<p>Personally, I would recommend Japan. I spent a year and a half in Japan when I was in HS and absolutely loved it. If you are thinking about Tokyo, I don’t think there is a better place in the world. The language is really not a problem in Tokyo, but as you get further out you see less and less. I took a year of Japanese and found it to be challenging but not impossible. As long as you learn the important gaijin phrases that help you order food and tell a taxi directions you are ok. You do have to remember the cost of Tokyo however. It is one of the most expensive cities in the world and when I lived there I learned you spend 10,000 yen (roughly $100) about the same way you spend a $20 in the States. There is just so much that you can do in Tokyo it is hard to pass up. From the incredible nightlife of Roppongi to the shopping in Ginza and Shibuya there is so much to do. As long as you connect with some other expats, you should have a great time. Odaiba is also fun.</p>
<p>My personal opinion on China (Beijing specifically) is a little different. While Tokyo is relatively clean, China is quite smoggy. There is a ton of smoking in Tokyo but I could deal with that because it was mainly bad in clubs and restaurants. In Beijing it was everywhere. Sanitation is another big thing and it’s hard to even trust the water.</p>
<p>Good point about sanitation. My personal experiences are pretty similar to yours; there’s no question that Japan is a cleaner country. Compared to the US, though, cigarette smoke is a much bigger problem. Smoking is still a fad in Japan, unfortunately, though it’s beginning to decline a bit, and there aren’t nearly as many restrictions in Japan as there are in the US. I didn’t mind it too much, but I had friends from the States who suffered from pretty bad asthma when near cigarette smoke, and sometimes it was hell for them. In restaurants and in public it can really ruin the experience when you’re forced to inhale the smoke of every teenager who is aiming for lung-cancer.</p>
<p>That said, both countries do have some very beautiful, clean areas though. It all depends upon specifically which city/town, and even different parts of the city. Some areas in Tokyo are pretty hideous and dirty, while others are sublime.</p>
<p>Haha I’m biased for China <3 Born there, raised there, and it’s a part of me, down to the dirty bathrooms with no toilet holes lol. That came out a little weird ^.^ Stiillll…Japan sounds like a wonderful place and both countries would be an awesome experience I’m sure</p>
<p>Like China-splosion said, Japanese and Chinese are NOT similar languages. They both use characters, yes, but most of the similarities end with the writing system. Judging if one language is “harder” than another is extremely subjective, but most people would probably agree that when it comes to writing Japanese is easier, because with concentrated study one could probably learn hiragana and katakana in a long weekend, and this would go a long way in making you literate in Japanese. You’ll still need to memorize (probably 2000 or so) kanji before you can fully handle a newspaper, but you’ll be able to read all the words that come from foreign languages (mostly English) which will go a long way, plus all the words written in hiragana. You’ll find that in most manga and books for young people hiragana is written above the kanji to tell you how to pronounce it, so even if you don’t know the meaning of a kanji you can memorize its shape and pronunciation. In Chinese, on the other hand, you’ve nothing but kanji (hanzi), which makes things pretty awful.
Having said that, in Chinese most characters have only one reading, while in Japanese most characters have at least two, which can be very frustrating. 人 means “person”, and in Chinese is pronounced "r</p>
<p>Sorry, just a little note. I didn’t type the asterisks, but 愛してる is a/i/s/h/i/t/e/r/u which contains a certain four-letter word, leading to it being starred out.</p>
<p>I have to disagree with the statement that writing Japanese is easier, however. Reading magazines and newspapers fairly fluently in Mandarin requires only knowing around 1,000 characters, while that number simply isn’t nearly sufficient to comprehend similar Japanese material. Unless the schooling systems in Taiwan and China have changed lately, the Japanese school system requires quite a lot more characters to be learned by the end of high school. For literature both require about 2,000-3,000+ in general. Knowledge of the traditional variants is also more necessary in Japanese than on mainland China.
