Hi, all. I felt compelled to contribute to the mountain of Tokyo vs Osaka posts on Reddit. I am planning on attending a language school for a year and I am torn between my love of Osaka and the business/entertainment of Tokyo. I have visited Japan three times before and really fell in love with Osaka, particularly the Shinsaibashi area, but I also enjoyed areas of Tokyo such as Shimokitazawa and Shinjuku. One of my main goals while living there is to network and work with musicians and explore the music scene. I really love Japanese music (rock/metal/pop/bgm) and just want to immerse myself. I hope to eventually figure out living there long-term, but I want to make the most of my time while I am there for the year.
**Osaka**
Pros: I loved staying all three times I visited, I hear people are more friendly/open, less expensive than Tokyo
Cons: don’t know what the music scene is like, don’t know about job prospects for international companies
**Tokyo**
Pros: Very expansive and lots of interesting places, presumably some sort of music scene, it’s Tokyo
Cons: Did feel like people were colder there, afraid I may not be able to make friends and end up isolated, more expensive
Any insight would be appreciated.
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**Music Scene: Osaka vs Tokyo**
Hi, all. I felt compelled to contribute to the mountain of Tokyo vs Osaka posts on Reddit. I am planning on attending a language school for a year and I am torn between my love of Osaka and the business/entertainment of Tokyo. I have visited Japan three times before and really fell in love with Osaka, particularly the Shinsaibashi area, but I also enjoyed areas of Tokyo such as Shimokitazawa and Shinjuku. One of my main goals while living there is to network and work with musicians and explore the music scene. I really love Japanese music (rock/metal/pop/bgm) and just want to immerse myself. I hope to eventually figure out living there long-term, but I want to make the most of my time while I am there for the year.
**Osaka**
Pros: I loved staying all three times I visited, I hear people are more friendly/open, less expensive than Tokyo
Cons: don’t know what the music scene is like, don’t know about job prospects for international companies
**Tokyo**
Pros: Very expansive and lots of interesting places, presumably some sort of music scene, it’s Tokyo
Cons: Did feel like people were colder there, afraid I may not be able to make friends and end up isolated, more expensive
Any insight would be appreciated.
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Osaka: Approximately 250 live music venues. They each operate 5-6 nights a week, booking 3-6 bands a night, each night they are open. All genres, but Osaka does lean lightly to liking retroish rock and some disco-fusion. Solid blues scene as well. Plus point: You are close to Kobe which, outside of Tokyo, has the highest percentage of famous bands coming out of it. Kobe is arty and cool.
Tokyo: Approximately 650 live music venues. They operate 7 nights a week, booking 4-8 bands a night each night they are open. All genres. Leans towards the mainstreamish rock. Lots of jazz places too.
Both have active scenes operating almost every night across hundreds of live music venues. You can easily find live music any night, running from 6:30pm-10:45pm. (Stop then as musicians want to get home and last train coming.) As well, there’s over a hundred nightclubs in Tokyo opening around 10-11pm and open til 5am, if thats your thing. I don’t know how many nightclubs in Osaka, but it is a number over 20.
As for cold or warm, most people in Osaka are from Osaka or the near area. It’s their area, their vibe. In Tokyo, a lot of people are from small towns or out of area and move in, so they are the proverbial “new kid in the city” and it’s work, work. Tokyo is at its best when it’s Golden Week or New Years holiday and the people NOT from Tokyo visit their hometowns. Then the actual Edo-ko/Tokyo people are extremely cool.