OP has only only been here for 4.5 months on an exchange. He clearly has rose-tinted glasses on.

I’m not denying what he is saying but I visited the UK back in February last year after 5 years here and I had a wonderful time. It felt so good to just talk to people in English and share banter, spend time with family, not have to overthink every interaction. Sure people can be loud and it can be a bit grim but it felt refreshing after being here so long. I don’t really understand what these “conflicts” OP is referring to. I’ve only really had a bad encounter with some chavs before.

I had a good think about what I wanted out of life after that trip, and decided to move back in April (especially for career reasons). I think being the only foreigner in a traditional Japanese company has really burnt me out. But I’m glad I got to spend some time in this country!

Perhaps it’s just habit from the days of not having a credit/debit card, but I pretty much pay only using cash. I periodically go to the ATM and withdraw 5万 and that keeps me going for a while.

I use a credit card for online purchases though.