Hello everyone, I hope you managed to deal with the snow better than I did.  Granted, back when I lived in North America, I got my fair bit of snow, but to be honest, one of the reasons I love Japan (or at least the Kanto area) is that I don’t have to deal with snow soaking my socks in the winter.  What’s worse is that Tokyo and Yokohama basically lock down in that a slight dusting of snow seems to shut down the trains.  And that’s just the big city – it must be worse for those of you in small towns.   Thankfully on the Saturday when we had the most I happened to have large stocks of bacon, which made for a great day for my spirit, but not for my cardiovascular system.

But this is not what people want to hear about, I am sure.  Today I am going to play that wonderful game that men love to play and that is putting women into various categories.  Actually to keep things simple I will just split them into two.  Specifically I want to talk about “International” Japanese girls and “Made in Japan” Japanese girls.

Do I sound like a close-minded jerk yet?  Maybe I am one, I don’t really know.  All I know is that I much prefer one over the other.  As always when we play this game it’s important to realize that not all girls can be put into a category and this mostly just for fun.

Anyway, let’s start with the “International” girl.  She likely speaks some degree of English, has been abroad her fair share of times and might have even lived overseas for a couple of years.  To put it simply, these are the girls I enjoy dating the most.  They often have a genuine curiosity about the world, and if they can in fact speak decent English, often have interesting opinions and unique perspectives on things.

The girls I have more trouble with are the ones I call “Made in Japan”.  She might speak English, but she has no real interest in the world outside of Japan.  I ultimately get bored of these types.  I personally find them the hardest to read and the hardest to communicate with.  This has nothing to do with their English level, and more to do with the fact that they generally don’t have the assertiveness that Japanese women who live abroad have.

Both types make for great girlfriends, but I guess now that I am older I am more interested in someone I can spar with verbally in either Japanese or English.

Of course, these are categories I have just made up, are barely valid and really don’t mean anything.  But I do feel that if you are going to date a Japanese girl, you are best off going for one who has made the effort to learn about the rest of the world.  But ultimately, the decision is yours.