Moving to Japan, questions about living/working/commuting.

Hello,

I recently have been given a great opportunity to relocate to Japan from the US (Tennessee) with my company for a 2-3 year engagement. My wife and I are relatively young (27 and 35 respectively). I will be working at an office in Atsugi (although I am told that I would probably enjoy living in Yokohama or Tokyo more). We have no children or pets.

We will have a 480k yen monthly housing stipend and a vehicle from the company.

All things being perfect, I would love to live in Tokyo. My wife is a practicing attorney in the US, but right now will not have a job when she enters the country. If she is able to find work -- it would likely be with a large US-based law firm (and they are all in Tokyo).

However, I am very concerned about the potential long commute to Atsugi (by car or transit). I have been told that Yokohama may present a better living and commuting situation -- but I am concerned about my wife and her ability to find/get to work. How easy is it to live in Yokohama and work in Tokyo? Any suggestions on specific areas of Yokohama and/or Tokyo to look in?

We have not yet visited Japan and we will get a week long house hunting trip. We would not be moving until October 2008.

I would very much appreciate any advice. Thank you in advance.

Congratulations on your assignment. You'll both have an experience you'll never forget.

Atsugi I know well as I used to live near there and you can get to Yokohama and Tokyo fairly easily from there. Atsugi also is home to a US Navy air base.

With a yen480k stipend for housing you can live quite luxuriously in Atsugi and I don't know why you would rather live in Tokyo or Yokohama as housing will probably be 1/3 to double what you'd pay in or near Atsugi for the same thing. Besides, Atsugi is quite modern.

The commute to/from Yokohama station is approximately 40 minutes and you'd have to take a minumum of two trains depending on where you chose to live. Tokyo (Shinjuku) is also approximately 40 minutes and requires only one train and two or more depending on where you work or live.

Another consideration is the hectic rush hour commute in the mornings and evenings of which I am sure you will tire of after a few weeks and would probably wished you lived near your work in Atsugi.

Even though you would be given a vehicle by your company you will not desire to drive during rush hour either to/from Tokyo/Yokohama as the tolls and gasoline, is very expensive never mind the traffic. Instead, I'd recommend using your car for weekend or holiday getaways even though that will also be hectic at times.

Getting to Tokyo from Yokohama for your wife, if you decide to live there, is also approximately 30 - 40 minutes depending on where where she worked.

My advice, for what it's worth, would be to live near your work in Atsugi and your wife can commute from there. It would be alot easier on you and you could probably drive to work from your home as it would only be a short distance. You can get more house/condo for your yen in Atsugi also. Sure, you may enjoy living in Tokyo/Yokohama more, and with your stipend you can easily afford it, but the commute may not be worth it. But that's a choice you'd have to make.

I'd also opt for getting a place within walking distance of a train station. As Atsugi station is an express stop, you'll not have much difficulty getting to either Tokyo or Yokohama or the hot springs and resorts to the south of Atsugi from the Odakyu train line that serves Atsugi.

Also, since you and your wife are getting a week to house hunt and such, that's great! Take the commute yourself to Yokohama and Tokyo and compare prices, time, hassle, etc. I think you'll probably find living in Atsugi to be your best bet even though your wife may have to commute an hour or so by train to Tokyo if/when she finds employment. Atsugi has most everything you can find in either Tokyo or Yokohama but on a smaller and cheaper scale especially for housing.

If it were me, I'd opt for living near my work in Atsugi. Good luck!

Pachipro's post is pretty much the best advice you could get on this subject. I can't imagine wanting to live in Tokyo when I work outside of the city.

Bear in mind, too, that most people (certainly most Japanese) commute 40-90 minutes one way every day on public transportation. It's your first step in learning "gaman" (patience) in Japan.

By the way, hasn't your company offered to find housing for you?

480,000 yen/month HOUSING stipend?????????? That's more money than most people here make in salaries. What the heck kind of job do you have?

Your housing stipend alone far outstrips my monthly salary. Just go ahead and get something close to work and eliminate the commuting hassle from your life.

Methinks someone has mistaken a monthly salary for his housing stipend. Doncha agree, Mike? I'm willing to wait for Qwiklap's response, but who gets that much money these days for housing, right?

Glenski said:

Methinks someone has mistaken a monthly salary for his housing stipend. Doncha agree, Mike? I'm willing to wait for Qwiklap's response, but who gets that much money these days for housing, right?

Click to expand...

After making my post I also thought the same thing Glenski. With a housing stipend of 480k/month one could live like a king and afford to take a limo from Tokyo to Atsugi. But who knows? Maybe some companies are paying that much nowadays. If so, maybe I outta get back into the business world and get transferred to Japan.

As you and Mike mentioned it is way more than the average worker/manager. Maybe Qwiklap will chime in and let us know.

Maybe he is a higher-up executive or something. If so that is a fantastic stipend for housing not including the car. If so, way to go Qwiklap!

Thanks for all the responses. I am certainly not trying to brag about the housing stipend - but I correctly stated it (and it is independent of other compensation). I just noted it so that I could get some advice with a budget in mind.

As someone that has not been to Japan -- I really don't have an idea of what is available. Looking at online apartment search engines, it looks like 480k/month will get a 1000 to 1200 sf apartment in Tokyo (which will be very comfortable for us).

Again -- I really don't think I want to live in Atsugi. Other expats in my company have advised against it. Most advise living in Yokohama. Keep in mind that my wife would likely need to be in or near Yokohama/Tokyo to find work (and it can pretty much be assumed that all US-based law firms -- likely the only ones interested in an english-speaking US trained lawyer -- will be in Tokyo). I don't want her to have to commute 1 hour+ to work.

Thanks again for all the help.

Yokohama has a large foreign population, and it's probable that there's need for English speaking lawyers there (it would help if she had knowledge of Japanese law as well, though it depends on her area of expertise). I wouldn't expect Tokyo to be the only place where she could find work. Perhaps she could research into that before you make your decision as well.

Just out of curiosity, what is it you do (or just what company do you work for)? I'd love to know what kind of company pays such handsome hardship benefits.

Yes, please tell us what you will do for a living. With that type of housing allowance, your salary alone is probably enough to afford a private jet to and from work, and it makes me wonder even more why you can't get the information you want directly from your employer...? With that type of money and position, they should be flying you and your wife here practically daily and spoon-feeding you with expat package info.

Thanks again everyone. I do have lots of resources available at work. I just wanted to get some other opinions.

I appreciate the help. Thank you. I don't really want to get into a lot of personal/career info. I have a good job and make a nice living -- but expat housing allowance is there to take the sting out of moving abroad since I will be keeping my home here and still making my mortgage payments.

Again thanks for all the help.

Standard ex-pat package

Sounds like the OP is getting a standard American expat compensation package that includes housing allowance, hefty living allowance in addition to his U.S. salary, and an educational allowance to send any kids to international school in a foreign country. Usually given to executives or needed professionals to work in that country. But these folks have a history of strong achievements in the company they work for and will be putting in at least 60-70 hours per week.

Actually, American expat packages are a bit stingy compared to European expat packages. And in the past, the package included allowances for a housekeeper and chauffer service. Now, that's reserved for people at the very top.

A lot of them live in Yoyigi Uehara, Akasaka, and Aoyama (unfortunately, too far a commute to Atsugi).

Advice: Live as close to your work as you possibly can, commuting is a BIG drag on your life. Come to Tokyo on the weekends.