Researching cities/areas in Japan
 

Hi all,

So, I'm starting to transition from "thinking about going to Japan to teach English" to "planning on going to Japan to teach English".

I'm trying to figure out what cities I should look into, but I'm having a hard time finding the information I'm looking for. There are basically two different things:

1. Practical: The pros/cons of a city when it comes to a foreigner teaching English there.

2. Personal: A) How conducive the immediate surroundings are to outdoor activities such as cycling, hiking, trail running, etc. B) How close to parks, beaches and/or other areas of nature. C) But also, still having a dense(r) urban core with many shops, restaurants, cafes, "urban things to do", etc. that would have a sizable population of people looking to learn English.

From what I know now, Tokyo wins for 1, but looses for 2. And Kyoto wins for 2, but looses for 1 (due to over-competition of English teachers). But I hardly know anything about any other cities in Japan.

Ultimately, I guess my plan would be to get a list of 3 or 4 cities to eventually visit. Does anyone know of any websites that provide any of this type of information? Or perhaps you have some experience yourself? My Google-fu is failing me in this endeavor. I have a feeling most of the info I'm looking for in number 2 is written in Japanese.

Thanks,
Greg

Congratulations on your transition!

I don't think Tokyo wins for 1, it's bloody expensive to live there lol, unless you're on the outskirts but then why bother, just go somewhere else.

With respect to 2, there are dozens of large cities in Japan that are cradled between mountains and the ocean, Kobe for instance, where I live, is like that. I live at the foot of Mount Rokko, which is known for it's hiking, and I am a 5 minute walk from the city center, which is a 20 minute train ride to Osaka, if you wanna go big city. The Kobe-Osaka commute is incredibly common also.

Kyoto is hotter in the summer and colder in the winter than Kobe, and has a surplus of foreigners, I'm not a fan of the place aside for the temple-visits.

If you like it cooler, Sendai is great, if you like it warmer, Fukuoka sounds like it fits your bill. Kobe is in the middle but has big-city proximity that is nice. Yokohama has Tokyo-proximity and has some nice parks with less concrete-jungle feeling.

There are few places you need to worry about competition for English teaching, I opened a school with about 30 competing schools in my immediate vicinity, and am doing quite well. The demand is just so much higher than most think, I wouldn't factor that into your decision.

Kobe is what I settled on, I loved living in Ashiya actually, that was a nice place, right in the middle between Osaka and Sannomiya, and peaceful.

edit; there are so many places that are great to live, you have the luxury of getting picky on other factors, consider weather, local food, cost of living etc.

Thanks. I think it's mostly your fault. :D

Well, if making a wish list, then I prefer lower cost of living, shorter winters and longer (sunny, less-humid) summers. As far as local area, being in a very "walkable" area (easy to walk to stores, restaurants, etc.), but serene and not so much concrete jungle.

However, I'm sure I'd have to be flexible.

I have no doubt a great location is out there. It's just a matter of figuring out how to find it.

I just looked at some photos around Ashiya and Mt. Rokko on Google Earth. Wow, looks beautiful! (But to me, most of Japan looks beautiful. :) )

You're not the first I've swayed towards the light ;) lol

Seems to me like you'd be better off in a satellite town of one of the major cities. Most of Japan, mid-sized city and up, will have all the amenities within a short distance, perhaps not on a walmart scale but at least a shopping arcade for food and cheap goods.
I haven't seen anywhere here that is both warm in the winter and doesn't have an ultra-humid summer lol, but honestly you adjust, at least I did, my 2nd summer wasn't even half as bad as my first, and the 3rd was a cake walk.

I would suggest looking at somewhere like Hakodate in Hokkaido. Although the winter is not exactly short the town doesn't get a lot of snow and it's about the shortest winter experienced anywhere in Hokkaido. It's also a very beautiful city with a lot of interesting history and there's plenty of places for outdoor activities close by. It's probably a bit more humid than further north in Hokkaido but nowhere near as warm and humid as most of Honshu.
And Hokkaido is one of the cheapest parts of Japan to live in.

Good recommendation, GoNative. I really like the idea of recommending a place like Hokkaido as a first stepping stone to Japan. Although it's not what I did (and I am currently in Tokyo and Tokyo-centric), it's what a friend of mine did after his older brother strongly advised him to start out in Hokkaido (outside of Tokyo). He started out working in IT up there and he picked up Japanese quickly. When he re-located to Tokyo, he realized that his brother's advice was spot on. Had Tokyo been his first point of entry, he would have never bothered to learn the language as there were too many English-speakers and distractions for him here.

