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Which city in Japan is most relaxing?

haho

後輩
28 Apr 2007
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I am planning to live there for a while but have now idea where. I don't really like places like Tokyo(too stressfull). I prefer a relaxing place with laid back people. Can somebody help me?
 
The people in Sendai seemed laid-back to me. I was there a year ago. Runner-up would be Kumamoto down in Kyushu.
 
I live in the Shiga area of Matsumoto-city, Nagano prefecture. It is very, very laid back here. Of course I don't think it would be easy to move in if you have not lived in Japan for at least a short time beforehand. . .it's quite rual. BUT...it IS very relaxing. . .you can just ask Mikawa Ossan, (when he's back on line more often) or Mike Cash, or a few other folks who do know...

Otherwise, I also tend to think that the Kyushu area is somewhat laid back too.
 
Most people who go to Tokyo as turists only see the downtown areas. If you avoid the rush hour trafic you can easily find relaxing places. Actually there are some very laid back areas in Tokyo. I like Shimo-Kitasawa, Kichijôji and Setagaya.

I would find it stressful to live in a small comunity because I like to be a annonymious face in the croud. When you stand out because of different appearence, all the attention you are receiving can be quite tiresome.

:cry:
 
Is there such thing as a ghetto side of Tokyo? and that side should be avoided at all costs? Like the ghettos here in America?
 
If there were a ghetto in Tokyo, you would have heard about it by now, dontcha think? Trust me, all that Tokyo has are lots of excellent Spa-Ghetto restaurants.
 
I bet it's still the same.

There was a little town on the island of Kyushu called Hita. I felt like I was in a time warp whenever I went there. My girlfriend back then (1971) lived in Hita. Logging was a big thing there and lots of lumber trucks reminded me of my home back in Maine(US). In the summer everone went there to go out on covered boats used for parties. There were always several people fishing in the river there. I always felt like it was the 1930's when I was there. I guess back then , not many gaijins visited too often. People there treated me like I was a famous movie star, which was different. I bet if you find your way to any very small town, it would be similer(avoid the tourist traps).

Uncle Frank

:)
 
Hita-shi of Ooita is hometown of my mother.
When I was small, I swam in a river of Hita.
In those days,I smelled the forest when I arrived at a station of Hita.

Because a highway was made, current Hita is around 1 hour from Fukuoka.
Several years ago,
Because pure water is produced in Hita,A factory of Sapporo Breweries was made.
サッポロビール 九州日田工場 | 工場見学・ミュージアム | サッポロビール
A new road was made.

A city with a clean river
1.Chitose-shi, Hokkaido
It is the city that is near to Sapporo,
Chitose River can catch a salmon.

2.Morioka-shi, Iwate
Kitakami River flows through the city.
Mt. Iwate-san and Hachimantai.
Nature which is near to this city.
It is said that a citizen of Iwate is the gentlest in Japan.
http://travel.japan-tohoku.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?code=0400&disp=area&country=en
3.Sendai
It is 1,000,000 big cities, but Hirose River of the city is clean.
Matsushima is near to Sendai.
Matsushima is a Japan's leading beauty spot.
http://www.miyagitheme.jp/cd/main_data/area_db_e/ad_matsushima/ad001_matsushima/index.html
 
When I went to Hakone was VERY relaxing, nice friendly people who gave me free tea and sweets and let me practice Japanese on them, pretty scenery, lots of interesting souvenirs...
 
I lived in both Okayama and Fukuoka and I would have to say that if you go outside of any city you can find nice relaxing towns. It all depends on what part of Japan you want to live. For me there is a very relaxing place outside of Fukuoka kind of on the way to Karatsu called itoushima. There is a really cool beach called Futamigaura which is on a penisula. Anywhere in this area would be very a relaxing place to live.

In Okayama there are several islands in the Seto inland sea that are nice places to live as well. I went to one and there was a gaijin couple living there. They had a sailboat and the works.

Lots of places throughout Japan.
 
Kyushu is the most named place to go, i'm intending to see it for myself in the vacation.

You won't regret it. I liked it very much. The various shorelines were quite scenic, especially when riding the JR trains along them. I enjoyed sitting outside at a Starbuck's in Nagasaki just people-watching. Very relaxing.
 
