MARTY FRIEDMAN On Living In Japan: ‘I Believe It’s The Safest Country In The World’

During an appearance on The Mistress Carrie Podcast, former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman, who has been living and recording music in Japan since 2003, was asked what he would say about Japan to the people from America and other parts of the world who have never been before. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, I think it’s the closest you can get to being on another planet and being safe and enjoying another planet. Sometimes you’re in a place that is just so dangerous, you feel like you’re on another planet, but Japan is the complete opposite. I believe it’s the safest country in the world, considering the fact that there are full-on metropolises everywhere. I mean, Tokyo is the highest-population city in the world or something like that, and it’s the safest metropolis I’ve ever been in. And I live straight downtown, two-minute walk to the Red Light District, which is completely safe at all hours of the night.”Marty continued: “It’s an absolute must just to see something that you haven’t seen before. And, I mean, the food is just out of this world, and the people are very friendly and helpful to foreigners. It’s not too terribly English friendly, so I’ll say that right off the bat. And I think that’s what’s good about it. Does everything have to be exactly the same as every other country in the world? Why fly 15 hours, or wherever you’re coming from, to sit in a Starbucks and read an English menu? I don’t get that at all. So Japan is not a thousand percent English friendly, but people are extremely helpful, even if they can’t speak English. And I just recommend it for everybody. Music is just on a whole new plane and music is different there. 80 percent of the music that people listen to is domestic music — not American, English, Canadian, whatever. And that’s gonna freak a lot of people out in a very good way. And it’s exciting.”Last month, Friedman was asked by Canada’s The Metal Voice if he ever feels isolated or that he doesn’t belong in a country like Japan, which is not generally exposed to other cultures. He responded: “Oh, it’s an excellent question. And I’m definitely, definitely the minority here [in Japan]. In the majority of everything I do, I’m the only non-Japanese in the room — in the studio, in the venue you could play. I’ll do a show and there’s thousands of people there [and] I’m the only foreigner in the room.”People don’t really understand the ratio of what it’s like in a one-race society,” he continued. “I think the correct number is something like 94, 95 percent of the people in this country are all Japanese. So, that’s something to be reckoned with.”It’s interesting, because America, as you know, is a complete melting pot, so the concept of everything is completely different. We could talk forever about that, but for me, my personal experiences, which, of course, I outlined a ton in ]my recently released] book [‘Dreaming Japanese’], is you can never, ever, no matter how fluent you get at the language, no matter how much you get immersed in the culture, never ever have the goal or intention to belong, because that’s where you’re gonna get tripped up. If you feel like, ‘Well, I don’t belong here. All these people are different. I’m the odd man out,’ then you’re not suited for this kind of thing. The way to internalize it is, there’s no way I’m gonna belong, but I can certainly coexist and I can certainly bring something to the party and I can certainly get something out of this.”Belonging is extremely overrated,” Friedman added. “You don’t have to belong. And what’s so great about belonging? If you find a place that you like to be, that’s where you like to be, and that’s where you like to make your contributions to whatever it is you’re doing, and to receive things. But sometimes people get turned off by not belonging to something. And that’s kind of a — not a mental issue, but it’s kind of the wrong goal, I think.”Belonging is way overrated, and separating people because of whatever race they are is also very overrated,” Marty explained. “Because, here I’m in a one-race society, but, for example, if I’m auditioning people for a project — say, I’m putting together a band for a record label or something, which I’ve done several times — there’s guys who suck at what they do, and there’s guys who are great at what they do, and there’s guys who look the part, there’s guys who don’t look the part, there’s guys whose attitudes are great, guys whose attitudes suck, all within the same one race. Qualified people and non-qualified people, this is the same with mixed-race countries like America. So why does race even matter? I want the best person for the job. And so the longer you’re in any kind of professional capacity of anything, you kind of forget that everybody’s a different race that I am. I’ve completely forgotten. And, actually, a lot of people tell me, after working with me for years, ‘I totally forgot that you’re American.’ They might hear me speak English. I never speak English here in Japan, except for doing stuff like this [interviews with English-speaking media outlets] and talking to my family, so occasionally, if someone will hear me on the phone speaking English, they’re, like, ‘Oh my God. He speaks English. I forgot you were American.’ Because I’ve really assimilated that much. But not to be confused with belonging, because I’m still the elephant in the room, so to speak.”Back in November 2021, Friedman, was asked during the fourth event in Cardiff University’s Cardiff-Japanese Lecture Series if he experiences culture shock when he returns to his former home country of America. Marty said: “When I moved to Japan, I completely was encompassed by Japanese culture. No one I worked with spoke English. No one around me spoke English. The only time I spoke English was when I was doing international promotion or international tours or international interviews. So 24/7, it was all Japanese. And when that goes on for years and years, you start to dream in Japanese. My wife’s Japanese, and we speak only Japanese. So, cultural things also become a part of you, because when you live somewhere, you become a part of the culture. And the things that matter in Japan are not the things that matter in America. Or the things that matter in Europe are not the things that matter in South America. So things that matter on a day-to-day basis are different. So culture ‘shock’ is kind of a shocking word, so I don’t really feel shocked. But I feel like I’m very blessed, because when I go to America, I’m an American, so I can feel all the great things about being American. But I’ve lived in Japan for almost 20 years, and before I came here, I’ve been in so many Japanese situations that there’s a definite part of me that is really a part of the Japanese culture so I can really feel both of them.”You should never think that you’re trying to belong,” he continued. “Because it doesn’t matter how perfect my Japanese is — and it’s not perfect — but I’m never, ever gonna be Japanese. I feel a part of me is definitely influenced by Japan very much, but if your goal is to belong in another society, I think you’re gonna be let down very, very much. Because as hard as you try, Japan is a one-race society and you just look different and you’re born in a different place and you have different things in you. So the goal is not belonging; the goal is to add what you have to Japan. If you’re trying to belong to something like that, I think you’re gonna be let down. But it’s not a letdown. You only really belong to yourself. And belonging to something is overrated. So I think you’ll enjoy your Japan experience a whole lot more if you celebrate your differences while understanding Japan and enjoying the great things that you’re able to enjoy about Japan. And don’t be let down when sometimes people are not necessarily so friendly to foreigners. This happens to every country. You just have to let it be; it’s just the way it is, especially with older generations. They’re, like, ‘Oh, the world is changing. Now there’s English in the taxicabs. Oh my God.’ People fear change. But you can’t let that bother you. It’s never bothered me once. I’m completely fine being a gaijin [a Japanese word for foreigners and non-Japanese citizens in Japan, specifically non-East Asian foreigners such as white and black people]; it hasn’t stopped me from anything. So culture shock, it’s not really as bad as people think it is. I enjoy being in America, and I enjoy being in Japan because both things have given me a lot of great things in my life. So learning English — English is the language of the world, so that’s helped me everywhere. But in Japan, it’s the opposite — in Japan, Japanese is the language, so it’s a must. So culture shock is not really that big of a thing.”Friedman’s autobiography, “Dreaming Japanese”, arrived on December 3, 2024 via Permuted Press.[embedded content]