As for the classical versions of the languages, I’d say that Japanese is more difficult as well; my classical studies in Mandarin have so far been much, much less challenging than my Japanese graduate studies. </p>
<p>And, as noted, Chinese readings are a world easier than Japanese. Three readings for a Chinese character are rare, while three is the norm for even basic kanji. And more charming ones like 生 have around 200 readings.</p>
<p>But, it’s fairly subjective, I suppose. For me at least being able to read 紅樓夢 took a lot less time than being able to read even a simple Japanese work such as 金閣寺.</p>
<p>I will say that katakana makes things a lot easier, though. When coming across シェイクスピア (sheikusupia) in print or conversation, even if you’ve never seen/heard it in Japanese before, it’s basically effortless to figure out that it means Shakespeare. In Chinese, on the other hand, 莎士比亞 (shāsh</p>
<p>I agree that learning English-based words is far easier in Japanese than Chinese, but really those are only a small fragment of the language. ピンク might be easier to learn, for example, but it’s only useful for elementary levels of the language. For advanced speaking it’ll still be important to know the traditional variants, 珊瑚色、桃色、櫻色、赤紫、躑躅色, 薄紅梅, etc. And even if the Japanese are using more and more Western terms as time passes, the traditional terms are still used often enough that not knowing them renders one illiterate. When I lived in Japan it was more common to hear 性 and 性別 than ジェンダ, for example.</p>
<p>Shopping online in Japanese is damned easier than shopping online in Mandarin though, that’s for sure Will never cease to amaze me how they use the Western terms for every imaginable thing in shopping even when they already have native ones.</p>
<p>If you’re doing study abroad in an attempt to gain favor in college admissions, the obvious choice is China not Japan. If you’re doing it to gain perspective of the world market and globalization, the obvious choice if China not Japan.</p>
<p>And that comment about holes in the floor for toilets in China? Japan has holes in the floor for toilets, just check out the toilets at Narita Airport.</p>
<p>I’m rather curious why China would possibly be the ‘obvious’ choice for gaining favor in college admissions or for world market and globalization. Japan is still #2 in the world for GDP, regardless of China’s growth.</p>
<p>I have been in the Narita Airport on two occassions, neither of which included holes for toilets. It’s a very nice, modern airport.</p>
<p>China is the 2nd largest and will pass the US in the next 30 years. If you want to have fun then i would pick Japan but for my future China is NO.1</p>
<p>Only when you account for Purchasing Power Parity is China bigger. I.E., you can’t claim its “bigger”. Just that its cheaper.</p>
<p>Also, there are a billion Chinese people. There are vast numbers of Americans rushing to learn chinese. Very few people adequately speak english and Japanese. Think about the supply and demand curve, not to mention scarcity of experience as assets for admission.</p>
<p>Hello! I was compelled to post here, as I have lived in both China and Japan for extended periods of time.</p>
<p>As most people have pointed out, coming from Western cultures, Japan would appear more “cultured” and modern (no offense to anyone out there - I’m simply stating the reaction to China based on Western stereotype). While Japan is certainly boundless with interesting opportunity on the surface, the same things are prevalent in China (assuming you’re studying in a city), you just have to dig deeper. Chinese is becoming more useful to know in the real world. From personal experience (which is of course, subjective) Japanese is a more beautiful language to learn. I enjoy speaking Japanese, whereas Chinese does not have a “musical” or pleasing quality to it for me. However, both are rather difficult languages and bear hardly any similarities to each other. Aside from the characters (many of which are different in the two countries), the languages are hardly similar at all.</p>
<p>By the way, if you do choose China (and are living in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou), here’s an excellent resource for what’s going on: [China</a> Listings, Events, and Classifieds - City Weekend Guide](<a href=“http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/]China”>http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/). </p>
<p>Good luck with your choice! Both countries have a lot to offer. </p>
<p>But to be perfectly frank - if I had to choose a place to live, it would be Japan. If I had to choose a language to learn (out of pleasure) it would be Japanese. Out of usefulness? Chinese, for sure.</p>
<p>Japan – no questions. That country is AWESOME! I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there, and the Japanese people are so cute and friendly. But I also speak a teensy-bit of Japanese… and there is no way in HELL I would want to try to learn another Asian language, writing system, etc. So I’m somewhat biased. Hindi would be the only exception. ;)</p>
<p>I would say China. Whatever your major, a first hand exposure to a developing country will help you gain a deeper understanding of the issues facing our world.</p>
<p>I also want to say that studying abroad in Japan has its share of draw backs. I’m there now, and if you expected it to be OMG AMAZING AWESOME all the time, you’re likely not mature enough to be studying abroad. It is a place, much like any other.</p>
<3 Born there, raised there, and it’s a part of me, down to the dirty bathrooms with no toilet holes lol. That came out a little weird ^.^ Stiillll…Japan sounds like a wonderful place and both countries would be an awesome experience I’m sure</p>
Will never cease to amaze me how they use the Western terms for every imaginable thing in shopping even when they already have native ones.</p>