Hmmm... I wouldn't have thought Hokkaido just because of how far north it is. It also seems much more often cloudy. But it does have some amazing scenery, and I know it's well known for outdoor activities. Is Hakodate the main/only city you'd recommend there?

I certainly wouldn't choose Tokyo for a first city. I had been thinking mostly of either Honshu, west of Kyoto; or Kyushu.

One thing I'd like to do while there is road biking, so I'd like to be near a variety of nice, 3 hour to full day (perhaps overnight), scenic, road-rides. (scenic = nature as well as history, 50 years old or 500 years old).

Maybe a place like Kanazawa would work out for you. It's certainly got history. It has a lot of nature, but some crazy weather. It's near the coast, too. The city can be a little confusing though, in my opinion. I always enjoy Fukui when I go there, but that might be too rural for your taste. [EDIT: See Nyororin's post below about Fukui] You'd certainly not have too much competition.... although there might not be as big a demand for English as in other areas.

I have to admit I laughed at that one.
Fukui has to have the least interest in English that I have encountered in Japan. There are "anti-English" clubs in high schools, and a general lack of apparent interest. I believe it is also home to one of the main "Why on earth do we force students to learn English? At the very least make it an elective class!" groups wanting to reform education. Of course there are going to be plenty of people who do have interest, but I doubt you`re going to find the levels that exist elsewhere.
It`s also very far down on the list of places that I would recommend for learning Japanese. The regional accent is VERY strong and completely pervasive - to the point that even the local NHK announcers can`t seem to hide it. I think that it scored either at the top or very close to the top for the level of regional accent evident in all walks of life. (Not just limited to older generations or a handful of regional words.)

My personal recommendation would be to look around a bit in the Chubu area. Or more specifically the Tokai area. (Aichi, Gifu, Shizuoka, maybe Nagano.)
I live in Aichi, and am biased as I personally think it`s the best place to live long term. Nagoya is a huge city with all the convenience and benefits that come with being a big city, but is also well planned out with plenty of parks and a very good public transportation system. It is also a pretty close to being in the middle between Tokyo and Osaka. It`s even closer to Kyoto/Nara and Mt. Fuji. It`s fairly easy to get to any of them. It`s also one of the most historically rich areas of Japan.

The winters are fairly mild - maybe a few spots of snow - but the summer can be quite humid... But almost anywhere in Japan that isn`t high in the mountains seems to get fairly humid in the summer. It`s near the ocean, and there is tons of nature to the north. Aichi is one of the only prefectures in which it is not only legal to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk - but there are wide sidewalks designed for this. (May not be a big deal to hear, but try riding around on streets where there is maybe 20cms of space on each side of a car with NO extra space and you will understand the joy of having huge sidewalk spaces with marked "lanes" for bicycle and pedestrian traffic.)

As for teaching English - Despite being a huge city and the center of the third largest metropolitan area in Japan, Nagoya seems to be almost entirely off of the foreigner radar. Virtually no one has heard of it, so it rarely shows up as an option.

Nagano would be a good option too.

Thanks for all the replies guys! You've given me some great options to explore so far. Until I can explore in person, I've been looking at photos of all these places on Google Earth and trying to read as much as I can about them.

Steven - I had heard of Kanazawa before. I remember reading the (very interesting) hostory of the place. Doesn't it rain a ton over on that coast?

Nyororin - I hadn't given much thought to Nagano either (it does seem to be rarely talked about). I think for me, maybe because it seemed too dense of an area. How easy is it to get out to the more "nature" type areas to the north and east (like east of Seto or north of Seki)? Are there busses or light-rail that go out there (where one could bring a bike)? What you say about the bike lanes and sidewalks sounds VERY good to me. I would plan on using a (folding?) bike for most local errands. And being rather central seems nice too.

Konbini - I had thought a bit about Nagano just because there seems to be a lot of outdoor activities around there being that it's surrounded by mountains. But I don't know too much else about it.

Does anyone know much about the smaller towns in Nagano prefecture like Omachi or Matsumoto? Too small? Too rural?

