Where in Japan?

10 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

   —

   **Where in Japan?**

   Hi all, I’m moving to Japan with my wife and 2 kids (1 and 4) and I am trying to figure out the best place for the whole family. I’m American, wife is Japanese. I am an entrepreneur (tech/finance) so I can literally live anywhere, so proximity to an office is not an issue. I can spend up to 300m yen on real estate (looking for a stand alone house), but I don’t have to spend that and in fact it seems kind of wasteful to do so – also not sure I want that much yen exposure.
   We really like Futako Tamagawa as it is a beautiful area with a lot of greenery, the river, high end shopping, a well connected station, every western comfort you could ask for. Schools appear to be great. However after spending a few days there it kind of feels like Disneyland. It’s clean, high end retail everywhere, but it doesn’t really feel like living in Japan in the sense that there is not much local charm. There is also literally no real estate available here.
   We also liked Ashiya (between Kobe and Osaka) for some of the same reasons. Kids everywhere, great schools, beautiful surroundings, etc.
   Finally, we liked Yokohama but I have not spent as much time there. Just looks beautiful and clean and seems to have every big city amenity while still being in close proximity to Tokyo. I have no idea which area of Yokohama to specifically focus on, so any advice is more than welcome.
   Any other suggestions/tips/advice?

   *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*

2. Why are you looking at urban places? Get out of the city where your kids won’t have 40 kids in a classroom and you can own a house.

3. I’m biased, but, where I live: Kashiwanoha/Kashiwa. Very family-oriented, with childcare on every corner, free activity centers for kids during the day, and lots of children’s events, tons of parks, fairly inexpensive all things considered. We just opened a big international school, so lots of international folks. Lastly, 1 single train brings you all the way to Akiba.

   I’m a dad of 2 (1 and 3). I, too, work in tech (software dev, business owner).

4. Setagaya?

5. Minatomirai in yokohama

6. I lived in Kobe for 2 and a half years and loved it. Despite travelling all over Japan Kobe still remains my favourite city so I’m very biased, but I’d definitely go with Ashiya.

   You just can’t beat living in-between mountains and the ocean. All the nature you could possibly want right on your doorstep, but still in a city and super close to Osaka. Plus it’s very centrally located in general so travelling to other parts of Japan for holidays/weekends etc is very easy.

7. The feeling of “living in Japan” will wear off after a while and then it will be home. Just make sure your wife is happy.

8. If you like the Futako-Tamagawa area, try looking a bit further down the line to Tama Plaza or Aobadai! Aoba Ward of Yokohama in general has the most kids per capita in any region of Japan. Aobadai is more family oriented and Tama Plaza has higher end shopping but with a more homey feel than Futako-Tamagawa.
   Be on the hunt (use notifications!) for new properties through Suumo or AtHome.

9. Follow gaijin pot on instagram

10. Oimachi line around futako tamagawa has alot of nice temples and smaller stations with local shops if that’s what you’re after, look at kaminoge, todoroki, oyamadai, etc. I’d also take a look on the tokyu toyoko line like musashi kosugi or gakugeidai Stn. That train line connects to all the major stations like shibuya, Shinjuku, ikebukuro, kawagoe and goes all the way down to Yokohama.