Hello there JETs.
So just got my placement and was stunned to see TOKYO. I know for a fact that our placement requests are not always guaranteed but getting Tokyo was really out of my radar. I specifically chose Aomori, Hokkaido and Fukushima with strong preference on a rural placement. I grew up in the countryside hence my bias on rural areas.
Another thing is the startup costs and the cost of living in the Tokyo area. I’ve read from some reddit posts that apartments are really expensive. I am anxious that I might just be living from paycheck to paycheck. Please do not get me wrong. I badly wanted to be in the JET Programme. Maybe the shock hasn’t subsided yet hence this kind of reaction of mine.
Tokyo JETs, did you have the best time of your life being placed in Tokyo?
Are there others who had the same feelings or experience as mine?
Were you able to make the most of your time as a Tokyo JET but still saving some of your JET salary?
Thank you!
25 comments
The cost of a place to live will in all likelihood be more expensive unless you luck into a subsidized placement. But if you’d been given a countryside placement you’d likely have needed to get a car, so money saved there. If you’re smart with your money you should be fine.
Also, I was a country boy who got placed in the Tokyo area and was also concerned it wouldn’t suit me. Now here I am, years later, loving city life and not being able to imagine going back to country life. You never know what will work for you until you try it.
I was in the same boat as you when I received my Tokyo placement two years ago. It was the one prefecture I didn’t want to be in 😂
There are ups and downs to living in the Tokyo area, but everywhere has its ups and downs. I live in Tokyo and pay about 85,000¥ a month for rent. I live a modest lifestyle, don’t go out eating often, cook at home and make a packed-lunch for work. I travel (domestically) about 3-4 times a year as well. With all that said, I don’t live paycheque to paycheque. I normally save about 30,000-50,000 a month. Compared to someone in the Inaka with a much cheaper cost of living, I think I’m doing quite well for myself.
Finances can be daunting when considering Tokyo, but you’ll be fine!
Part of this experience is putting yourself in uncomfortable situations. Where’s the fun in going from a country side to a country side? Embrace city life! Sure initial start up costs a pretty penny but that’s the same most places. I’m suburban and my start up was like 3-4K (furnished an empty apartment, not subsidized). My rent is 50k ¥. I’m sure you can find something along that price in Tokyo. I wouldn’t expect it to be huge but there are all kinds of price points for apartments in Tokyo and if anything you’ll take your predecessors apartment.
I also just got my placement and I didn’t want to Tokyo,my heart is in my chest. We have the same worries. I’m super grateful to have been chosen but the way people complain about Tokyo prices scares me.
You have to wonder how they decide these placements. Some salaryman is just loving life switching people around and waiting for the drama on socials 😆
Basically if you actually want Tokyo you should put the most Inaka places possible .. and win? 😆
This is further proof that they don’t even look at your preferences
I also had the same shock don’t worry!!! Got Tokyo placement on Friday and was kinda in a weird space but I can tell you after to speaking to multiple people who are placed in Tokyo and lots of research my mind has changed completely!!!
If you’re not already in Tokyo chats dm me and I can add you and any panics or concerns feel free to to discuss cause I can bet I’ve already been through and researched them haha.
Tokyo is a crazy city yes but you can also easily live in suburbs which have community + cheaper rent and you just sacrifice that for a slightly longer commute (if you’ve lived In rural areas I doubt a long commute is nothing you’re a stranger to).
I hope you start to feel better about it soon as I really understand the shock
I just got my placement too and it’s also in Tokyo. I had the same scary thoughts earlier (I also deeply prefer countryside too).
Can’t say anything else other than there, there. Hope the fear subsides soon. See you in Tokyo!
Tokyo could also mean Osagawara Islands which is the ruralest place I can think of in Japan.
I also got Tokyo. When making my application, I told myself that the only things outside my preference were a tiny rural island placement, and Tokyo
But after thinking about it and looking at it on the map, I realized a few things.
