Living in Japan

I've been living in Japan for nearly 4 years and love it. The family comes to visit and love it. The money is good and the teaching job is ok. People back home ask what's the attraction; language is difficult, weather is hot in the summer (time to go home then!), and everything is expensive. The main attraction for me are the friends and, most importantly, the ladies.

Anyone else lived in Japan?

Cheers,
Ronan

my experience is that it's great if you're a western male and pretty awful if you're female. needless to say i'm female and left after a year and banged the door behind me!

Hi,

Hijacking this thread. I'm changing jobs and will have some time off before I start with the new company.

Thinking of a last minute trip to Tokyo. I would have to be there and back before 'Golden Week' celebrations as the flight prices increase sharply after 24th April, so I would only have 8 days. I found a flight on lastminute.com for 812 euro. Do you think it would be worth it for such a short time.

My plan would be to stay in Tokyo and do day trips from there - to Kamakura and Hakone/Mt Fuji. My guidbook says Kyoto is a 'must see' but to travel there and back would be approx 150 euro by train - worth it for a couple of days?

thanks
Turqoise

Macgeejapan, I lived in Japan for two years. I'm now back in Ireland for 5 years. It was a great experience and would go back again if I could get an non-english teaching job. I returned because I was offered a postgrad course that I wanted, otherwise I' could be still living there. If I was you i'd be in no hurry to come back, as 'home' is really where your're the happiest!

Turqoise, why not visit somewhere closer to home and leave japan for another occasion when you have more time. It's a very long flight and it will take 2-3 days to fully get over the jet lag. The benefit of going for longer is that you can make very good use of the economical japan rail pass. Also, Japan is a country where you probably won't get to interact much with the locals (if you don't have the language), unlike somewhere like Thailand. If that's not a problem for you and if money is no object, then go and enjoy yourself!

I lived there for 4 years and found it a wonderful place to live. I was based in Mie Prefecture near Nagoya and was working for a Japanese Manufacturing company as an Engineer. I had a company sponsored apartment so my living expenses were not that expensive.
Lots of people I knew there (ex-pats) did not make much effort to get the language as you can get by with just English. But making the effort brings much better rewards and makes life there considerably easier.

Kyoto is a beautiful city and really is a must-see and is unbelievable when you're out under the Cherry blossums (hana-mi). Osaksa is also worth seeing when your down that way. The Shinkansen (bullet train) is expensive but worth it when time is at a premium.

Don't forget that even a simple "Arigato" will go a long way.