Mew

hi, i figured some subaru drivers could be japanese so why not eh

since the uk is getting worse and worse, i was thinking of maybe moving abroad namely japan, and im trying to find information on japan living:

just basic things that only people who live/ have been to japan would know...

do people usually buy homes / rent? most i see rent, but do people ever buy?

i read everywhere that owning an old car in japan is expensive; how is it expensive? wot costs are involved with driving a car in japan?

income tax appears to be 30% of your wage if you earn roughly £24k per year.. seems expensive.. how much do people normally earn doing say an average job?


i am planning on taking a trip to japan this year and next to "see" for myself the environment but you can only "see" so much as a tourist.


if anyone can help then thank you in advanced

Mew

also forgot to ask

if i get a job in japan, and get a working permit to work am i required at any point to take a japanese language test before entry or before i apply for japanese citzenship?

tyty

KiwiGTI

Good luck.

davegtt

aye good luck to you fella. certainly sounds like a new adventure for you. Cant really help with your Q's though

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

There's a user on here called BritInJapan, search him out and ask?

GC8

Coolangatta still lives there, in one of the Northern prefectures on Honshu, I think.

The cost of living is extremely high, which is what has always put me off. Im fascinated with Japan and I have been ever since I started trading there in 2000, but the combination of high cost and my inability to speak any Japanese has so-far kept me away.....

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Is the high cost just to do with the exchange rate though, or is the cost of living still appreciably higher than the UK for someone paid in Yen?

If you've not looked at Tokyo with Google Earth then do so, it's quite an eye-opener. No wonder land is expensive!

GC8

Its a real high cost of living. The exchange rate is about ¥200 to £1:00 which still makes Sterling quite strong: it peaked at about ¥235 to the Pound last year, but even at these rates a everythings dear. Having said that a bottle of Evian from a vending machine in Sheffield train station was dearer than one in Tokyo! Taxis and beer are a fraction of the price though.....

Mew

wow

im impressed at the response from everyone so fast
scoobynet is really the best community to be in
i only went for a shower and then come back to pc and BOOM lol


right ok thx for replies so far, i may message BritInJapan and ask if he/she can spare some time

also japan living IS expensive i found one website that was in english that had rent prices for the tokyo and neighboring cities; unfortunately the prices for a 1bed apartment STARTED from 150,000yen (thats £750) per month lol lol

but is that the case for everywhere is japan? its only been 30mins lol so maybe il get afew more replies

GC8

Dont forget your present for the landlord either..... I wonder how much floorspace youd get for that? Smaller than most garages no doubt. On the subject of car parking: no space then no car and the police will actually come out and measure it to see if your car will fit in. Parking space rents are frightening too.

Mew

yeh sry i forgot to mention that the £750pm rent gets you a 400sq ft 1bedroom apartment (bedroom, frontroom combined with kitchen, bathroom) in what looks like a city area (judging from background of picture) its a new apartment and no mention of a car space so yes i would expect it to be more; but then we already knew that anyway and £750pm for a newish flat 400sq ft is not bad... similar to london prices.....................


its not all gloom

in fact just for interest il go get that link for you all to see

https://www.mitsui-chintai.co.jp/res...A0203Detail.do

myblackwrx

iTrader: (1)

I will speak to my mate as he is now living (and happily married) in Tokyo.

any inability to speak japanese can be offset by asking them to teach you.

My friend has just done a course on teaching english to foreigners (in this case japanese) but can only go out there for 3 months as he needs a degree (he did a celta iirc) to get a longer visa (or married to get a spousal visa).

You cannot work on the visiting visa legally iirc and they may be fussy on what age you are.

BUT it is still a fecking awesome place to go clean,great public transport system (in tokyo anyway)

Mew

i just cant get enough for this forum fantastic any help is appreciated

i looked at tokyo's subway map, looks awful!! but my friend who went some years ago on holiday tells me it is actually easy to use (the trains go round in cycles!!?? )

obviousily i wasnt planning on going straight away i need to the do the sensible thing and save some money first and whilst im at it, learn basic japanese to the point where i can hear where sentences stop and start, then when im actually there, the rest will follow

originally i had planned to go at the earliest in 3yrs time, and i plan to have around £30k-£40k (im still young lol and so not loaded haha) and like i say before, i intend to go visit japan to "test" the water or maybe try get a job that puts me in japan anyway

The Chief

Mykp from Smacs has lived out there and knows what needs to be know n, if you post maybe in Northern section i'm sure he'll be along shortly

mykp

I'll try answer your questions


do people usually buy homes / rent? most i see rent, but do people ever buy?

Yes lots of rentals. Japanese families typically though stick together and its not unusual for more than one family to live under the same room. My In-laws live with my brother in law, his wife and 3 kids in the family home.

Land isnt as expensive as it was when i lived there in 1995-1997 due to the market crash but its still expensive in City location.


i read everywhere that owning an old car in japan is expensive; how is it expensive? wot costs are involved with driving a car in japan?

