search!

The longer I live here and the older I get, the harder I feel it has become to make Japanese friends. I have two friends who I met while I was in my own country who I am still in contact with today but I find that all the people that I have met during my time in Japan have moved on or we'll fallen out of touch. I'm not particularly girly and I'm no longer the clubbing and drinking type either. I can speak conversational Japanese but I do feel like I have to be careful with what I say because I find the language restricting in some way. It would be nice to make some local friends who are Japanese but I don't know if I feel hopeful.