-For me, Tokyo is still less expensive to live at than my home state in America (if you can believe that)
-And, there’s more to it than placement. Look around you, if you happen to know general part of Tokyo or what’s close by – there’s a lot to see, there’s a lot to do. Don’t let the fear take over yet. I came away from a bit of research not only relieved, but excited
Situations like yours are almost comical to me, not due to your situation or worry, but that someone can get Tokyo and not want it, when there are so many people who want Tokyo and also get prefectures they don’t want. Other than my disappointment in JET and their inability to reduce these situations that so obviously have people with closer preferences…
You’ll do great.
There’s a reason so many people wanted Tokyo, and even if you didn’t originally want it, try to look at what their positives were and work backward. See if you agree with any of those positives and look at the bright side of things. Think about the exposure, the variety of people and cultures, the access to nearly anything Japanese, etc. Even if you prefer non-urban areas, you can still have positive feelings about other aspects of Tokyo life, so try to think about those more!
I also got Tokyo Nd I am also worried about costs (it was my first choice tho)
I’m from a somewhat Urban area in Canada, but not one with a lot of money. I have lived on the cheap in the Tokyo area before, so if you need any tips on saving money, you can DM me.
Although I usually prefer talking on discord aho子#3967. Or Line https://line.me/ti/p/PVktT94dcp
There’s a newly made Tokyo JETs discord server where we’re going to have a Q&A session hosted by one of the Tokyo prefectural advisors soon so you can ask any questions you have there. A lot of us are stressed and in the same boat so I created this server as a space for community support and sharing resources
https://discord.gg/55W4ABz5pY
I also highly recommend joining the ALT Insider discord for general JET stuff. There are a lot of current JETs and Alumni in the server who are knowledgeable on things
https://discord.gg/EGTGE7nQmb
just chiming in to say that I’m also so confused by JET placements
I put warm areas and urban as my preferences but got placed in a tiny town in very rural Hokkaido lol
I wouldn’t have minded Tokyo as I plan on travelling there semi often but with the money I’ll save by not being in Tokyo it will probably be cheaper to just travel in when I need to.
I didn’t put Tokyo down as a pref and hope to just be nearby because the costs of living there are too high and I don’t want to work in a private school. I applied through JET because I thought it would ensure I don’t end up at a private school again.
Which part of Tokyo?? I’m still considered “Tokyo” Where I am but I often joke it’s the Tokyo Inaka. Where I am, the rent is extremely cheap.
The usual rule is that the further from places like Shinjuku and Shibuya you are, the cheaper your rent is. You should have received an email (or maybe you will soon) that will offer to help you find apartments. You can give them your price range and any details you want and they should help you. Keep in mind an expensive apartment in Tokyo would be like 12000 a month, and as a JET you take home about twice as much. That makes things a little tight but I’d scarcely call it paycheck to paycheck.
Tokyo doesn’t necessarily mean urban. There used to be placements “in Tokyo” that are really deep in the countryside.
Until you get an address for one of your schools or your place of residence, shelf those worries.
Also… “Daiso, Daiso!”
Tokyo is the most interesting and convenient place to live in Japan. For most other jobs Tokyo is the the Golden Egg placement. But with JET you get slammed with housing costs – no free housing! If I were a big fan of Tokyo I would probably request somewhere like Saitama to get the best of both worlds.
Anyway, if you budget Tokyo is doable．But you need a bunch of cash for start-up stuff.
Good luck!
There are many pros to the Tokyo placement. Also sometimes JETS have to buy cars while living in inaka so you won’t have that expense!
You can live in a share house which is what I did when i lived in Tokyo.
Apartments outside of the Yamanote line are also very affordable…
Tokyo is gonna be awesome! You can go hiking on the weekends around the city and you can enjoy nature at huge parks. My favorite is Komazawa Olympic park which isn’t as famous as yoyogi but it’s just as good 🙂
Yes Tokyo, can be expensive but be happy you’re in Tokyo!!! There’s so much fun stuff to do, much better resources and supports in place for foreigners and better chance to make friends! Better doctors and hospitals, better international supermarkets, easier to travel, and because there are so many more foreigners, you can hit up the sayonara sale Facebook group to get some second hand stuff by people leaving!
