Haha yea, I think that'd be like trying to move up and down at the same time. I'd be curious to know what your friend does for work.

It seems that the expats living here fall into two camps: 1) those who are a part of the japanese work culture; and 2) those who are working remotely or working for a local branch of an international company that still has a non-Japanese work culture internally.

Just anecdotally speaking, everyone I've met from the former camp is miserable and wants to leave Japan. Everyone I've met from the latter loves it here, myself included.