Iwakuni, Japan

Loved Japan, stationed in Iwakuni from 2019-2022, and honestly I wish I never left! As a single mother I felt the most safe in all the locations I traveled in Japan: Hiroshima, Beppu, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Shimane, Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo, I traveled solo the majority of the time with my son who was 1.5-4.5 while living there. The only thing i noticed was the Japanese expressed great curiosity with my son and I’s hair they wanted to take pictures of us or with us all the time. They were always very respectful, never just touching us or photographing us without permission. Otherwise the Japanese were great to us in every way and I miss the lifestyle and cannot wait to return.