The thing which puts a damper on old car is the MOT and it can cost around £500 just to get a pass. You also need to be able to prove that you have somewhere to park your car as well otherwise you might be limited to a 660cc model.

income tax appears to be 30% of your wage if you earn roughly £24k per year.. seems expensive.. how much do people normally earn doing say an average job?

Income tax is slightly more than her but the cost of living is lower. two examples. Cars, Cheaper to buy, cheaper to put petrol in. Shopping, almost everything was cheaper last time I was there, so much so I brought a load back. I cant comment on the average wage as when I lived there I spent half my time working on stuff sent from agencies in the Uk and the other half working for my in-laws building company.


i am planning on taking a trip to japan this year and next to "see" for myself the environment but you can only "see" so much as a tourist.
Goto where you think you would like to live. Of course try the cities, you will be shocked at just how clean and safe they are. I lived near Kobe and if you want real city life Osaka is very close, or rural with the mountains about 30kms away.

If you going to go then my advice would be to learn the language and also basic written language as this will go a long way. A lot of Japanese speak english and all the road signs and train announcements are in English but you really need to know the basics. There are a few on my website. Useful Japanese Phrases, from basic Japanese to Japanese for Travellers. : (mykp.co.uk)

anything else you need to ask. Ask away.

Mew

STAR!!! mykp

just looking through and so far

Jeff Stryker

Wrong!

GC8

Perhaps we are talking about different things? Was this the most constructive comment that you were able to add to the thread?

Helpful: fail
Informative: fail
Worthwhile addition to the topic: fail
Charisma: fail

Better luck next time Jeff .

Mew

im a little surprised and agree with gc8.....

if its cheap to live in japan then where?? iv looked around tokyo on websites and they seem expensive to me; london prices for half the size...............

just to remind people i have seen flats start at £750pm (they r fairly new ie less than 3yrs build or new) and this is for a 320-450sq ft flat.... thats not big.......

Mew

have to add the response from almost every1 here has been fantastic and im sure at some point or another every1 here will have thought about moving abroad

ty for replies

Jeff Stryker

Better luck with what? You were wrong, end of.
Yes property is expensive but general cost of living isn't

Suresh

You'll need some help to understand their English pronunciation. Try here -

Welcome to Engrish.com!

I spent a week in Tokyo on business in summer 2006 and wouldn't say the Jap City lifestyle appealed really. The working hours seemed obscene and the financial district had no soul whatsoever with all the restaurants and cafes hidden underground.

Letdown.

I lived in Tokyo for 4.5 years. Had the best time of my life. Its a great place and you can get by with very little J skills.

Do it !!!

djmisio85

I currently live in japan. It seems all youve been looking at is Tokyo, and thats why it seems expensive, its like london. I live in the countryside, what I used to pay for ONE room in central london a WEEK, I pay that a MONTH now, for an apartment.

Food is cheap, petrols cheap, clothes are pretty reasonable. but unless you can speak japanese, the only good place for you would be tokyo, what kind of job you would find there??
Japans ok for a holiday, but if youre planning on living here, it takes a little more than just a dream. If you want to live a decent life, learn japanese. Its not like tokyo drift where the guy just comes along and gets on with life.
japanese is VERY difficult......but i guess you work that out if you come on a holiday here.

Unless you already have a job setup on the day you arrive here, its not going to be easy getting on your feet, unless you strictly stay in tokyo and depend on the english speaking companies.....

Then theres the whole aspect of accepting japanese culture and way of life, which from all the gaijins (foreigners) who I know here, cant handle it too well. Plus youd have to give up your british citizenship, because dual nationality is a no no. So its an "either or" type of scenario

oh well, good luck

coolangatta

[quote=GC8;7782037]Coolangatta still lives there, in one of the Northern prefectures on Honshu, I think. quote]

Yes, spot on GC8, I've lived in Aomori (Blue Forest) prefecture (Northern most county of Honshu) for around 6 years so can add my experience here.

Living in Japan is generally, in my experience, more expensive than the UK but, as is the case in most countries, it is more expensive to a lesser or greater degree depending on where you live and your lifestyle.

Property. (I only have experience of renting)
I live in rented accommodation in a nice semi-rural area within 10 minute drive of town centre. Property was new when I moved in and is modern 'western style'. 2 bedroom (1 large, 1 small). Reasonable size bathroom with bath and shower. Large living area, small kitchen, utility room, single garage. Rent £500/month (Equiv). Warning this would not be the price in Tokyo.
Most young married professionals that I know have bought land and have had a house built, generally on the city outskirts where land is 'not cheap' but not unduly expensive either.

