Dear people of *movingtojapan* subreddit?
I am contacting you today as I have to be in Japan in about 2 weeks. I am terribly stressed. Thus I would like to ask you a few questions. I tried to search over this reddit (or japanlife) but I was not convinced by the post I found (perhaps, I did not find the right post). If you can respond to 1 of these questions, this is already a lot for me.
Information you need to know about me :
I come from Belgium, I am 22 years old. I have my VISA. I have about 4k euros in order to live (but I can add 1k euros for some activities or trip inside the country).
I will live in *Motosumiyoshi Residence* ( 4-31-8, Kizuki, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki ) from 2x March 2022 until 5 August 2022 (spring semester for Keio university, yagami campus). My closest friend will live in a dorm next to waseda.
Flight and self-isolation :
I have a budget ( covered by a scholarship) of 1500euros.
Do you have any advice for the flight ? I heard a lot of Finnair. I also know turkish airlines but to be honest, I do not know which one I should choose.
About the self-isolation, my university is using Amarys and I am asking myself if the fact that I got infected twice in a row by the covid is enough to avoid the self-isolation or not (For this question, I can directly ask someone for Amarys but if you have the response, that is perfect).
Bank account :
Since I am using Euros, I am not sure if I should open a bank account (and also if I am allowed to) in order to manage my money. I know that I need cash money for practically everything (rent, restaurants). I know that N26 and Revolut allow me to withdraw money until 200euros in japan but this is not enough.
Someone told me to create an account with transferwise and to transfer a lot of money at once in order to reduce costs.
Food :
Firstly, I eat a lot of fishes. Is it better to go to a supermarket or a fish market ?
Secondly, I understood that the cost of living for the food is a little higher than in any western european country.
The fruits are not affordable except for some like oranges and grapes. Is it right ?
Same feeling with vegetable. Someone told me about cabbage, carrots and mushrooms. Could these be the only affordable vegetables?
Also, I was wondering if the food prepared in konbinis is considered junk food. I would like to eat healthy.
Data mobile :
I currently have a 10gb mobile data subscription for 15 euros per month. I thought that the prices were quite high in Japan but Thanks to this link [https://tokyocheapo.com/business/japan-sim-card-options-data-voice/](https://tokyocheapo.com/business/japan-sim-card-options-data-voice/) I have the feeling I should use IIJmio because it looks like my subscription.
Do you have an operator to recommend even if I stay only 4 months knowing that I can use university wifi in my residence and that there is wifi in most konbinis (so I think I can use this WIFI if I am lost in the city).
Medical :
I already have repatriation insurance. However, I learned that from the first day, I must register at NHI. Is this enough for medical purposes ? If I need to go to the doctor or dentist.
I had read that it was a good idea to buy some medicines (painkillers) from your country when you travel. Is this bullshit?
My residence :
I will live next to the Yagami campus. Do you know anything from the Neighborhood or from the *Motosumiyoshi Residence*? I heard that the residence is really clean and the manager is easy-going.
Is it well frequented? Are there many supermarkets nearby? Is there anything to do?
I ask these questions because some campuses in Belgium are sometimes badly located.
Transport :
I have a friend who is going to live in Waseda, in the Shinjuku district. I would have liked to go every 2-3 days to his place but I saw that there was no transport pass which is worth it . Maybe I’m wrong? Someone told me about student commuter tickets but I can’t find an accurate response.
Is it profitable to buy a bicycle for example?
Finally :
it’s my first trip alone, so if you have any advice, I’m interested in.
Thank you very much for your help.
2 comments
Welcome to Japan! That’s many questions at once.
Flight: I often use (used) Turkish airlines. You will have to change in flights in the new Istanbul airport. In my case, the changeover is always at an ungodly hour, and I use the Turkish airlines lounge which is one of the best I have ever used. I think that non-members can use it, but it costs some money. Otherwise, I think that the airport has many shops that remain open the whole night.
Bank account: in my company, the first thing we do for interns is to set up a bank account. This is partly because they get a local salary, but I am not sure how practical it is to not have one. Since this is free anyway, I recommend opening one. You will most likely need support from a local though.
Food: the trick is to eat like the locals, and eat vegetables/fruits and also fishes from the season. So get yourself a cookbook (better: bilingual cookbook to find the ingredients) and do some research at your local supermarket. Typically, “fish markets” are inside supermarkets. Some supermarkets are more upscale than others, ask the locals. Tip: if the supermarket has a lot of products from overseas, it is probably an upscale supermarket.
Medical: be very careful with medicine from abroad. There are known cases of people being arrested for that, as some medicines are not legal in Japan. Painkillers could very well fall in this category.
Residence: I don’t specifically know this area, but in Japan there are very few “bad neighborhoods”. Pretty sure that you will be all right.
If you are a girl, better avoid empty streets late in the night, but even for girls, my impression (as a man) is that Japan is very safe
Typically railway passes only make sense if you use them every weekday. I think that student passes only work to travel to your campus.
You can get an IC card that you charge with cash to travel with the trains.
I recommend to get a cheap bicycle to buy groceries / do short-distance trips. But going to Shinjuku by bike seems quite the trip (more than 1 hour one way), and this is on busy streets with a bike lane that is basically a joke.
Hi! I live 10mins by bicycle from Motosumiyoshi! There is a great shopping arcade there where you can get everything you need. For nice fish, there’s a smallish supermarket called Ebaraya. Their fish is the best in my opinion. They also have reasonable prices on all of their fruit & veg. I would highly recommend getting your own bicycle, but nowadays you can rent one from the 7-11. I don’t know the price, though. As for getting to Shinjuku, it’s about ¥380 each way. I’d open a bank account here because there are lots of fees to exchange money. You can get pain-reliever at any drug store. Motosumiyoshi has so many drug stores but I go to Sun Drug because it seems lower priced than others.