Hi guys I just wanted to ask about your experiences living far or close to work. I recently moved to Yokohama and found a place 37 min away (by train ) from my workplace which sounds far however it looks like a nice cozy place. Would the distance be too much of an inconvenience?, Any suggestions would be good, using Metro, bus or bicycle
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I live about the same from my place. Door door it’s like 35 mins. I think In Tokyo that’s considered close. Most peoples commute time is closer to an hour I would say. That’s considered normal.
It takes me around 6 seconds to stroll out of bed to my PC where I work.
37 mins away by train is considered as very convenient here in Japan. If you love the place, just take it.
2 mins walk
Twenty mins walk to work. Used to be forty cycling but wasn’t too hard. Only kicker is the weather.
On days that I have to show up to work, it is about a 1 hour commute.
On the plus side, I do get quite a bit of walking exercise and I can sit down on the train and watch Netflix.
Ten minutes by bike. (Not Tokyo)
Although when I lived in Tokyo it was 25min by bike.
I do my best to avoid having to commute by train.
To be honest 37min for Tokyo would be considered convenient/close, but it depends if there are transfers or not. Of course recommend not having any transfers for that 37minutes.
I live 30 mins away by walk
My general rule in life is to actually not live too close to work. I work to live not live to work.
Plus trains are my podcast time
For some bizarre reason, work is always about 40 minutes form where you live in Tokyo.
10~15 minutes by bicycle. It’s not that far but there are six traffic lights to sit through. But I’m not in Tokyo.
37 mins by train in Tokyo doesn’t sound to bad at all if you really like the place and the price is right.
Door to door 1.5 hours. Station to station 1 hour.
never live further than 20 min bike ride.
one hard rule I have that I have never regret
Depends where your office is… If it’s in the middle of Tokyo (Roppongi, Ginza, etc.) it’s basically impossible to find a place with commute less than like 30 min, so 37 is very normal/decent.
If your office is in the outskirts of Tokyo though, or by one of the stations that are easy accessible from far away (Shibuya, maybe Shinjuku etc.) you should be able to find a place <20 min commute.
That said, depends on you. How packed will the trains be on your commute if you can find out? 37 minutes sucks standing but if you can have a seat and be able to read or watch stuff in comfort it, and also not having to commute 5 days a week, it could definitely be doable imo.
Personally got a 35 min commute but office 3 days a week so it’s not horrible.
1 hour ish.
Bike to station 10 min
By train 30 min
Walk to office 20 min
Welcome to Yokohama. 37 minutes seems quite reasonable, assuming it’s direct. The kicker is if you have to transfer IMO. That eats up time and makes it less likely you’ll have a seat.
Back in my country I spent 3 hours a day in the train and bus to go to work so when I got my first job in Japan I moved as close as possible without getting too expensive. That ended up as a 15 minutes walk.
After covid I ended up working mostly remote but was still worth it for when I had to go to the office. After a few years I changed jobs, at first it was full remote, but now I have to go to the office a few times a week and it takes about 10 minutes in the train + 15 minutes walking. Even on new jobs from now on I don’t plan on living further than that anymore, the higher rent is cheap compared to the stress and waste of time.
My last job was an hour by bike each way. That is two job-related hours every day I was not being paid for.
Current temporary situation is half an hour (10 minutes walk, ten minutes train, ten minutes walk), and that is okay, but I’ve also applied for a place with a shorter commute.
37 minutes is really good.
First job I had was about 2 hours door to door. (Bus -> Train x 2) Second job was about 1 1/2 hours door to door. (Bike -> Train -> Walk -> Train) Third job was 10 minutes walk.
I’d say any commute under an hour is very convenient. I do however like my commute time as it’s a great time to decompress, read, play some games, listen to podcast and music. I missed it with my third job.
I don’t work in Tokyo any longer, but I used to commute by train two hours in and two hours back, from Southern Ibaraki.
I did that for thirteen years, nearly every day.
Exhausting.
Never again.
37mins is tolerable specially if no transfer. not far from work. not too close either. you don’t want to live too close to your office. you cannot do ずる休み. you are bound to bump someone from your work while doing your daily chores.
Far. I work 2hr door to door. However I enjoy a smooth early commute in and a return with lifestyle things (gym, running etc.) on the way. If I choose not to then I can study or whatever.
My opinion with long commutes is to get a long period without transfer.
After reading more replies, this is 3 times a week and 2 days WFH.
1 hour, 10 minutes going. 1 hour, 30 minutes coming home.
around an hour give or take
but i only go in 2 times a week and work from home the other 3
my commute to uni is 5 to 10 minutes or 45 minutes to an hour depending on the campus and i would say 37 minutes is pretty reasonable by tokyo standards
lots of people commute >50% longer than that per day, which might be a bit much, but in your case you should be able to use that time to listen to podcasts/music, read, plan out your day/weekend, or daydream without it feeling extremely long
living slightly farther from work in a cozy neighbourhood could also be better for your mental health, assuming your workplace is in the tokyo core; you would also be much closer to places like shonan beach, and the train fare to get there would be cheaper (never underestimate the power of 気分転換)
I’m real close, about 3 seconds away
I don’t even have to go out my front door
The closest my commute (besides working from home) was about 20 min by train (maybe 40 min door to door) and furthest was about 1hr by train (1.5 hrs door to door). 37min sounds pretty close if you don’t need to transfer.
I live about 50 meters from my work now, but I used to only live a 25 minute walk. I have lots of coworkers that train 1+ hours, so that’s not bad at all.
About 45 minutes by car. So many red lights
20 mins door to door via train (including 5 mins of walking)
I would never go for >45 mins door to door after doing 1hr one way commutes for a year
If you’re doing a 9-5 job then you’re probably gonna have to deal with rush hour traffic. I personally wouldn’t be too far out if that were the case for me. But if it’s non-rush hour traffic time then sure. I can relax on a train for 40 mins just doing whatever on my phone.
I work from home some days or from the office. Office is 15 min drive or 45 min by bicycle.
1 hour 15 min by train for me. But I chose that, because I like to live in a detached house in a quiet area.
I live a 50min commute away from my workplace. Work is out near the moutains, and my place is 2 stops from the city station (shinkansen station). I prefer this way because I don’t really care about long commutes (used to do the same back home except I had to drive) and I travel a lot on weekends and holidays.
5 hours 20 minutes away from the office (Ishikawa to Kawasaki).
Only visit the office max once a month.
Usually work from home, but the actual office is 40min away. Not a big pain to go there.
How far is this place from the train station?
That question is just as important, since a 37 minute train + 3 minute walk is quite different from 37 + 20 minute walk. Also many of the shops and restaurants and even convenience stores tend to be right around train stations rather than in quieter residential areas.
37 mins is not far. However, it can depend on the route. You might have changes, which can make it suck. Also, you could be on a horribly busy line which would make it stressful. Generally though it’s not bad.
I’m 45 minutes and it kills me
20-min walk in winter; 10-min bike ride otherwise.
My quality of life improved immeasurably when I moved to a place that was 2 minutes’ walk from the office. I’m never going to commute again.
When I first came to Japan almost 20 years ago, I wanted to live central (Shibuya, Shinjuku) but my work wasn’t so my commute was almost 1.5h each way. That was fine then. It was great when I was promoted and the job was on the same line as where I lived and just 10-15 minutes away.
Now that I have kids, I prioritize being able to spend more time with my kids so I live less than a 5-minute walk from work and their daycare is between home and work. I don’t even have a commuter pass.
I think it all depends on where you’re at in life.