{"id":4079,"date":"2020-08-18T11:23:41","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T02:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vhbloglive.wpengine.com\/?p=4079"},"modified":"2020-08-19T18:58:39","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T09:58:39","slug":"city-life-pros-and-cons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/japanese-apartment-life\/city-life-pros-and-cons\/","title":{"rendered":"City Life: Pros and Cons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the most\npopular things about Japan is its cities. There can be positives and negatives\nand we will look at them in our article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan has a\nplethora of places to live and they can fit any lifestyle. The large countryside\nis great for people looking to get away from the busy city life. It is a stark\ncontrast to the city and offers different kinds of pleasures. City life will\npresent its own difficulties and rewards for those who want to live there. In\nour article, we will look at the pros and cons of city life in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cost of Living<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the\nbiggest things to consider about life in the city is the cost of living.\nTypically, if you look at places to rent or own in the countryside, you will\nfind plenty of affordable housing. There is no shortage of places to find that\nwill fit a small budget. The city can be much more expensive for housing of the\nsame or smaller size. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japanese cities\ndo not have much room to give their inhabitants and the residents have to cope\nwith this. The average apartment is a single room with a small kitchen,\nbathroom, and shower room. The size is usually as small as a children\u2019s room in\nthe US and the kitchen has just enough room for you to stand in and do light\ncooking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These rooms can\nvary in pricing depending on the distance to the station and what city you will\nbe living in. When you start looking for bigger housing, you will run into the\nsame problems at a higher price. You will find some places as low as 45,000 yen,\nbut it will be far from the station and in an area without much to do.\nSearching for housing between 60,000 and 90,000 will find you apartments within\n15 minutes of walking distance to the nearest station. Anything closer to the station\ncan almost double the price, so try to find a place that will be near the\nstation but not too close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To combat the\nlack of size, you will need to adjust your way of living to fully utilize your\nspace. If you are coming from a western nation, you will be accustomed to\nlarger rooms and having some kind of yard. You will need to downsize your\nnormal amount of clothes and other items and try to keep only the necessary\nthings for your new house. 100-yen stores will be the most helpful to find\nhooks and small containers to help store your things in the smallest spaces\npossible. Always look at your new apartment before signing a lease or you may\nfind yourself in a bad situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Conveniences<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the most\nobvious benefits of living in a city is the access to all of the conveniences\nthat people have created. You will have access to convenience stores that are\non almost every corner and the train stations have a variety of shops nearby.\nYou will never be far from a grocery store or restaurant as long as you are\naround a station. The amount of shopping in the city is greater than in other\nparts of the country and you can generally find more things there that you\ncan\u2019t find anywhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding import\ngoods is easier in the city as well, but you will pay a higher than normal\nprice. There are a few stores made specifically for import goods as well and\nthey can be found in most areas of the city. You will be able to get food that\nyou would not be able to buy in the countryside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are plenty\nof restaurants and entertainment areas in each city. You can find some western\nrestaurants as well. These places offer delicious and affordable alternatives\nto constantly cooking in your tiny kitchen. There is a large variety of places\nto choose from that fit any pallet. You will be surprised to find the kinds of\nrestaurants you will be able to choose from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Travel<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Getting around\nthe city will be easy and straightforward thanks to the fantastic transportation\nsystem. The trains run almost perfectly on time and you can guarantee that they\nwill arrive and leave on the minute. The systems running through the city are\nconnected and can be confusing when you are first finding your way around the\ncity. Once you are accustomed to it, you will know which trains to take to get\neverywhere in the city. It helps that almost all stations have signs and maps\nin English as well as Japanese. You can find your train easily and check maps\nto ensure you are going in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The buses may not\nbe able to run completely on time thanks to traffic, but they still get you\nwhere you need to go. There are many areas in the city that are more convenient\nto get to by bus than by train. The buses have multiple stops that you can use\nin any direction. They have English on their signs as well, but they can be\ndifficult to navigate due to the number system on the signs. Look carefully to\ntry and find your destination, as sometimes information will not be available\nin English. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Work-Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The cities boast\nthe best job opportunities for both Japanese and foreign residents. Many places\nlook to employ workers and will hire bilingual workers faster than usual. The\ncities see far more foreign visitors than the countryside and business owners\nwant to get as much of the tourist money as possible. The ability to find work\noutside of teaching goes up in cities as well. You will be able to get more\nopportunities than anywhere else in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Leisure<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you need a\nplace to relax from your busy life, there are many places in the city that can\nhelp you out. There are bars to enjoy a quick drink after a long day, and it is\na pastime of Japanese businessmen to drink with coworkers to build team morale.\nThere are izakayas where you can enjoy food and drink with your friends after\nhours. Karaoke bars are usually open 24 hours a day and can be rented out for a\nfew hours at a time. You will never run out of places to relax in your city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city has a lot of things that will draw\npeople who want access to conveniences and general leisure activities. The downsides\nare the cost of living and travel expenses, though convenient, can cost you a\nlot over time. You can find a balance between all of these aspects over time,\nand some places are more affordable than others. Do your research and carefully\nchoose your new residence. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the most popular things about Japan is its cities. There can be positives and negatives and we will look at them in our article. Japan has a plethora of places to live and they can fit any lifestyle. The large countryside is great for people looking to get away from the busy city […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4080,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese-apartment-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}