Yes, Nagoya is talked about so infrequently that almost everyone mistakenly lumps it in with Nagano. :p
It`s an incredibly common mistake, so I`ll forgive you for it. :)

It`s quite easy to get out into natural areas. I have found that there is a LOT less congestion in getting out of Nagoya than say, Tokyo or Osaka. Escaping either of those seems like a complete nightmare - particularly on holidays. Easier of course to head north or west than east though - the city sort of cuts off to the north/north-west, but suburbs go on forever to the east.
Also, I think that it needs to be kept in mind that there is a lot more nature and scenery than just the dark green high mountains that show up on Google Maps. Deep mountains are beautiful to drive through, but I can`t say I`d want to ride a bicycle through them... Expanses of rice fields with small groves, and scattered villages are just as fascinating. (In my opinion)

Japan has an expansive public transportation system. There are few places that it would be impossible to reach via public transport and a bicycle. I would avoid taking one on a train or bus during commuting hours, but I have seen tons of people dragging along folding cycles...
Also, as you head further out in the countryside - a lot of stations or nearby tourism offices offer bicycle rentals (I use "rental" loosely, as many will lend you the bike for free.)

I haven`t really lived in other large cities in Japan, but in short term stays, I have found that regular parks here are larger, less crowded, and very green. Nagoya gets this weird reputation as being a boring ugly city... But I don`t think it`s true in the least. It just isn`t a tourist city, so tourists aren`t carted around to pretty spots. They tend to rush through on the way from Tokyo to Kyoto, and judge from what they see out the train window... Which isn`t much of interest.

Trees line most streets, which are wide and spacious to begin with. There are bicycle lanes, bridges over intersections for pedestrians and bicycles, etc. There are numerous small historical areas very nearby - (Iwakura, Inuyama, Narumi, Arimatsu, etc), and a ton of museums.

I have a friend in Matsumoto - It seems to be a nice town, but they get a LOT of snow in the winter. She always gets depressed as they are in the shadow of mountains from mid-autumn to mid-spring... It gets cold very quickly and takes forever to thaw out. The summers are very mild, so we try to visit then... And usually need to take jackets even in mid-summer as it gets cold in the evenings.

Doh! :D

Oh, but those dark green mountains sure look inviting! I do like getting out in nature occasionally (I really like hiking too). Looks like nice areas for that just to the west as well (across the river). :)

As far as cycling, sometimes it nice to be able to get out of the built-up areas where you have to always be on the lookout for traffic and pedestrians. It seems like in that part of Japan, you're either in a built-up area, or out in the mountains. Just from looking at Google, to use the area we're talking about as an example, it looks like the area between and around Seto, Inuyama, Tajimi and Toki would be great for riding - a mix of riding though/by fields, woods, temples, towns, etc. Or between Gifu and Seki. But I could be totally wrong, not being able to see it first-hand.

If that's not what you're referring to (eg: scattered villages), perhaps you can tell me how to find it in Google Earth (either near towns, or with GPS coords)?


That's more or less what I figured. It's good to hear confirmation though.

That sounds pretty perfect to me.

That sounds exactly where I DON'T want to live. But sounds like a good place to visit in the summer. :D

Thanks again for taking the time to share this all with me!
Greg

Don`t get me wrong - I love mountains too. We`re history / nature buffs, and have taken quite long trips just to visit historical mountain locales. (俱利伽羅峠 for one.)
You`ll probably be a bit surprised to find that for the huge number of mountains, there are relatively few hiking trails out there. Mountains are literally everywhere in Japan, so they really are normal background to life and not seen as something all that special.

Judging by the colors on Google Earth can be very misleading.
*Anywhere* on there that has human activity, be it buildings or expanses of fields, looks pretty much the same when it comes to color. You have to look a bit closer to see the sort of thing I am talking about...
Just a random zoomed in area;
Google
There are fields, a clump of houses, more fields, another clump of houses, etc. Zoom out a few steps... And it`s right in the middle of what looks to be "built up" area. It will all look like a grey cityscape... But pop down to streetview and... you`ll see that calling the area "built up" would be quite a stretch. Outside of the heart of town, (and even in some parts of it...) you`ll find that the green stuff really is only deep mountains... And that the grey can be anywhere between concrete jungle and traditional villages with rice fields.

