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Living in Japan


krs702

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i've been considering moving somewhere out of the united states and in particular japan has been an interest. esp, tokyo.

 

there have been a couple threads in the past about japan but locating them is taking awhile.

 

for those of you who have been to japan or currently reside there how does it differ in america? i understand that is a lengthy description but more the better.

 

many people know english?

cost of living?

pricing of food and clothes?

transportation?

the culture?

the crime - the laws?

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I don't know much about living in Japan, but what I know of the history/culture is neat... They're such an interesting group of people.

 

As far as I understand they normally eat a lot of fish and a lot of pickled food. (rice too, obviously) If you don't like seafood or bitter tasting food, it's may be difficult to find inexpensive food... Also, beef is very expensive there...

 

There is a program that I heard of that pays English speakers to teach English over there, but you have to know Japanese...

There aren't as many English-speaking people in Japan as there are in the non-English European countries...

 

hope that helps...

 

I've considered moving out there when I graduate. Excellent choice...

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i lived in japan for 18 years, so here it goes:

 

many people know english? as much people that know japanese here in america, so no.

 

cost of living?expensive as fuck compared to over here. everything is more... humble

 

pricing of food and clothes? expect to get skinnier and develop a wack style cause of wack selections of normal clothing not ripped off or bootlegged

 

transportation?take a train that doesnt go anywhere, a bus that crashes all the time, a bike,a car, walk.. theres even an airport to fly you in and out, and docks for ships.

 

the culture?racist like white americans

 

the crime - the laws? dont steal, youll get arrested and tortured, graff is just happening, so its not officially there. dont kill, rape, etc. theres little crime, but theres a huge mafia that fuck with everyone and kill people allot.

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Originally posted by krs702@Feb 5 2005, 03:04 PM

i've been considering moving somewhere out of the united states and in particular japan has been an interest. esp, tokyo.

 

there have been a couple threads in the past about japan but locating them is taking awhile.

 

for those of you who have been to japan or currently reside there how does it differ in america? i understand that is a lengthy description but more the better.

 

many people know english?

cost of living?

pricing of food and clothes?

transportation?

the culture?

the crime - the laws?

 

english - you can get around with just english. but they are not as fluent in english as other places in asia, such as hong kong, thailand, singapore, and the phillipines...

 

cost of living - tokyo was ranked the most expensive city in the world. it's very expensive. "cheap" hotel rooms are about 90 bucks a night. and extremely small. decent hotel rooms are about 130-160 a night. and nice hotel rooms are 200 and up.

 

pricing of food/clothing - expensive.

 

transportation - very elaborate efficient subway and el-train system. it's like nyc, except the trains and stations are newer and cleaner. the trains are clean but they do got some graff along the walls running along the rail lines, especially around shibuya, harajuka, ebisu, and shinjuku... taxis are more expensive than the states, but it's not bad if you're not going too far a distance. i suggest you stick with the train.

 

culture- everyone is real friendly and helpful. everything is small too so it looks like they adapt to the cramped spaces.

 

crime/laws - it's very safe. you can walk down alleys at 3 in the morning in tokyo by yourself. nothin to worry about. i used to do that all the time. most of the crime that takes place are organized crimes by the yakuza, which mostly doesn't make the press and gets swept under the rug. and graffiti is probably the only other noticeable crime. laws are pretty lenient there and the people are real liberal. i was catching tags in front of large crowds of people in broad daylight and people didn't really seem to give a shit. in the 3 1/2 years i lived there, i only got stopped once by a "hero" citizen". i was catchin a high spot and then when i get down he's all pissed and says "chatomate" (stop) and then says in broken Engrish "wait here... i go get police..." so i said "ok", and then when he left i just took off. even the heros are lenient and be on some honor system shit.

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Originally posted by Kr430n5_666@Feb 6 2005, 06:39 AM

If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends,

Make it last forever friendship never ends,

If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give,

Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is.

yes makros!! quote them spice girls....

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Originally posted by Theodore Huxtable@Feb 6 2005, 01:56 PM

english - you can get around with just english. but they are not as fluent in english as other places in asia, such as hong kong, thailand, singapore, and the phillipines...

 

 

did you go to japan with prior knowledge of the language or just went along? i'm getting pretty serious about living there. im planning on learning the language prior.

 

 

how about art there? art galleries? museums?

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Originally posted by krs702+Feb 6 2005, 01:09 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (krs702 - Feb 6 2005, 01:09 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-Theodore Huxtable@Feb 6 2005, 01:56 PM

english - you can get around with just english. but they are not as fluent in english as other places in asia, such as hong kong, thailand, singapore, and the phillipines...

 

 

did you go to japan with prior knowledge of the language or just went along? i'm getting pretty serious about living there. im planning on learning the language prior.

 

 

how about art there? art galleries? museums?

[/b]

 

i went in hardly knowing any japanese and left hardly knowing any japanese. i lived on an US military base on the southern part of Tokyo Harbor. and everyone there spoke English. which made me not really feel that i needed to learn japanese. i wish i would've tried to learn Japanese though. but if you plan on living there, remember it is expensive... how do you plan on supporting yourself? unless you one of those trust fund kids?

 

but the guy that said people in japan know about as much english as americans know japanese was wrong. english is the most widely spoken language in the world, and you can get around japan knowing only english although i recommend learning japanese will make it like 200 times easier. the second-most spoken language in Japan is English. many of the signs you see around tokyo have english translations. however, english is still not "widely" spoken as it is in other parts of asia like hong kong, thailand, singapore, phillipines, or even malaysia, brunei, and indonesia...

 

*oh yeah, as far as art galleries and museums? i never really went to many of those. there's a large museum in the town of Yokosuka, which you can take from Tokyo by train... just ask how to get there. i forgot the name fo the museum.. and i went to shepard "obey giant" fairey's exhibit when he was out in tokyo a few years ago... and he's got a store out in tokyo... and there's a graffiti mural wall in Yokohama (near Landmark Tower) done by CBS members from L.A. and San Francisco like Kazz Rock, Mear, and a bunch of others... other than that, i can't help you there...

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Originally posted by Theodore Huxtable@Feb 7 2005, 01:08 AM

how long do you plan on living there?

 

i'm not sure on a length - i suppose it will be determined when i'm there.

 

first, i'll visit japan this summer (prob may) just to get an idea for sure and ill be def checking out prices on apartments. hopefully ill find a descent deal, but thats likely at a minimum hope.

 

i got alot of reading up to do.

 

if you can tell more a bout your stay there and living there id like to hear it.

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japan is completley on the other side of the world, so to save money on plane tickets, just dig a whole till you end up in japan. unless you live on the west coast, in that case, take aplane thatll go like 10 miles west till you hit japan, dont elt the plane fly eastwards from the west coast, it wont make any sense, just like this post. ya dig?

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Guest -MOE LESTER-

japanese girls are easy...my brother was 15 and he bagged a 22 year old

 

shits expensive as fuck there

 

you dont need a car, the transit is really good

 

you dont really need to kno japanese, alot of shit is in english

 

you will feel like the shit walking around japan....your bigger and baddder than everyone, girls will giggle with lust, guys will be scared, you can pretty much get your way

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