Hi, I’m looking to move to Japan for between 6 months to a year (depending on what I can work out with my visa) starting May 1st of this year. I know i want to live in a social residence type of place, but I’m torn between going to either Osaka or Tokyo, and i hoped i could get feedback from you guys on this. Bonus bonus points if you can help narrow down good districts to stay in because I’m pretty clueless when it comes to the vibe in each area as well as how the trains connect places together.
# About Me
* I’m a 32 year old software engineer from California. Single white male.
* I want to move to Japan to learn the language and live the culture. I want to dive in and have zero concerns with standing out.
* I’d love to make friends while there and network (i dream of one day owning my own tech company – or at least be CTO). Honestly I’d like a good mix of expat and Japanese friends.
* My hobbies tend to be anything creative and learning skills – particularly around making music/seeing live music. I love museums, though i don’t go as often as I should.
* I’m currently grinding as hard as I can to learn Japanese (it’s pretty much all I do right now), I expect by the time i move to Japan i’ll be between an N4 or N3 level at the language.
* Would love a mix of city life and the ability to go out in nature. Visiting shrines and national parks are big on my list of things to do while I’m there.
* I love water/swimming. So the beach, pools, lakes etc. are all draws for me
# My Thoughts/Concerns
* My gut is telling me Osaka is more my style – I tend to like the “alternative” to whatever the supposed number one thing is. My feeling about Osaka is that it’s not as popular as Tokyo but is quickly growing what new and exciting things it offers and I like that.
* I’m worried that between not having as many expats/english speakers might make Osaka more difficult than Tokyo when i’ll probably not be that great at Japanese at the time I move.
* I most likely won’t be working, but money probably shouldn’t be a huge issue. By the time I leave, i expect to have somewhere around $225k in cash and fairly liquid assets to live off of. Still though i’m not trying to blow my money on things just for the sake of spending money. I do need to live and work after all this after all.
* Of all my concerns, the biggest is probably that I want to mix with people and make friends. The easier that is, the better.
* For frame of reference, last year I moved to New York for 3 months and had a blast. I lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and loved it – the art, the food, parks nearby, comedy shows, bars to hop, etc. An equivalent to something like Williamsburg, NY in Japan would be amazing.
* If I stay for a full year (my dream) i’m open to bouncing around to live in different locations as well. I’d probably only more permanently live in two places tops though (willing to do 1 to 2 week vacations in places though)
* I’m still pretty early in the planning/research phase, but the most stand out district I’ve seen seems to be Meguro – it’s close to the action, but not in the action necessarily. Universities around and cafes/museums to enjoy.
Please feel free to correct any of my misconceptions – it’s pretty much been gathered from reading posts here on reddit, random blogs, and watching tv. To be honest I have no clue what I’m getting into, but I like a good challenge and any info you can provide would be such a huge help. Thanks again!
4 comments
The dialect in Osaka is quite distinctive, so if you want to learn to speak “standard” Japanese, Tokyo will be less confusing. And, people in Osaka are more friendly and interfering. Some people like that and some don’t.
> I want to dive in and have zero concerns with standing out
Maybe there’s just a comma missing here but you will inherently stand out as a foreigner.
> I expect by the time i move to Japan i’ll be between an N4 or N3 level
Never plan your life around possibilities that may or may not happen. If you reach N3, cool. If not, that’s fine too. Regardless you won’t speak enough Japanese to really have fleshed-out conversations so most likely any Japanese friends that you make will be English-speaking.
> Would love a mix of city life and […]
You can achieve this practically anywhere in Japan thanks to rail. I live in central Tokyo but in a little over an hour can be in the middle of nowhere if I so wished.
> not having as many expats/english speakers
You are probably vastly overestimating the number of English speakers in Tokyo versus Osaka. The vast majority of Japanese people in both cities speak very little to no English. There are plenty of foreigners in both cities who speak English if you just want to hang out with a crowd who speaks the same language as you.
> I most likely won’t be working
If you are planning on coming over on a visa waiver, you won’t be working at all. At least not legally.
> If I stay for a full year
On what visa? The waiver is only valid for two 90-day periods non-consecutively yearly.
> Meguro
Meguro is a large ward with many diverse neighborhoods. It’s not necessarily a bad start but is a pretty superficial plan.
Japan only accepts immigrants not expats.
Not much of a help in terms of visa things, but I will say that in general there is more to do in Osaka from my experience. I am NOT saying that Tokyo is boring, but Tokyo is super busy city. Everyone is running around focused on their own things. Of course, there are places to party etc. in Tokyo.
On the other hand Osaka is very close to Kyoto, Nara, even Himeji and Nagoya are accessible pretty easily. I am living in Osaka right now and I can definitely recommend the city. Additionally, 2 main city life hubs: Namba and Umeda, are relatively close and surrounded by other nice places. I feel like Osaka will be more enjoyable especially that most of the people are more relaxed here – it is still a huge city though, so you still will experience big Japanese city life 🙂