Greetings, fellow gaijin.
Looking for recommendations about a decent place to move next year (or sooner).
A bit of background: married to a Japanese lady, with a 5 y/o daughter that speaks both English and Japanese. Currently living in Nagano after my dispatch company lost the contract in Fukuoka, where we spent around 8 years.
Fukuoka is a lovely town, but I couldn’t stand the air quality (coming from China) so going back is not an option.
Issue is that we’re tired of the inaka life and are looking for a place long term where the kid can join a decent public elementary school, improving her social life (Nagano is just extremely boring and lacks opportunities both academic and social. We have zero friends here).
So here I am asking for your kindness about Yokohama or Osaka (we decided to move to either after considering several options). We’ve visited Osaka a couple of times, we like the atmosphere and the Kansai vibes overall, but it was just holidays.
About Yokohama, no idea. Just what we’ve researched on Internet and it seems ‘multicultural’ enough.
We’d like to hear about both the pros and cons about both cities, and the potential areas where we can raise our daughter.
About income? Wife is a pharmacist so it’s not that hard to find a job. Myself? Exhausted of the dispatch life, but in my defence it was the only job that helped me spending time with my daughter in the afternoons.
I’ve got some saving to start a business, not much (around 150K usd) but we’re happy to ask for a loan.
Thanks a lot in advance.
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yokohama for sure
I live in Osaka, been here for 2 years
lived in Tokyo for 5.
Osaka sucks ass. dirty as hell and just a downgrade. more stuff to do in yokohama for sure.
Yokohama is way better.
That’s “Atami”！
I’m voting Yokohama.
The whole city seems very family-oriented. Huge parks, lots of things for kids to do, close enough to Tokyo, and more.
Osaka has USJ, and that’s pretty much it.
Lmao your parents gave you money and you ran off to Japan. You should be ashamed of yourself.
I really hope Orange man wins back America and blocks weebs from going to Japan.
That’s kind of tough. The pros and cons of Osaka and Yokohama isn’t as objectively obvious like Osaka and Mito Ibaraki.
I’d think you’d have to go see for yourself. I personally would pick Yokohama but only because I like being near Tokyo.
I’ve never lived in Osaka, but am quite happy with a family in Yokohama. Super international, lots of activities, parks, zoos, fun shopping malls, etc. I love being by the bay and getting to watch ships on the water with my kid, kid loves the big parks and there seems to be a nice mix of English-Japanese-Chinese spoken on the playgrounds. We’re currently at a regular private yochien and thinking of public elementary school, but there are good international schools if we choose to go that way in the future.
Also, very close to Tokyo to hit up activities there.
“**Happy Wife, Happy Life**.” Where did she grow up, and where do her parents live now? Take this into consideration.
Yokohama and Osaka have worse air quality than Fukuoka. /thread
That said, Yokohama will give you a lot more city-style work and recreational options. Osaka/Kansai is quieter and will give you more options for quick access to nature, history, mountains and culture.
So just depends – do you want to raise a city hipster or culture hipster?
Also keep in mind Osaka will probably be flooded with more tourists soon than Yokohama would be.
What about Nishinomiya/Kobe?
I’ve lived in Tokyo (six years/kichijoji and Shibuya), Osaka (5-6 years Fukushima), and now on my 8th year in Nishinomiya. It’s right in the middle between Osaka and Kobe with super easy access to outdoors with Mt Rokko.
Living expenses will be lower than Yokohama for sure. Only drawback is the foreign community is pretty limited compared to Kanto.
If you had to pick solely between Yokohama and Osaka…probably Yokohama unless cost of living is your primary concern.
Some areas in Osaka are much better than others for schools. I don’t have enough experience to make a list of /everywhere/, but I heavily advise research. The long history of Chinese and Korean residents also means the public curriculum is a bit better about things like racism than elsewhere. I’m talking about the city itself. There are suburbs in the prefecture that are popular as well.
There are plenty of things for kids to do in Osaka. Check out the website iko-yo if you want to see options (or for anywhere in Jp really).
I can’t speak much to Yokohama so can’t make a comparison.
No kids guy here. Yokohama since 2003 so I’m biased. Many friends have kids and seem
Happy. “SHELLY” seems like she had a good life growing up in Yokohama (name drop as back on the day she served me beers when she worked at her dad’s bar BENNYS PLACE). Come for a trip and visit my friends bar THE FULL MONTY (just check Facebook to make sure he is actually open that day). All in all I’ve always loved Yokohama and can’t imagine living anywhere else in Japan. It’s like a county town if it had the population of Sydney Australian. That’s how I think of it.
