Well.. I'm currently going to Japan in Feb 2007. I am going for one year to teach English. I still haven't decided on what part of Japan I'm going to live in. I'm thinking about Kyoto or Osaka right now. I don't know too much about the geography of Japan just yet. I'm looking for city life but not quite so much city life as tokyo has. I don't want to live out in the boonies either though. Does anyone know of any other nice places to live in Japan?
Of all the problems you could find with Tokyo, I think the smoke is among the least of them. It's a large city (a VERY large city) and thus has smog problems just like every other large city.
I wouldn't rule out Tokyo right away. I don't love it here, but I admit that it has a lot of good and convenient aspects to it.
Posted: Sat May 13, 2006 9:11 pm
Nagaikami
Of all the problems you could find with Tokyo, I think the smoke is among the least of them. It's a large city (a VERY large city) and thus has smog problems just like every other large city.
I wouldn't rule out Tokyo right away. I don't love it here, but I admit that it has a lot of good and convenient aspects to it.
I currently live in Kawasaki and commute to my university in Tokyo. I'm here on a one year exchange (and lived in the same place for a year of high school) so I have a fairly good idea of what the city is like.
Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 7:36 pm
I just got back from Japan on a 3 month exchange and my homestay was in Fukuoka and we visited other cities includeing Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo, Kitakyushu, and Nagoya.
My Takes on Each City so you can choose on your own:
Hiroshima-Surprisingly not sad even though we toured the atomic dome museum it still didn't bring us down-yes depressing but uplifitng-very nice city in general! Excellent nightlife many bars and karaoke places. We stayed 3 nights and everyday and night it was fun! Also close to Miyajima Island which has wild deer! Crazy stuff!!
Kyoto-....Great for Older people. Very hot! Because it's in a valley so it gets very hot and very cold very easily!! There wasn't that much to do actually we stayed 3 nights here as well and actually it was boring there were alot of temples which was nice but after a while that gets old. It's a great place for older people to retire to and feel like they live in 'old japan'...not good for teenagers or young adults >.<
Osaka-WWWAAYYY better then Kyoto! We actually never stayed in Osaka but went there during the night because they had night clubs and a better social scene. It was easier to meet and talk to people and we took the JR from Kyoto station to Osaka so it wasn't far. I had a great time in Osaka. MUCH MORE EXCITING THEN KYOTO!!!!
Nagoya-It had some good malls and alot of schools. It's not to far away from Osaka...well we took Shinkansen and it wasn't to far >.< There was alot of friendly people I met and there was a very prestigious computer school not far from Nagoya Station. We never stayed overnight just a day trip but it was worth it got in some serious shopping and met some really great Japanese people!
Kitakyushu-I actually really liked it here it's not that big of a town but still definatly a good size (It's a Super City...5 small cities compined a few years back in the '80's and formed this city) it's close to water which was a bonus because i live close to water and enjoy that! Had some good shopping Riverwalk was a 6 floor mall with a HUGE purikara section ^_^. Private and Public High Schools which we visited both as part of our school program. And there weren't very many 'white people' so on the streets and in schools and stuff we were like celebrities because they aren't used to seeing the Shiroi onna's!! >.< Lots of fun!!
Fukuoka-I really liked this place! It's bigger then Kitakyushu but smaller the Nagoya or Osaka. There was alot of shopping a Shinkansen station. A good amount of schools. People were really friendly! Also this is the biggest city on Kyushu island which is Japan's furthermost Island. There was also a few good temples here so you got a feel of old Japan even though you never left the city. If your looking for a semi-big city this is probably a good choice. Also nice weather!! It does get hot and you have a chance of a typhoon in the summer months but in the winter no snow! Which is good because I don't like snow >.<
Tokyo-It was REALLY BIG!! Thats all I can say! From our hotel room on the 12th floor all we could see was buildings. Here are some pictures...sorry about the crappy quality my camera was running out of memory space so I put it on the low setting so I could still take pictures >.< I felt like a little fish in a really big pond and everyone was always looking so busy it was hard to talk with locals because everyone is always going so fast...we stayed 4 nights here and don't get me wrong we had a great time we went to Harajuku-not all its cracked up to be, Shibuya-GREAT shopping, Shinjuku-Lots of Porn and Karaoke, and Akihabara-Technical Gadjects of course.....It was alot of fun but not somewhere I would want to live. It was SO big. I actually felt for the first time in my life like the world around me was HUGE and I didn't matter. I was only one white girl in a sea of nihon-jin who don't care about me at all. It was actually very depressing. I would go back to Tokyo to visit again but never to live I just don't like the feeling the city gave me.
I hope this has been helpful and I didn't waste my time. Good Luck in Japan! And if you have any questions feel free to post or PM me!!
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