I was in Saitama, so about 45 minutes away from Tokyo but I spent a lot of time going back and forth to Tokyo. You also don’t have to live in the city center if you don’t mind a longer commute. Like my rent in Saitama was less than $800 a month so I didn’t mind. I also heard Tokyo jets get Friday off? Either way I think you’re very lucky.
There are still rural parts of Tokyo like New York has upstate New York. I’m in the opposite situation as you I wanted a more city-like place but my placement is in a rural area in Gifu. Another rural area former JET told me you could always take the train to somewhere else when you have downtime if you need a little refresher of rural life. If you have time you can visit me. I’m super anxious too, so I totally understand.
I also grew up rural and wanted a rural placement. When I got Tokyo I was shook. But it’s been great to be honest! I’d say you should give it a try for sure.
Hi, Tokyo actually has islands, definitely a chance you’ll get one if you requested something rural. I am currently at one of the islands myself and we’ll be receiving a second JET this year.
Hello! I also got an email for Tokyo-To this morning, and I also didn’t want Tokyo lol. I was stressed when I saw the placement for multiple reasons (mainly for costs), but I’ve spoken to a few people over there now and I feel much better about Tokyo. I think the online posts about the costs etc make it sound way worse than what it is, and also, we somehow managed to get placed in Tokyo which almost everyone wants and is probably the most ideal place to be to explore Japan!
I’m sure we’ll end up loving it and wouldn’t have wanted to be placed anywhere else once we’re over there and up and running.
Current Tokyo JET, I was nervous about the cost when I first got my placement too. Genuinely it’s so much better than I though it would be. There are two things to note:
A lot of you may be getting Tokyo placements because not only are a number of us leaving, but at least in public schools I was told they were planning on having two JETs at each school and perhaps JHS as well? I forgot the details on that but hopefully people understand that the likely hood of getting placed here may be higher due to that.
Second, you may be 23-ku, you may be west Tokyo, you may be on one of the islands. West Tokyo is more suburban and then even rural if you go far out enough, and the islands are quite isolated. So definitely don’t worry too much until you know exactly what school you’ll be at.
Aside from that I promise it’s not that bad lol. The start up budget people recommend is what you should probably bring regardless of where your placement is, and there was no guarantee you would inherit an apartment, have subsidized rent, or not need a car in any other kind of placement. Try to look into the area around your school as soon as you get it. If you can’t find an apartment that’s in a budget you’re comfortable with, see if there’s a sharehouse or social apartment in the area and save up for a place that suits you a lot better. Living further out can cut costs too. You can save money that way while still getting what you want if you plan to stay longer than a year.
I have student loans and was paying them my first year here. It can get a bit much with the exchange rate but if you know what kind of things you like to do or where you want to travel, it’s not difficult to budget and plan ahead so that you can enjoy yourself. You can explore so many parts of the prefecture, it’s a lot bigger than it seems. The biggest benefit is that depending on where you end up living, you can have a lot of fun even in your own neighborhood. You can make friends outside of JET easily as well.
As far as rent, I’m in Nakano and pay 70k including maintenance fees for my apartment. I live very close to a lot of major lines, easy access to Shinjuku in like 15 mins via express train, shopping within 10 mins walking distance in multiple directions, and 30 minutes from my school (walk, 10 min train ride, 10 min walk again). If you’re able to bike I’m sure you have even cheaper options since you can live further from a station.
I love living here and I appreciate the freedom I have to really live my life outside of work – it makes it easier to enjoy my school and work. It can be nerve-wracking those first few weeks, but I hope you and all the other incoming Tokyo placements do have a good time. I think it’s almost more important to be openminded with a Tokyo placement than some other areas because you have many options to make the best of things outside of work. Best of luck!