I agree with those saying Yokohama. I moved to Yokohama from Osaka and enjoy Yokohama so much more. Osaka is nice, but I don’t miss it. It’s a lot dirtier, and not as family friendly as Yokohama is IMO. Yokohama is also close to Tokyo and there are also a lot of other nice places outside of Yokohama to visit. It also is multicultural enough as well. But the two are very different, so maybe you guys should visit Yokohama before really choosing one?
Does your wife have family in Japan and do you have a good relationship with them? I think being close to them if possible would be a consideration I would make, personally.
Osaka no question.
Kanto is boring in comparison to Kansai.
Quick access to Nagoya, Hiroshima and Okayama. Easy access to Tottori and Kanazawa.
Himeji, Wakayama, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, Osaka. Cultural centre of Japan
USJ, Adventure world, Osaka Kaiyukan, Ouji zoo, Expo park, Himeji Safari, Toho park, Awaji theme park. Tonnes of fun stuff to do.
Umeda is far better than any other single place in Japan for shopping. Shinsaibashj, sannomiya, namba, tennoji, kawaramachi, gion. Lots of exciting diverse places to shop.
Food, well its kansai. Best Burrito, Pizza, Hamburger, English food ive ever had is in Kansai.
Tokyos my favourite city, but as a region its not even close.
As someone that’s lived in both cities:
Osaka if you’re young and single
Yokohama if you’re with a family
But there are a lot of other great cities in Kanagawa that are family friendly, cheaper but still have you within an earshot of a major city
How can you possibly think Fukuoka has worse air quality than Osaka or Yokohama ? Like what ?
I’ve lived in Tokyo, currently Osaka. If I can choose freely, I’d pick Yokohama.
Osaka, Kansai in general is great for tourists, but when it comes to family wellfare, Kanto is just better for obvious reasons, more people, more tax.
For example, in Tokyo, almost every city is littered with 児童館、children can go and play after school. No such thing in Kansai.
Family related events are also more frequent in Kanto. Tokyo Toy Show and what not.
Yokohama pros:
Alot to do
Pretty international
Can go to other areas fairly easy
Cons:
Housing can be expensive. As. Hell.
Osaka:
Driving is WAY faster than yokohama
People seem more relaxed than Kanto
*housing unsure, only went for weekends
Not sure on Cons, haven’t been there long enough to give a decent opinion. People may seem rude compared to other regions maybe? But that’s just people are more direct, can be good or bad depending how you perceive it.
Honestly I love both cities, so you good either way.
Osaka and yokohama have worse air quality than Fukuoka for sure. . .
I personally would choose Yokohama, beautiful city with lots to offer. Plus its close to Tokyo which your daughter might appreciate when she gets older.
Yokohama for access to Tokyo. Osaka is a center itself
I think Yokohama is the better choice. Just a nicer place. I love Osaka, especially the people but think Yokohama has more to offer in almost any category for a family.
Both are good though and will be fun to live / grow up.
Based on job opportunities, facilities, education (possibly bilingual or international), and other infrastructures I would recommend Yokohama over Osaka. While Osaka (Kansai area) is great for tourists, Kanto area (Tokyo/Yokohama/Kanagawa) might be better if you are looking for city life.
But its always best to visit yourself and get a feel for the area. Since you have already visited Osaka, why not take a weekend trip to Yokohama with the wife and kid?
A few of my American colleagues moved to Yokohama because they like the school there (I have no idea about those schools but heard that their kids all going same school near Kikuna….)
I like Kansai, but not Osaka. I’d go with one of the smaller cities near Osaka, but not adjoining Osaka. Even then, it really descends on which part of the city in question too. Whichever you choose, look around before you settle somewhere.
Osaka generally sucks, I’d vote for Yokohama. Usually people defend Osaka by saying shit like it’s close to Kyòto but that’s literally a defense for how good Kyòto is not Osaka. How can your city’s good point be you can leave the city for somewhere better easily. Anyway, my vote is for Yokohama.
In saying that probably discuss it with your wife and daughter and see where they want to live, who cares what a bunch of idiots on Reddit think lol
Yokohama. There’s a lot to do around there, and if you want to see the ocean, Yokosuka is a 30-minute train ride, as is going to Tokyo if you want an even bigger city to see.
Of course, you could also try Yokosuka; it’s fairly inexpensive, has gorgeous scenery and is extremely foreigner-friendly.