In my case, when I first came to Japan, I eventually arrived in Tokyo. It appeared to me as a place that I was comfortable in, for one reason or another, that was almost instantaneous. It might be that, despite popular opinion, Japan is not so vastly different to the West. Or that, where there are differences, my personality seemed to fit them. However, that is not to say that your question isn’t a valid one, it absolutely is. It’s just not exactly the comparison between Japan and the West, but in living in a small place compared to a full-scale city.
I came from a village on the green belt around London. We weren’t a far cry, but it certainly never felt like I was living in the heights of London, it was always something distant. Coming to Tokyo, there was a lot of newness that found its way into this project. There is, for example, a very funny texture to the sound of lots of people passing through a space, in addition to if that space is sealed off, underground, where none are engaging with one another. Each are slight variations on the same theme. I don’t know if this seems just passive for city-folk but I find it fascinating.