Transport.
Public transport, especially the rail system, is fantastic. I generally use the bullet train (shinkansen) for longer journeys but also take internal flights quite often too.Train journey from home to Tokyo, for example, is completed in 2hrs 50mins (375 miles). £145/return.
Flight from my home town to Tokyo takes around 1 hour and is slightly more expensive. £160/return.
Petrol price has been rising steadily, as everywhere else, and is currently around 75p/L (Regular), 80p/L (High octane). Scoob takes high octane.
I pay around £500/year insurance (fully comp) on my STi.
MOT or Shaken is every two years after the car is 3 years old and costs around £500 but includes compulsory third party liability and some other taxes.
Road tax for the STi is £197.
Metro system in Tokyo is cheap, clean, safe and make London Underground look like something from the third world.
Buses in my home town are as cheap as chips.

Shopping.
I would say that the average shopping basket is around 25 to 30% up on UK.
Groceries have got cheaper while I've been here due in large part to increased competition. Rice price is no longer government regulated (used to provide protection to farmers) so has dropped quite a lot.
Can still pay silly money for fruit like melons if you are daft enough.
Vegetables are much more expensive than the UK and are sold in very small bags/packages. Sliced bread, generally only sold as 1/3rd loaf in either 6 or 8 slices without crusts , 70p.
You get the idea, I won't bore you with grocery prices further.

Utilities.
Here's where it is very expensive. Gas (bottled only), Kerosene (used for heating), electricity and water are all much more expensive than the UK.

Now the important stuff Booze and ****.
Most bars are now selling a small beer (lager 1/2 pint) for £2.50. A pint of Guiness is £4/4.50
You will get ripped off on drink prices should you visit 'certain' types of club But you would expect that, No?
Decent bottle of wine in an off-licence (French or new world) for around £7.50
If you can accept a slightly inferior (IMO) wine, (Australian -Banrock Station for example), 2L box £7
If you are a smoker your 'quids in'. A pack of 20 is £1.45

Eating out.
Can't really make a comparison as it depends what you like and where you go. However my local Chinese restaurant is comparable to a decent UK version except the drinks are 50% up. Japanese restaurants can get silly but equally you won't pay through the nose for a good izakaya style place which is a drinking place which also serves food.

Consumption Tax (VAT) 5% is levied on all purchases.

Overall, I love living in Japan. It's generally a very safe, friendly, respectful and clean country. The women ain't bad either

djmisio85

Coolangatta, I dont know how good your japanese is, but you will be happy to know that petrol prices have dropped this week.
Regular is now around 120-130yen and haioku is about 130-140yen .
This is due to the new road tax, which will be more expensive, so I assume we will pay more at shakken time about 3man for the road tax.

just checked aomoriken and its the same prices

we should meet up some time im down in gunma

JackClark

If you're going on holiday make sure you buy the rail pass before you leave. Mine cost £165 for 7 days in the Green Car, which is a bit like business class and was valid for travel to pretty much everywhere with some ferries included.

Mew

nice 1 coolangatta & djmisio85

prob just what i wanted to hear i always assumed i would need to pick up japanese anyway and i intended to live out of tokyo from the beginning and uv basically told me that living outside of tokyo is cheaper

also i know about the dual citzenship thing, thats the same with almost anyway else where if you have worked X years and had all the permits there comes a point where you can apply for it but must give up your old one.. nothing new there.

question is tho, in japan if i decided to move there permantely is it worth me "buying" my own place? be it in tokyo or not? i heard that you can buy a property but the price of that property will just drop each year..............

coolangatta

Japanese houses are not built like UK housing.
All construction is of light weight materials and by their nature are not long lasting. Properties greater than around 15/20 years old really show signs of aging and decay. So you're never going to sell an old house for anywhere near the value of a new one. There is a very limited market for used property here.

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

My sister lived out there for a couple of years, working teaching English to Japanese students. She liked it, and loved the people and culture, and some of their funny ways.

For example, one of her students obviously took a shine to her, and sends her Xmas presents with a note that translates roughly as 'this is just some cheap piece of tat I picked up in the market ( they arent, they are really nice presents ), so please dont feel you have to send me anything in return' - apparently if you give someone a gift, they should feel obliged to give you a better one back, then you should feel obliged to give them an even better one back, and it could just go on for ever until you are buying each other yachts and cars.

So the note is a really polite way of saying that they have bought her the present, but not to get something back in return as they didnt buy it for her expecting a present back.

They were also quite astounded that she drove a saloon car out there as nearly all women drive tiny hatchbacks and city cars, and this tall blonde westerner was driving around in a mans car !

But yes, if you go over there without being able to speak even basic Japanese then I think you would struggle - it would be OK for a holiday as a lot of Japanese people speak reasonable English, but I wouldnt expect them to at work for you.

And the cost of living is quite a bit higher than the UK generally. It isnt as much for Japanese people as most have a good income and end up with a higher disposable income than we do - hence their love for having all the latest electronic gadgets, it isnt because they are cheap, its because they can afford them.

[ which brings up another point, when the media and people moan about 'rip off Britain' they never mention that the UK is roughly in the middle as far as cost of living goes, and there are a lot of countries that are much higher as well as those that are lower ]