Swapping the north of England for Japan was not always part of the plan for Joe Fowler.
Two decades ago, as a recent university graduate, he was not even considering moving abroad. Then by chance he met a recruiter for an English school in Japan at a careers fair.
Within months, Newcastle-born Fowler had moved to Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, to teach English.
“It was a life-changing year for me,” says Fowler, who moved back to Newcastle after his one-year visa expired. “I got the tiniest taste of Japanese life and knew I’d be back for more.”
Fast forward 20 years, and Fowler, now 44, lives in Kanazawa, a historic city on Japan’s west coast, with his Japanese wife and their two-year-old daughter.
He works as as an assistant professor in English teaching at Kanazawa Institute of Technology, and still marvels at the country’s landscapes, cuisine and love of karaoke. But one thing stands out above everything else: safety.
“Don’t get me wrong, Newcastle is by far the best city in the UK, but there’s always a slight menacing feel in the air,” he tells The i Paper. “It’s not just there though, it’s everywhere you go in the UK. I’m six foot five so I can handle myself, but I’ve not once felt threatened here in Japan.
He says that now he has a child, safety is a key concern for him“I can only speak as a man. I appreciate it could be different for women.”
Even in Japan’s big cities, he says he can walk around at all hours without feeling threatened. Fowler occasionally travels to Tokyo to appear in Cool Japan, a show run by national TV service NHK. The show, which is a Japanese government initiative, invites members of the international community in Japan onto a panel to discuss aspects of Japanese culture such as anime, food and everyday life.
The fact that Fowler can walk the capital’s streets at three in the morning, without a hint of danger – despite the presence of drunk men – is a huge change.
“Most corporate men can be found slumped on the floor fast asleep in their suits and briefcases after a hard day of work and an evening of drinking,” Fowler says, referring to the Japanese phenomenon of businessmen often missing their last train home after long working hours and sleeping on the streets.
Historical houses in Kanazawa on Japan’s central Honshu island where Fowler and his family live (Photo: annhfhung/ Getty Images)“It was a bit of a shock to the system when I first saw them, but it’s better than people starting fights for fun.”
Japan’s National Police Agency (NPA), the central co-ordinating law enforcement agency of the Japanese police system which oversees crime statistics, does not give out percentages separating out alcohol-related violence for crimes such as assault in the same way the statistics body the Office of National Statistics (ONS) does in the UK.
However, when it comes to crime rates overall, the contrast to Britain is stark. According to the NPA’s latest figures 57,746 “violent” crimes were recorded in Japan last year. The crimes included assault, bodily injury, threats and extortion. With a population of 124 million, that translates to 46 incidents per 100,000 people.
Fowler says he was attracted to Kanazawa by its mix of sea and mountains as well as its cleanliness and sense of safetyBy comparison, the ONS recorded 1,062,000 of such crimes taking place in England and Wales last year. With a population of around 61 million, that works out at 1,740 per 100,000 people.
“There isn’t really a drug culture here like there is back home, as there is zero tolerance for drugs of any kind, so I think this helps the rates,” Fowler says. “Even paracetamol is viewed as being dodgy.”
Life in Japan has also brought some lighter cultural quirks for Fowler.
“People, usually the elderly, aren’t afraid to grab my belly and call me fat,” he laughs. “They think it’s a bit of fun rather than crushingly humiliating. A man in a park once walked past and said, in English, ‘you need to lose weight’. I’d just lost 10 kilos as well. But perhaps in the land of sumo, it’s a good thing?”
Japan’s famous cherry blossom at Hirosaka park in Kanazawa (Photo: Peerapon Boonyakiat/ SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)Despite its reputation, Japan is not quite the futuristic wonderland outsiders might expect.
“The technology thing is a myth,” Fowler says. “Maybe it was like that in the ’80s, but now the Japanese improve things rather than invent stuff. It was a cash-only society up until recently. It’s far from the hi-tech place people imagine.”
Still, Kanazawa’s mix of sea and mountains, along with its cleanliness and sense of safety, has convinced Fowler to stay for good, so much so that he recently bought a house there.
“It’s opened my eyes to the world too. I love England and I miss the footie and my family, but I wouldn’t go back. Now I’m married with a kid, safety is key.”
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