Living in Japan as a Foreigner: Julie Mitrovic's Story (France)

May 2026 (VOL.223)

Julie Mitrovic

Home country/city: France
Occupation: Coach & Facilitator
Duration of living in Japan: 3.5 years
Why do you live in Japan?: Relocated with my family for my husband’s job.

What do you do in Japan? Can you talk about your job in Japan?

I’m a coach and facilitator working with women navigating major life or career transitions. I help them reconnect with themselves and move forward with clarity and confidence, using a blend of somatic coaching and Positive Psychology. I support them in those in-between moments where the old version no longer fits, but the new one hasn’t fully emerged yet.

After 10 years working in Admin and HR, I wanted to deepen my impact, so I started a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology in Singapore in 2019, got pregnant and gave birth in 2020 during COVID. We moved to Tokyo in May 2022 when my daughter was 18 months old.

Japan became the place where I rebuilt myself. I found community through FAJ, a non-profit where I serve as a board member, supporting French-speaking women’s professional ambitions. I completed my Master’s and deepened my practice with embodiment training. Now through my program The Embodied Threshold, I guide women through major transitions using tools that actually work because I’ve navigated so many myself.

What is the distinctive difference between France and Japanese lifestyle?

One of the biggest differences I notice is around communication and debate.

In France, we’re very comfortable debating ideas for hours as a form of connection and intellectual play. We can disagree passionately and still be friends afterward.

Japanese culture values consensus and harmony, where disagreement is handled much more subtly, with careful attention to group dynamics.

Both approaches have real value. France taught me critical thinking and perspective while Japan showed me patience, restraint and the art of listening beyond words.

What do you miss about your maternal country living in Japan?

Food of course – good bread, croissant, cheese, wine… The long meals that turn into conversations with friends and family.

And that’s it, jokes aside, it’s the people I miss most without question. Living far from the people who’ve known you your whole life – who speak your language, share your references, understand you without explanation – that’s the real cost of choosing a different path.

And while I’m grateful for the life we’ve built here, I won’t pretend that distance doesn’t ache sometimes.

What do you appreciate most about Japanese culture?

The deep appreciation and celebration of seasons. After four years in Singapore’s constant tropical heat, arriving in Japan felt like rediscovering time itself.

Japanese culture leans beautifully into each season – the cherry blossoms in spring, summer festivals, autumn leaves, winter illuminations. There are seasonal foods, seasonal products, and seasonal rituals.

As someone who works with transitions and thresholds, this has been profound for me. Japan embodies the understanding that life moves in cycles, that change is natural, and that there’s wisdom in honoring what’s present right now rather than always pushing toward the next thing.

It’s taught me to slow down and appreciate the season I’m in, literally and metaphorically.

After moving to Japan did you have any funny experiences?

My daughter and I are both onsen lovers. Last winter we were at a hotel in Gunma with outdoor communal baths. There was a teenager making small snowmen on the rocks beside the onsen, and my daughter was captivated.

Suddenly, four or five Japanese women – all completely naked, of course – started climbing out onto the rocks to gather fresh snow for my daughter to make her own snowmen. Which immediately melted from the heat of the water, but she didn’t care. She was delighted.

What made it special was that people usually keep very much to themselves in onsens. But in that moment, the joy of a child transcended all the usual social rules. It was one of those beautiful instances where kindness and playfulness broke through cultural reserve.

Would you like to continue to live in Japan for the rest of your life, or you think you will return to your home country? If so why?

I’m deeply grateful for our years in Japan, it’s where I rebuilt myself, found community, and built my work. But I’m also ready for our next chapter, wherever that takes us.

Writer: Minobu Kondo
Photojournalist in Tokyo, writing for Japanese and American magazines. Publishing an essay “101 of green stories” with the other Japanese artists such as Kosetsu Minami. Languages: Japanese, English and French.