The example sentence in [Why is も used instead of が in the sentence
「日本ではクモを見ると良いことがあると言う人もいますよ」](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/8214/why-
is-%e3%82%82-used-instead-of-%e3%81%8c-in-the-
sentence-%e3%80%8c%e6%97%a5%e6%9c%ac%e3%81%a7%e3%81%af%e3%82%af%e3%83%a2%e3%82%92%e8%a6%8b%e3%82%8b%e3%81%a8%e8%89%af%e3%81%84%e3%81%93%e3%81%a8%e3%81%8c%e3%81%82%e3%82%8b%e3%81%a8%e8%a8%80%e3%81%86%e4%ba%ba%e3%82%82%e3%81%84%e3%81%be%e3%81%99%e3%82%88%e3%80%8d),

> 日本ではクモを見ると良いことがあると言う人もいますよ

got me thinking "Why is it using で, not に?". I.e., why not

> 日本には、クモを見ると良いことがあると言う人もいますよ

It seems obvious that 日本では is intended to modify います. If it were modifying 言う,
the meaning would be roughly "There are people who - when in Japan - say that
...".

Although I would personally use に in this sentence, it doesn't sound
completely ungrammatical to me as it is. So why is that, given that いる usually
takes に, not で?
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2012-10-25T00:26:35.627
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particles particle-に particle-で
Using で instead of に with いる
では is not modifying います or 言う. That is just one of the definitions of では:
`「...の場所で」`; for/at a place.

> 京都ではもう春だ。 → It's already spring in Kyoto.

`日本では` is just setting the stage for the rest of the sentence; "In Japan", and
then leave it at that. The rest of the sentence doesn't relate grammatically
to it at all. It's not indicating the location where people talk about the
spiders. And you don't indicate where someone exists with で (see my answer
[here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/105/78) for details on that).
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2012-10-25T02:56:08.687
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In my opinion,

日本では connects to the action クモを見る。 日本に goes to the 人がいる。 So you can say

日本ではクモを見るといい。 日本には人がいる。

I think you can use both で and に、but what you wanna stress out in the sentence
is different.

For で、You wanna focus on クモを見ること For に、You wanna focus on 人がいること
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2012-10-27T02:12:38.320
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The reason why で is used instead of に here can be attributed to two reasons:

  1. There is large distance between います and 日本では.

  2. The part separating them (クモを見ると良いことがあると言う) uses verbs which represent action which would make it more natural to use で because they are closer. When making sentences, people have a tendency to match the particles with verbs that are closer.

Because of the above, で is used although you are correct in believing that に
should be used with いる.
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