My first suspicion was that it might be related to a popular Internet forum for  English teachers in Japan called(amazingly enough), “I think I am lost.” I was thinking  people would visit the site, then take on the title in their email as an homage to their favorite forum. However,  I’m pretty sure I had seen it used even before the forum had been created. So I’m left to wonder if this might have originated in a book or something.  Either way, I find the entire thing rather cliche.

I’m really not a huge fan of the expression, but I can’t say why it irritates me so when I hear it. The people that use this phrase might actually be scared and alone when they first get here, which would be the most rational explanation, but that doesn’t cover the people create the email months before they even leave their country.  I like to  imagine that the kind of people that are satirized on “Stuff White People like” are exactly those who would enjoy using this expression.   It’s trendy and pertains to a way of thinking that I cannot grasp. As if being in Japan is a Zen experience and they are soul searching while they are here, so they declare themselves fragile or ‘lost’ to show the world how truly spiritual they are.

Japan has never really been like that for me.  I  enjoy the culture, the people and the everyday conveniences, but I’ve never really thought about being here in a ‘spiritual’ sense;  as if it were something trendy I’m supposed to do before I return to the “real world.”  For me Japan is the real world, and I treat it as such everyday I’m here in the way I interact with the people around me.  Sure I’ve been scared, alone and actually lost in Japan, but I’ve never felt the need to declare myself lost.

Perhaps that is why I can say with certainty that I am “not lost” in Japan. It could also be that it’s Monday and Monday’s tend to sour my disposition.

[Update] If you use the “lost in Japan” expression in your email, perhaps you can explain why in the comments. I am truly curious.