Job Discussion Forums

[takamatsudaiki]

I've been to Fukuoka and Osaka. Personally, I like the feeling of Fukuoka the best. It's a big city, but you sure don't feel it. Kyoto is also a wonderful place and extremely easy to get around in. I have a bias towards Kyushu so all I can say is, go to Fukuoka and see if you like it. It doesn't have the large westerner population that Tokyo or Osaka have, but it's still a great place to live.

[SEndrigo]

Yeah it's funny that few people have had anything positive to say about Tokyo!

How on Earth can you say Osaka is more interesting than Tokyo?

It's just as ugly (if not uglier), there are less parks, less museums, less nightclubs, less places to go.

So again, tell me how Osaka is more interesting?

Yes, I think Kyoto and Nara are beautiful, but we're not talking about them, we are talking about Tokyo and Osaka.

If you do want to also compare surrounding areas, Kamakura and Nikko are just as beautiful as Kyoto and Nara. And Nikko does not have anything like the horribly ugly Kyoto Tower or concrete interspersed between temples and historical places.

Plus the beaches in Izu (yes it's not Tokyo but a lot closer to Tokyo than Osaka) are way better than anything in Kansai.

[Mark]

[Rorschach]

[Mark]

As a side note for the OP, if you're thinking about Tokyo, try thinking about Yokohama. Yokohama is basically a part of Tokyo (as is Omiya/Urawa in Saitama and to a lesser extent Chiba city). Yokohama is a lot more livable than Tokyo and the vibe there seems more chilled and easygoing.

Just beware, Yokohama is really big, so try to live right near the centre. You can get to Tokyo or Shinjuku station in something like 30 mins so it's no different than living somewhere in Tokyo. And you'll be able to afford to actually live right in the centre of Yokohama. And you'd be a lot close to the Kamakura/Shonan area, which is a nice place to spend the day (except when there are a billion Tokyoites there).

My 2 cents anyway.

[Brooks]

I figured out that if I lived in Osaka I could save 25,000 a month on rent.
I could get a 3DK for less.
I have a 3DK in Sagamihara.
This month I have to pay double rent, since I will have lived in the place for two years. One months rent goes to the agency.
In Osaka, you don`t get fleeced like that.

Of course, I would make less money if I worked in Osaka, and I would probably work 6 days a week.
My wife has compared prices in supermarkets in Osaka and the Tokyo area, and Osaka wins hands down. For example, daikons cost half as much in Osaka.

[Big John Stud]

Mark wrote:

As a side note for the OP, if you're thinking about Tokyo, try thinking about Yokohama. Yokohama is basically a part of Tokyo (as is Omiya/Urawa in Saitama and to a lesser extent Chiba city). Yokohama is a lot more livable than Tokyo and the vibe there seems more chilled and easygoing. Just beware, Yokohama is really big, so try to live right near the centre. You can get to Tokyo or Shinjuku station in something like 30 mins so it's no different than living somewhere in Tokyo. And you'll be able to afford to actually live right in the centre of Yokohama. And you'd be a lot close to the Kamakura/Shonan area, which is a nice place to spend the day (except when there are a billion Tokyoites there). My 2 cents anyway.

I dissagree with Mark. I don't like Yokohama at all, I would rather pay more and live in Tokyo. However, Urawa is cheap and the commute is not so bad. Again nothing against Mark's opinion. Some people like large cities some don't!
The reason why I didn't like Yokohama is because getting around is not as convienent as Tokyo. Also more things to do in Tokyo.

[Mark]

[SEndrigo]

Re: Yokohama, I agree with Mark, I actually really like downtown Yokohama (Ishikawacho, Kannai, Chukagai, etc.)

It has a nice grid system and tree lined streets just like many North Americans are no doubt accustomed to.

Going back to the point of Osaka and surrounding areas, I'm going to be controversial and say that I not only like Nikko more than Kyoto, it's more beautiful than Kyoto, is cheaper than Kyoto, and is a lot more relaxed and tourist-free!

Kyoto, for all its beautiful areas, is overall, an ugly city, full of concrete monstrosities, insanely hot and humid summer weather, and annoying tourists and schoolchildren. So are Tokyo and Osaka, but they don't claim to be cultural meccas or "old Japan."

Nikko is basically free of the concrete, tourists, and high prices, but still has heaps of temples, shrines, beautiful waterfalls, hot springs, etc. Overall, a much better example of old Japan than Kyoto !

Sure, Kyoto has some bars/nightclubs, but not much of a nightlife scene if you ask me. You don't go to Kyoto for nightlife, so saying that Kyoto has some nightlife while Kamakura/Nikko don't is a moot point. You go to those places to experience traditional Japan.

Osaka and Kobe are much better for nightlife! But Tokyo tops all of them, that's for sure.

I think at the end of the day, neither place is better than the other, but rather, it depends on your subjective experience and what you are looking for.

I'm happy to live in Tokyo, because if I moved to Osaka I'd have to start all over again, make new friends, learn Kansai-ben, and hope to find as good a job/job opportunities as I have now, which would be nearly impossible.

[Big John Stud]

Good point Mark! I keep forgetting living in the outskirts of Tokyo is not so convienent. I live in Asagaya which is close to Shinjuku and Ikebukuro.

[Zzonkmiles]

I find it amazing that people are throwing around such blanket statements like "People from X-city are this way" while "People from Y-city are this way."

Both Osaka and Tokyo are home to millions of people. Thus, you are bound to find people who fit every single personality type you can think of in both places. I would argue that how you are treated as a foreigner depends more on your ability to speak Japanese and how friendly YOU are than on which city the Japanese person lives in.

I've been to both places and I've met more than my fair share of rude and pushy people in Osaka, as well as some helpful and jovial people in Tokyo. Seeing that Osaka is home to about 2.5 million people, and Tokyo has about three times that amount, generalizing like that says a lot more about me than the people I'm trying to label.

One thing to remember though is that Tokyo and Yokohama are home to lots of US military bases. And aside from them, Tokyo has the highest foreign population in Japan. So you are a bit less likely to get the "gaijin rock star" treatment, as the local residents are a bit more used to seeing foreigners than people in the suburbs of Osaka. (Osaka Prefecture is not near any military bases at all.) That is a safe generalization to make based on pure demographics. Perhaps this is what some of the Tokyo-bashers mean when they say "Tokyoites aren't friendly."

[Mark]

[Brooks]

My wife has taught in both Osaka and Tokyo and she says that Osaka students tend to be friendly and Tokyo students are cold and stone-faced.
Generally.

There are books written about regional differences in Japan (in Japanese).

I was in Osaka less than two weeks ago and my wife was asking her friends what they thought of Tokyo. They were generally negative.

Japanese people, I find, are very regional, like people are in England, Germany, or other Japanese people