living in Japan
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- ********
how hard is it to live in japan without speaking the language? how about renting vs owning?
- ********0
Blue would know
- blog0
Ask PeterH.
- aaux0
I had a friend that moved there without knowing Japanese, he is slowly learning and seems to be getting by. Even tho his profession there is a "Male Servant" working at a woman's day spa.
- claret0
My cousin lives there and he says it's really easy to get by. If you have a degree, the easiest way in is to teach english, but there may be other opportunities for highly skilled workers, i think. Feel free to email your questions and I can ask him if you like... we're thinking of moving there for a few months over the snowboarding season! :}
- instrmntl0
i want to move to Tokyp, so any real answers would be greatly appreciated. also, anyone know people at w+k tokyo? = )
- Peter0
Renting / Owning
Owning is hard, near impossible here without a permanent resident visa status. And that status you might get after living- and working here for 10 years (might get it a few years sooner than that if you're married to a Japanese, but you still've got to have stayed for a number of years).
Renting is fairly easy. There are apartments just about everywhere. You'll be denied about 1/3 of the available ones because the landlords don't prefer stinky stinky barbaric foreigner (just like me).
You'll have to do a downpayment of about 4 months, where you might get 1 month back if you're lucky.Learn the damn language. To later forget it. Won't go into details, but you just have to trust me on that one.
- mg330
One of my best friends lives there and teaches English in Tokyo. I went to visit in 2006 and had such an awesome time. I want to go back there more than I can possibly tell you; it was like being on a different planet.
He's planning to stay there for a while now that the US economy is in the toilet. At best he's an entry level employee back in the US - luckily he's got a connect through his brother who is CEO of a credit card processing company, so he's got a job there if he wants it, but I've talked him out of coming back at all. I don't know how you could do it. He'd be coming back and living at his parent's house for a while and damn that would just be depressing IMO.
We're actually working on a blog together that's focused on Japanese candy - reviews and selling it - as well as American insider tourist tips and travel suggestions, itineraries, that kind of thing.
He's also making some great money over there right now selling skateboard decks, parts, videos, etc. Buys em in the US at bulk rate and sells them over there at the skateparks and the kids are going nuts for it. I'm pretty impressed at what he's doing and he's had a girlfriend there for a few years now.
I loved it there so much, if I had nothing going on in the US, I'd really consider moving there and doing something there. To me being an outsider there, every day felt like a weekend, it was so awesome.
- Love the "entry level deal", as documented here:
http://www.karatethe…Peter - Anyways, being an outsider is honestly not that fun once you start "actual" living here.Peter
- Love the "entry level deal", as documented here:
- instrmntl0
awesome. when i was in Osaka, I was contemplating opening a skate shop.
- Frosty_spl0
I am going to Tokyo on the 25th to visit my friend, IM SO EXCITED!!!!
I really want to move there too, we will see.
Anyone there want to hit up some clubs and bars when I visit at the end of march???
- I'll be there the 27th thru april 6th in tokyo.DrBombay
- sweet! Lets meet up!Frosty_spl
- ********0
thanks PeterH, you're good people
- honest0
Ask Vince Frost.
- mg330
If you are white there, and of moderately good looking dimensions and style, most of the time people will think you are someone famous.
This seems like the perfect time to tell everyone that I FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY, after 2 1/2 years since I went there, finished up all my photo galleries from the trip. I've been trying to get this added to my new site I finished up in December, and use Lightwindow to open SimpleViewer galleries within the same window. I literally just finished this, so enjoy!
- boobs0
Isn't Japan really crowded?
- trooperbill0
E N V I O U S
- SteveJobs0
they should be the first country to have successfully developed anotomically realistic cyborg sex-slaves. so if you're fuck-ugly, you could come out on top, or on the bottom if that's your thing..
- heathen0
PeterH hit it spot on. The housing system here is incredibly wacky and infuriates me to no end. Outright racist and unnecessary-borderline-illegal-p... customs make things really really expensive/difficult when you start out here or if you plan on moving around.
However, I've been in Tokyo now for about 2.5 years, and its been such a rad experience. I started off teaching and now doing an IT stint at a uni to improve my japanese. teaching is definitely the easiest way in, and learning the language is a must if you want to do anything else.... unless you are super specialized and/or work for an international company.
In bigger cities like Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, etc... you could get by without any Japanese pretty easily. i know plenty of people who've lived here for years and done just that. BUT, you'd be shocked at how very little english is actually spoken by the general population. They learn it as children and can generally understand it, but don't expect an answer back in English.