You won't regret it. I liked it very much. The various shorelines were quite scenic, especially when riding the JR trains along them. I enjoyed sitting outside at a Starbuck's in Nagasaki just people-watching. Very relaxing.
I look forward to explore Kyushu some time soon. However, one issue which Haho might not be confortable with: Conservative gender roles. I hear that specially in northern Kyushu the role of women is far less equal than in other parts of Japan. I know many young women who get really stressed if they are treated as inferior to men!:(

When deciding where to settle it is important to look into other things than nice beaches etc. I once visited the Molukas in eastern Indonesia, and I was so attracted to the tropical paradise - great beaches, smiling people, music and dance. Alas, one year later the christians living in the area was butchered in the streets by islamic fundamentalists! I am not affraid that the kind people in Kyushu would suddenly turn violent, but I heard that it is the most conservative part of Japan.☝
 
Where is laid back in your own country? Usually a small town. However, in Japan, you are not likely to have much English there, so it may actually be more stressful for you.

What some people find relaxing is stressful to others. My wife is a city girl and has a hard time dealing with natural surroundings. She prefers the hustle and bustle of big cities. I'm almost the opposite.

What are you used to and looking forward to?
How are you planning to live/work here?
What's your level of Japanese?
 
I find Tokyo is somewhat relaxing for me. I used to have been much busier when I was in the New York metro areas. As long as you can adjust your time to avoid the rush hours (7:30 to 8:30 & 18:00 to 20:00), I think you should find most of Japan's metro areas manageable (if you are using the public transportation, that is)
 
I am planning to live there for a while but have now idea where. I don't really like places like Tokyo(too stressfull). I prefer a relaxing place with laid back people. Can somebody help me?
Depends on what you find relaxing and what you like in a city. I personally like relaxing places too but in the context of large cities as I am quite a city person. I liked Sapporo a lot because it gave me a relaxing feel despite it being a large city.
 
Akita City is a relaxing place to live, it's one of the smallest cities. i've been here for nearly 7 years and really like it. however anywere you go you're not gonna be able to work, assuming you have a working visa, unless you speak very good Japanese, including reading and writing. teaching English is the only option otherwise, unless you have friends here, and the big companies tell you were your going to go
 
Nagasaki has the lowest crime rate in the whole of Japan (the assasination of the mayor a while ago was a tremendous exception to the rule). Also, the salaries are probably the lowest of the more urban areas, but in return the cost of living is cheap too: the tram costs 100 yen per ride and it takes you as far as you want to go. The people are nice and laid-back (窶堙娯?堙ア窶堙鯛?堙ィ if you know what I mean) and the food (Champon, toruko-rice, kakuni etc.) is great..

If I would ever want to live in Japan, it would be Nagasaki. But then again, I've never been to the parts north of Tokyo, or Okinawa, which seem to be great places to live too.
 
It depends on what you mean by city and what you mean by relaxing!
Do you still want to live in an urban area?

The most relaxing place I have been is Mt. Koya, but there isn't really housing there, unless you are able to secure a real home in one of the small towns, but I'm sure thats not what you are after.

ou can stay in places that are pretty removed from the big cities, but also close enough that you can still go to a big city if you need to.

I stayed in Saitama (near the higashi-kawaguchi station) for several weeks, and where I was there was a nice park and a bamboo forest, streams, walking trails, it was generally very quiet with not much commotion, and that was only about 25 min by train to tokyo.
 
I came to Hiroshima last year.And i think this city is a nice city.是非行ってみてください
 
I came to Hiroshima last year.And i think this city is a nice city.ツ青・窶敕アツ行窶堙≫?堙??堙昶?堙??堋ュ窶堋セ窶堋ウ窶堋「

I agree, Hiroshima is quite peaceful. I think you could argue any major city can be peaceful if you find the quiet places but I really like Hiroshima.
 
Asakusa Japan! Harajuku in the evenig after all the shops are closed is good. Lots of free spirited people and mellow. Yokohama is also mellow.

Weekends are stressful in asakusa, apart from that it is the most mellow place in entire Japan. I base my opinion on personal empiric experience.

Osaka is the most stressful.
 
I always prefer Kobe. It's not the most relaxing city, but it isn't that crowded and there is a lot to do in the nearby area: Osaka the working city, Kyoto the historical city (same goes for Nara, and Himeji). Kobe is the living city in the Kansai area!

You will also find a lot of nature in the area, especially north of Kobe, and the mountains that you will see everywhere from Kobe. Rokko, and Maya san, plus other smaller mountains.

Other cities that I have been to and found it very relaxing were Ako (but what can you do their as a foreigner...), and Hiroshima.
 
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