Tokyo
Tokyo is a crowded, dirty, concrete wasteland. All the horror stories you have heard are true: the thousand dollar a month, one-room apartments, the two hour commutes, the JR workers pushing people onto the trains, and the soulless salarymen. People who live in Tokyo for several years often go through long periods of depression, and before you move there, ask yourself if you can deal with spending two hours a day on a noisy, crowded train, seeing nothing but ugly concrete buildings everyday, constant audio assaults, and terrible humidity. Tokyo is also filthy; when you approach the city by ferry you can smell it when youfre about an hour away, and although there is little garbage, everything just feels dirty. Most people you meet in Japan who used to live in Tokyo say that moving away from there was one of the most decisions they have ever made.
If you want to make a lot of money, or want to be in a truly international, world-class city, however, Tokyo is the place to go. For first-time English teachers, and people who want to get jobs with Japanese companies or study the language, Tokyo provides many opportunities that are not available in other areas of Japan. Therefs also the ease of living in Tokyo to consider: the English bookstores, the myriad services for foreigners, the international supermarkets, and the incredible wealth of restaurants.
Hokkaido
People who live in Hokkaido always laugh at you when you say you live in Tokyo and long-term foreign residents often judge your intelligence by how long it took you to come to your senses, leave Tokyo and come to one of Japanfs most liveable regions. For outdoor lovers, particularly skiers, cyclists, rafting enthusiasts, and hikers, Hokkaido is a paradise and its hot spring resorts are among the best in Japan. Other advantages include delicious seafood, some of the cheapest rents in Japan, and a slightly less rigid social-structure than other areas.
The biggest downside to Hokkaido is that it is a cultural wasteland. Many Hokkaidoites seem to be unaware that there are forms of art other than landscape paintings, and that there are forms of music other than J-Pop. Many parts of Hokkaido have only been settled for a few hundred years, so if you want to see old buildings or experience traditional Japanese culture, you may want to think about settling elsewhere.
Job hunters other than rafting guides and ski instructors are also likely to be disappointed in Hokkaido, which has the weakest economy in all of Japan. English teaching jobs are especially difficult to come by.
Other disadvantages to Hokkaido are its long winters and bitter cold, and its isolation for both international and domestic travel.
The main cities in Hokkaido are Sapporo, the regional centre, Asahikawa, a city of about 300 000 very near the beautiful Daisetsuzan National park, and Hakodate, a city on the southernmost tip of the island very near Honshu.
Tohoku
If youfre looking to get away from it all, this is the place for you. The Tohoku region, made up of the prefectures Aomori, Akita, Niigata, Yamagata, Miyagi, Fukushima, and Iwate, has always been isolated and rural. Although the region and people are sometimes regarded as backward, it has some of the best-preserved culture and nature in the nation. The main urban centre is Sendai, the capital of Iwate prefecture.
People who live in the Tohoku region will have the most chances to experience unique festivals, see life as it was many years ago, visit well-preserved towns and temples, and learn about traditional, rural culture. Dewa Sanzen in Yamagata prefecture is the most wonderful place I have ever visited in Japan, and Aomori and Akita prefectures have some of the best onsens in the some of the most beautiful surroundings. Akita is also famous for "Akita bijin" said to be the most beautiful women in Japan because of their pale skin.
Tohoku is not the place to go if you want to get rich, as the economic situation as of Spring 2001 was rather bleak in Tohoku (but not as bad as Hokkaido). On the other hand, living is cheap in Tohoku so if you have a job, youfll be able to lead a very comfortable life.
There are relatively few foreigners in Tohoku, which may be either a blessing or a curse. The downside to living in a place with as few foreigners as Tohoku, is that one is much more likely to treated differently, or be the focus of unwanted attention. Many residents complain about "English bandits" (people who try to become your friend because they want to practice their English or be seen with a foreigner) trying to insinuate themselves into their lives. The upside is that you will have lots of opportunities to interact with the local people and to practice your Japanese.
Around Tokyo
If you can find a job that doesnft require you to go into Tokyo, the prefectures of Tochigi or Nagano, Ibaraki, Shizuoka, or Gunma would be some of the best places to live. A foreigner living and working in Nagano would be surrounded by beautiful natural surroundings, have many chances to experience traditional culture, and be centrally located but would not have to deal with the horrible humidity, crowding, lack of nature, filth and high prices that make Tokyo so unliveable. The best thing though, is that he or she would just be an hour by train from the bright lights and excitement of Tokyo.
The prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa are known as bedroom communities of Tokyo, but there are rural areas that would be very liveable if one did not have to commute to Tokyo. Places like Kamakura in Kanagawa prefecture, the Izu peninsula in Shizuoka, and the area around the Chichibu-Tama National Park in Chiba would also be excellent. One place you would probably never want to live is Kawasaki, a sprawling, ugly, polluted city with little to offer.
Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto
Osaka is Japanfs "second city", famous for its food, comedians, and lively people, but it is also famous for its air pollution, crowding (itfs said to be 20% more crowded than Tokyo!), and recession-mired economy. Before you think about living in Osaka, remember that it is just 20 minutes from the much more liveable Kobe on the express train and that Japanese companies almost always pay your commuting expenses. Despite its bad reputation, Osaka is a lot more liveable than Tokyo; its not nearly as grungy and soulless.
Kansai is a great place to live if you are in Japan to experience the culture, and you donft mind some of the most humid, oppressive summers in the world. You could spend fifty years in the region and never come close to experiencing all the culture that the region has to offer.
A lot of people want to live in Kyoto or Nara, but remember that jobs are very difficult to come by there, and you will probably commuting to Osaka. Another thing to consider is that Kyoto people have a reputation for being very kind to strangers and guests but they continue to treat people as strangers and guests even after they have lived there for ten or twenty years!
Although most people donft know much about Kobe except that there was a terrible earthquake there, it is one of the nicest places in Japan to live. There is a large foreign community, and the city is one of the most attractive, convenient places you will see in Japan. After the earthquake, the city was entirely rebuilt, and it is surrounded by beautiful mountains.
Despite a prolonged recession, the Kansai region is still a relatively easy place to get a job, especially for an English teacher, and is much more liveable than Tokyo.
Chubu
The Chubu region consists of Gifu, Aichi, Toyama, Ishikawa, Nagano (see the around Tokyo section), and Fukui prefectures. This region is a wonderful place to live if you like a slow-paced life, nature, and traditional culture. The city of Kanazawa in Ishikawa prefecture, in particular, seems like it would be a wonderful place to live. It is a cultural paradise, with many interesting shrines, temples, museums, old buildings and well-preserved buildings, it is not too far from Osaka and Kyoto, and seems very liveable--large enough that it would not be too difficult to get a job, but small enough that you would not have to put up with the crowded trains and dirty air of Osaka or Tokyo.
Living in the Gifu, Nagano, or Toyama, would be ideal for people who like mountains as the Japan Alps, Japanfs highest mountain range, runs through these prefectures. Because of their relative remoteness, they have a lot of traditional culture and there are many historical sites in the region.
One place in the Chubu region that you would probably not want to live in is Nagoya. Nagoya is famous for, well, nothing. Itfs famous for being Japanfs fourth largest city and not being famous for anything.
Shikoku and Kyushu
While skiers and people who donft like hot summers and humidity would be better off in Hokkaido, people who donft like the cold would be better off here. There arenft many foreigners in Kyushu and Shikoku, so they would be great places for people who want to learn the language or see everyday rural life.
Kyushu gets hit by the worst typhoons in Japan and has more than its fair share of volcanoes and earthquakes but these are usually more like annoyances involving delayed trains or flooded roads than actual dangers.
Nagasaki is the most famous city in Kyushu, and sounds like a wonderful place to live. Although it is most famous for being the worldfs second victim of the atomic bomb, it is said to be very well preserved
Western Honshu (Chugoku)
The Chugoku region is the long, thin, tail of Honshu in Western Japan. It is made up of Okayama, Hiroshima, Tottori, Yamaguchi, and Shimane prefectures and is split down the middle by the Chugoku mountains. It is said to have a pleasant, temperate climate.
The region is most famous for the city of Hiroshima and its declining population, as many young people are moving away to the large urban centres. This means that it would be a very good place to find cheap housing but not a good place for job hunting.
Because it is located in the far western part of Japan, you would be somewhat isolated if you lived there, but there is a lot do do in the region. You would have easy access to Kyushu, Shikoku, and Okinawa, and The Kansai region would not be too far away.
For more information about Japan's regions, visit the Japan National Tourist Homepage at: http://www.jnto.go.jp/regions/index.html
