Despite the growing popularity of western labels in Japan, while Britons trust in brands such as Toshiba, and sport kimono-style tops, there are still a huge culture differences between East and West. Yet people each year choose to uproot and immigrate, including Western women marrying Japanese men. So what's it like to live and marry into a different culture?

Japanese society is known for its strong sense of national identity. Combined with immigration and visa laws that can be impressively tricky, some expatriates feel they can never be more than a guest.

'I will always be a gaijin from the Japanese point of view, even if I live here for fifty years,' said Jo, who is due to marry her fiancé Yasutoki, a Japanese international translator in a few months. The couple met when Jo was teaching English in Tokyo. Yasutoki was her student, and when the couple fell in love they travelled across Africa together before returning to live in Tokyo.

'I don't think I will ever feel Japanese,' said Jo, who works as an English teacher. 'But I don't really mind as I will always be British.' Annerose Mitsushita, a Swiss concierge married to a Japanese man agreed. 'I will always look like and be seen as a foreigner,' she said. 'But it has its advantages sometimes.'

However, on a personal level it seems that international relations are less challenging. Jo admitted that although at first it was hard to communicate across the cultural barriers between herself and her partner, 'we now understand each other much better. The differences make the relationship more interesting.' For Annerose, it is a compromise where she and her husband communicate in their second language of English, whilst on the 'rare times we meet with his parents, my husband translates.' On the universal problem of in-laws, Jo added 'my fiancé's mother expects me to behave like a Japanese girl, which makes life here much more difficult.'

It would seem that compromise is an important factor right down to running the household. Though traditionally in Japan, the husband leaves his wife to run the house while he earns a living, the economic slump means that some couples cannot support this lifestyle. 'I have to work too,' said Annerose, 'otherwise we would not be able to live comfortably. In fact everything that is not an absolute necessity would become a luxury.' Jo agreed. 'We need the money. Plus not working would drive me nuts.'

But in a country where the average salary man is finding it hard to secure a decent job, what are the possibilities for expatriate women who speak little of the native language?

'I would say my options are limited here,' said Annerose, who has worked as a teacher and translator in the past. 'I don't really have a career plan and I am now earning half what I would earn in Switzerland. I would have to pass a translator exam if I want to become a tourist guide.' Jo disagreed. 'Career options are limited if you don't learn the local language. But as an ESL teacher in Japan I can live quite comfortably. Compared to friends back home earning a similar wage, I work fewer hours (25 a week) with great holidays.' But although promotion is possible, Jo foresaw that it would only be 'teaching at a university.'

While many Japanese subscribe to Shinto or Buddhist ceremonies for important ceremonies, there is a growing trend for Western style marriages. 'They are usually in a hotel room modelled on a church. The priest is often not genuine; you hear about ESL teachers taking ceremonies at the weekend for extra money,' said Jo, who plans to get married in the 'neutral territory' of Cambodia. 'We will have a typical formal do in Japan, and then a party in the UK with my family.' Annerose agreed that the current trend is too 'Hollywood show' for her taste. 'We had a plain city hall wedding, and a small party with family in Switzerland.'

Neither couple claims to have strong religious views, though there is also the issue of raising children in a foreign country. Jo suggested that there might be cultural differences. 'I don't foresee any major differences at home, but the education system here is very different. Kids work, work, work, and I don't really agree with that.' However, there are also benefits. 'Drug and crime rates here involving kids are much lower than back home. I am more concerned about how a mixed race child would be accepted. Many Japanese see foreign friends as a status symbol, like a Gucci bag. I'd like our children to attend an international school, where religious understanding and tolerance is taught, but my fiancé and I haven't really discussed it.'