To show off - this is about 10 minutes (by bicycle) from my house... Which is in turn about 25 minutes (by bicycle) from Nagoya station.
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/910413.jpg
Japan isn`t city that cuts away to mountain, no matter how the coloring on Google Earth makes it look. :vsign:

I would recommend either Nara City or Wakayama City. Both are good-sized, yet very close to nature, and very close to bigger cities (Osaka and Kyoto). I don't think either one is flooded with English teachers, though I don't know the current situations there.

Haha, that would definitely be important to know about Fukui! I was fully aware of their crazy accents, but I had no idea about the English thing. I guess that explains why some middle school/high school kids were SERIOUSLY amazed to see me in their small town that I passed through one time. (like it might have been their first time seeing a foreigner in person-type of reaction). I thought that would mean there was plenty of room for English teachers. I guess not though!

I still think Kanazawa would be good though. I personally like the Aichi region as well and think that even in the big city areas, it's not as 'big-city' as the other major cities in Japan. It doesn't feel as hectic for some reason.

I think it has to do with space. (Tokyo and Osaka are seriously everything crunched into some tiny and tight spaces...) And to do with planning after the war.
Nagoya was the backup city for the capital, and the city planning reflects that. I actually think it still IS the backup city for the capital. Should Tokyo suffer some huge disaster, Nagoya will be the administrative center for Japan.

When huge areas of the city were destroyed by bombing, large streets were cleared and larger open spaces secured. The streets are wide and spacious, and there is a lot less of a feeling of being crunched into tiny spaces.
It`s wonderful for living and getting around, but... Tourists want to see cramped, tiny, "old" Japan... What is actually pleasant to live in is of little concern. So Nagoya is a wonderful city to live in but not somewhere "cool" to visit on a tour. Older, historical and scenic parts of the city exist, but they`re not "better" for sightseeing than Tokyo or Kyoto. So nobody bothers with Nagoya.

I don`t really mind - I`d rather not have to fight through crowds of tourists to visit historical spots... But still it sucks that there are so many negative opinions of the city just because it isn`t super-crowded Tokyo, or temple-o-rama Kyoto.

I live in Nagoya and must admit that it's actually a good place to live !
Of course that's not Tokyo or Kyoto, don't expect to see a lot of animations every day everywhere...
BUT there are also many pleasant stores and restaurants, festivals and concerts and finally it's not so far from Tokyo and Kyoto by Shinkansen ! (about 1:45 for Tokyo and 0：45 for Kyoto) .
So I thought Nagoya was a good compromise !

However as ''it takes all sorts to make a world'', please feel free to check this website : JPNAVI-City special collection . We made comparisons between the 5 bigger cities in Japan (namely Tokyo, Kyoto，Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka). That may help you making your final choice ;)

Hey all, I've been visiting my brother in California (just went to Japan Town in San Francisco yesterday! :D) and so I haven't checked this thread in a few days.

So I just wanted to pop-in and say I'm still following it - as I'm still attempting to pick a city. :) There looks to be some more great posts. I see another "vote" for Nagoya. And I'll definitely check out that JPNAVI link (looks good at first glance).

I hadn't checked out Wakayama before, but my brother's girl-friend (who is Japanese-American) has family that owns land there (which I just found out about two days ago).

I'll have to checkout Nara now too. :smile:

Thank you ! I'm glad you found this link interesting at first sight !
I hope it will help you making a deeper comparison between cities.
I am really curious about which city you will finally choose !

Don't hesitate to contact us if you need more details, personal support, etc.
We are here for that so we would be very happy if we could help you !

When I first moved to Japan I lived in a place called Togane City, in Chiba, which borders Tokyo. Togane City is similar to other cities in the area; small and surrounded by farmland and small mountains.

There were many areas for hiking, lots of parks, and beautiful countryside. There were also many lakes, ponds, and streams. Another plus was that it was close to the sea, and the beach in this part of Chiba is clean, and actually has decent surf.

More good things were that the cost of living was very low, but it was only an hour by bus from Tokyo Station.

By the way, if you are going to teach English, it's "loses", not "looses".

Thanks for the offer! I'll have to have a good look at your blog and then I'm sure I'll have lots of questions as Fukuoka is one of the areas I've been looking at/thinking about a lot.

Looking at Google Earth, certain parts of Chiba look very nice indeed. Togane looks like it may be a bit too rural for my tastes, but I'll have to checkout some of the other cities on the peninsula.

Sorry Prof. Sangetsu. :mtongue: