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The City or the Countryside?

thejapanguy

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I'm going to be changing jobs in the very near future, and I'm really thinking about staying in Tsukuba, but part of me wants to get closer to Tokyo. Although Tsukuba isn't exactly the countryside, it's got the peace and quiet of a small town.

If given the choice, here in Japan, which would you rather live in, the city or the sticks?
 
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窶彡ﾅｽﾃ man, 100% 窶彡ﾅｽﾃ? Already have a great little place in Okayama picked out with about 6 acres and a vineyard already planted all I have to do is convince she who has the ultimate veto (and is a dead set on living in the city) to move...
 
My intention is countryside, but I've heard much about Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka etc so I'm not sure, but I wouldn't really want to live in a city similar to London
 
When I was there (many years ago).............

I loved going to the tiny , out of the way towns. Many made me feel I had gone back in time (got some great pictures there). The one thing I did notice when traveling around those type locations , was everyone stared at me like a I was a martian; not many gaijins had been before me I guess?

Uncle Frank

 

Once, in rural Tochigi prefecture, about 15 years ago I was visiting a manufacturing site to do the technical acceptance on the first of many tools my employer was buying.

Now the site had a lot of folks, it's own convenience store, laundry, and a restaurant on site. But the building where they were putting together the tools for us and the convenience store were rather far apart (and the softball fields were in between) and a farmer had put several vending machines next to a power pole near his field right next to a 90 degree turn in the road about 100 meters from the building.

Well, instead of walking all the way to the convenience store I had started going over to the vending machine to buy a soda like the rest of the folks in the building did. I was taking a break, walking back, and a woman drove by staring at me - and missed the turn driving out into the farmers field.

My Japanese host/handler and I went over and helped push her car back onto the road (while she was crying and apologizing profusely) but it remains one of the funnier experiences I've had being a foreigner in Japan.

Where my family is registered (and the "family home" is - not that anyone lives there) is also very VERY rural (think mud/straw walls over stick latices construction for some houses rural) but other than the local school kids and their refreshingly honest approach to everything I haven't gotten more than a curious glance.
 
What's the point in asking us? People's comfort zone with city or country could be very different than yours because of a zillion factors.

Instead, why not state your own reasons for liking Japan in general, city or country in specifics, and for what you envision your long-term career goals here to be?
 
Glenski, I'm not trying to be nasty, or offensive at all, but I should be able to ask a question any way that I see fit, as long as I'm following the forum rules, right?

I was curious so I asked. Any time I have a question, I'm going to ask it.

Again, I'm really not trying to be rude...but I'm not posting for you...I'm posting because I have questions.

As respectfully as possible,
 
LOL Uncle Frank! I haven't been to many super rural places, but I can imagine the stares must get to be pretty severe. Once in a blue moon I get those "what planet are you from?" stares here in Tsukuba, but it's all good .

JerichoDesu, you've been to Tokyo, right? How does Tokyo compare to London? People? Cost of living? Sights? etc.?

Wow! Jerry, that story's a keeper, thanks for sharing! That sounds cool, though, I've never been to Okayama.

Perhaps I need to take a little road trip to the countryside...
 
thejapanguy said:
JerichoDesu, you've been to Tokyo, right? How does Tokyo compare to London? People? Cost of living? Sights? etc.?
Click to expand...

Sorry dude, but I have yet to grace the land of the rising sun let alone Tokyo. I might have indicated something misleading, I apologize.

However from what I have heard from my friends who come from Tokyo, London is apparenlty more greener, as in there are far more parks than Tokyo. Also people here are more friendlier (we're apparently famous for the helping people to carry their luggage or baby buggies up or down staircases in the underground). However the quality of food and transportation is miles better in Tokyo.
 
No, no, not misleading at all. I just thought you had been here before. I hope you have a chance to visit. It's really a cool place.

There are a few teachers I've met from London, and what they say pretty much matches what you've heard. I'm not sure about the London/Tokyo comparison though because I haven't had the opportunity to go the London just yet...someday.
 
I can't form a real opinion of it since I've lived here all my life and haven't stayed in any other country long enough to form a valid comparision, however I get the feeling that London is a dissappointment to many who come here and stay for any lengthy period of time. However for visiting I think its an alright place I guess.
 

Couldn't agree more. I moved to London from a small town up in the north of England and stayed down there for 4 years. 4 long, hard, stressful years!! Then I met a Japanese girl in a bar one night, fell in love and 6 months later we were in Japan together!! Never looked back.

London is a great place to visit. Hard place to live.

Personally, now I live in Kanazawa, Ishikawa. It's perfect. Not too big and not too small that you get the martian stares!! Also there is a large mountain range on one side (perfect for snowboarding in winter), plus a beautiful beach on the other (for drinking and getting sunburnt!). Great place.
 
I've been in the sticks for quite awhile. Problems are job opportunities are rare to none, and the locals can be darned boring to talk to.

Guess my biggest problem is there's no way to go out and have a few drinks with friends. Sure I could take a taxi to the nearest train station, then head to the nearest city, then stay a few hours. However, the last train back leaves at 11, and then it's another taxi back home. Not only highly expensive, but you get tired of feeling like Cinderella.

On the plus side, I can live like a white boy here. Have a nice sized house and yard, and I can do pretty much whatever I want, and the locals will think I'm crazy no matter what I do.
 
hmmm i don't know about a job opportunity in small town but i think staying in Countryside are more peaceful, i have been in japan for vacation and i stayed at my sister's house in the countryside it's so peaceful in there and besides even if you stay in countryside you can get job in another town or city nearby from where you stay, from my point of view i think it's the best staying in countryside
 
I live around 30 miles from Chicago, IL. The city is indeed nice to live in, but I honestly like a quiet atmosphere. I think the same would apply to my taste of dwelling in Japan, no matter how unlikely that is to happen.
 

As another Kanazawan (23 yrs and counting), +3 on that (tho I'm a cyclist, not a boarder).
 
somewhere on the more rural side would do me. The middle of Osaka/Tokyo would do my head in to live there. A smaller city or town would be good.
 
well i think i want to live in okinawa...mainly because my favorite band, stereopony is from okinawa. also i've learned that okinawa has its own culture which is different from the mainland, which is interesting
 
Most of my travels have been to urban areas. I go mostly for the conveniences that density brings to a city. Restaurants, easy transportation, shopping, sightseeing, museums, and architecture. I have cousins outside Hiroshima. Many years ago it was mostly farm land with terraced rice fields and farm houses. They had fire stoked ofuro and a toilet that was a hole in the floor. Now they have a train system and a lot of the rice fields have become suburb housing. My cousin built a new house in the rice field and even though they have city jobs, they still manage to grow rice every year. The rice from the field is very good. I guess there are good things in both places.
 
I'm in Fukuoka now and I definitely prefer the smaller cities. Tokyo is nice to go to, but I don't think it's nice to live in.
 
I wouldn't mind living in Nara City near Nara Park. Its really nice there and I make a point to visit the area every time I'm in Japan.

Its also pretty close to Osaka and Kyoto.

 
Nara park... I hate those deers, the other day one bit me in the side and left me with a big blue spot.

I live right under Mt. Rokko but I wouldn't mind living on top of it as long as I don't have to go down everyday.
 
reply

well i usually enjoy urban life, but when i think of big city in japan i think of tokyo. idk if i would really enjoy living in the most populated city (metropolitan area) inthe world. iwoul however enjoy living in a city like kyoto or maybe osaka.
btw do you live near tsukuba circuit? cuz that would be pretty cool to live there in my opinion.
 

The moment i have enough of cash to get a decent piece of land and a house, I am out of Tokyo in such a rush, that my feet won't even touch the ground. When i wake up, I want to see mountains, trees, and 0 people.
 
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