Nice article ... I think the number of judoka who go to the dojo just for this reason has not been discussed enough here.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/opinions/view/overcoming-loneliness-through-judo
http://www.japantoday.com/category/opinions/view/overcoming-loneliness-through-judo
Iwate, unlike Tokyo or other larger cities, has an extremely small population of foreigners. I moved to Iwate in April of 2012 and since I didn’t have any contacts I went three months without running into another English-speaking foreigner. Unlike English teaching jobs, I had no real support network in terms of introducing myself to fellow English speakers. My only friends were people I saw on a day-to-day basis. Even though I speak some Japanese it was quite isolating. The only exception to this would be my friends from judo.