Hello! In little less than two months I’ll be going to Shizuoka (probably Shizuoka city) as an exchange student. It’s been a few days since I found out that’s gonna be my destination, and I’m starting to do research to prepare myself for Japan. It’d be awesome to hear from someone who lives/has lived there before. Do you like the city? What’s your impression about it? Any downsides/advice you’d like to highlight?
Also, a bit more specific questions:
* how is the cost of living (taking a exchange student scholarship of around 120k ien)?
* this is a bit of a complicated question, since you can’t really expect everyone to act in the exact same way, but, in general, how is the people in your experience? Is it possible to make friends with locals? (I’m still studying, but I think I have enough Japanese to make friends!)
* is it too ambitious to think about going to Tokyo with a slight frequency? I’m really into music and fashion and since I’m going to be in an area Somewhat Closer to Tokyo, I was thinking of doing visits here and there, specially to go to some concerts. I recognize I’m the stereotypical university student and won’t have the money to go all out, but it’d be nice if I could go there more often than, let’s say, Osaka and Kyoto, which I probably will only be able to visit once, during school break.
* this is the most specific of them all, but just in case there’s someone who’s into Visual Kei or other alternative subcultures around here: how’s the scene over there? Could I expect to find any Vkei events/bars, and are they okay with foreigners over there? If it’s nonexistent, it’s okay. I can take it \[holding back tears\]
Thank you so much in advance, I really appreciate it.
5 comments
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**Going to Shizuoka as an exchange student for a year. Could anyone share their experience living there?**
Hello! In little less than two months I’ll be going to Shizuoka (probably Shizuoka city) as an exchange student. It’s been a few days since I found out that’s gonna be my destination, and I’m starting to do research to prepare myself for Japan. It’d be awesome to hear from someone who lives/has lived there before. Do you like the city? What’s your impression about it? Any downsides/advice you’d like to highlight for foreigners living there?
Also, a bit more specific questions:
* how is the cost of living (taking a exchange student scholarship of around 120k ien)?
* this is a bit of a complicated question, since you can’t really expect everyone to act in the exact same way, but, in general, how is the people in your experience? Is it possible to make friends with locals? (I’m still studying, but I think I have enough Japanese to make friends!)
* is it too ambitious to think about going to Tokyo with a slight frequency? I’m really into music and fashion and since I’m going to be in an area Somewhat Closer to Tokyo, I was thinking of doing visits here and there, specially to go to some concerts. I recognize I’m the stereotypical university student and won’t have the money to go all out, but it’d be nice if I could go there more often than, let’s say, Osaka and Kyoto, which I probably will only be able to visit once, during school break.
* this is the most specific of them all, but just in case there’s someone who’s into Visual Kei or other alternative subcultures around here: how’s the scene over there? Could I expect to find any Vkei events/bars, and are they okay with foreigners over there? If it’s nonexistent, it’s okay. I can take it [holding back tears]
Thank you so much in advance, I really appreciate it.
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The people of Shizuoka pref. are (IMO) among the most easy going, easy to live people in Japan.
Shizuoka is about 1 hour from Tokyo with the Shinkansen so if the fare is not a problem, you can go to Tokyo as many times as you want.
Are you university student? In case you are, I am assuming shizuoka uni since that is the most famous one in shizuoka, and they have two campus in shizuoka city for social science and pure science and hamamatsu city for engineering and informatics, if not just pretend I didnt say anything. I think that amount is okay, the people, they are a bit cold if compared to kansai but not so much. Usually there are clusb that organize japanese-foreigner exchange or something similar. Not sure about the concert and vkei stuff as I am not into that
I don’t live in Shizuoka City and I’m not a student but I live about an hour ago is the prefecture and I loveeee it. Plus I get to see Mt Fuji a huge portion of the year from my apartment window 🙂 sorry I can’t help you with any of your other questions!
if you want to go to Tokyo often, look at Willer buses, they are quite cheap and you can get an overnight one so that you don’t have to waste hours during the week end traveling.