Me and my girlfriend are moving to Japan starting late next March. We’re both going to be working remotely to our native company operating in Japan. We don’t need to be physically located in Tokyo, where the company is at, and as we’ve both been there for a while, we want to try living somewhere else! Before making a longer commitment to a single city, we’re planning on travelling for three months in Japan and living in three different cities before settling down. Then, out of those three cities we’ll pick our favorite for at least a year!
And now for the whole reason for this post:
Does anyone have any suggestions for cities to live in during these three months? Here are a few things we like and have been looking for:
\-Warmth. This has led to us thinking that anywhere south of Tokyo is okay! Even Okinawa has crossed our minds.
\-Places that are a bit off the beaten path or even what you would call “hidden gems”
\-Somewhat cheap prices! Osaka, for instance, is absolutely amazing, but tends to be a bit more one the pricey side, of course not Tokyo levels. It would be amazing if the city was at least a tad in the cheaper side of things when it comes to groceries, eating out, and accomodation, for example
\-Good internet connection! This, I think, rules our many smaller villages.
\-We love the outdoors! So hiking possibilities are definitely a plus. And just natural beauty!
\-We also love surfing, but not a necessity 🙂
\-An onsen or two in the vicinity wouldn’t hurt either, not a necessity either, however!
\-Easy access to other cities for some weekend trip exploration
And that’s it! Sorry for the long post and I’m more than happy to answer any questions that may pop up 🙂 Cheers!
5 comments
I really don’t get why everyone think’s Tokyo is crazy expensive, only parts of it are.
My recommendation is Kobe, close to Osaka, smaller town feel but still multicultural. It’s across the bridge to Shikoku for all your nature and outdoor needs. And there’s a Costco for when you get sick of the last samurai life and want lasagna
Nagoya?
Hot as hell during summer lmao. Idk about “hidden gem” but it’s definitely peaceful and ‘quiet’ here compared to Tokyo/Osaka. Most tourists don’t really bother. “Cheap” and “good internet” I think is possible in pretty much any ‘city’, as long as you know where to go.
It’s near both the sea and mountains. Take a train down to Atami for some diving. Go up to Nagano for some skiing in winter and onsens.
It’s in the middle of Tokyo and Osaka. By shinkansen it’s about 50min to Osaka, 1h to Tokyo. My first 2 months I basically went back and forth every weekend just catching up with people, exploring or going to events.
>We’re both going to be working remotely to our native company operating in Japan.
Just to clarify: By this you mean working for the *Japanese* branch of your company? Or that you yourselves will be “operating” in Japan for a company at home?
>Places that are a bit off the beaten path or even what you would call “hidden gems”
If you’re looking for off the beaten path, try some of the cities on the Sea of Japan coast. Niigata and Akita are a bit northern, and might fail your “warmth” test, but Kanazawa and Matsue are nice towns.
Also some of the bigger cities in Gifu/Nagano might be worth checking out.
>Somewhat cheap prices!
That’s kinda a catch-22 here. As you get out of the big metropolises rent gets significantly cheaper, but it can be more expensive to go out and get non-farm food products. Ultimately though the lowered rent wins out and living outside the big cities ends up being cheaper.
>Good internet connection! This, I think, rules our many smaller villages.
Not necessarily. I live in a tiny village (That, admittedly, is *technically* part of a large city) and I have gigabit fiber. Obviously that’s not universal, but fiber and village aren’t mutually exclusive.
>We love the outdoors! So hiking possibilities are definitely a plus. And just natural beauty!
Definitely check out the Sea of Japan coast in that case and/or Gifu/Nagano.
>An onsen or two in the vicinity wouldn’t hurt either, not a necessity either, however!
Gifu has a lot of famous onsen towns. But really there’s probably an onsen “near” (for certain values of near) almost anywhere that meets the rest of your criteria.
>Easy access to other cities for some weekend trip exploration
This is one point where my Sea of Japan/Mountain prefectures suggestions kinda fall down. You can easily get to the neighboring cities, but getting to, say… Tokyo is going to be a whole “thing”.
Maybe Himeji? That’s my dream city at the moment
I would check out Shikoku, probably Matsuyama, Takamatsu or Kochi (in that order). Ive been to them all and they were all quite large and pretty nice. Shikoku has the Iya Valley full of hot springs. Lots of mountains everywhere with tons of trails that locals love to use. Should be way cheaper as well.