Job Discussion Forums

[mrjohndub]

I work for a large eikawa corporation and am likely to renew my contract for the next year. Although I find the Tokyo area to be stimulating in many ways, I'd like to be transferred somewhere scenic and tropical.

I've been looking into information and pictures of places that would offer these qualities, but haven't found much information of use. I've been particularly looking at Kyushu, but am not limiting my search to it. The city of Fukuoka interests me somewhat, but I hear that it is most often cloudy. Sun would be great. Melatonin is key to my naturally sleep-deprived life.

I'd ideally like to live near a city with nightlife and ammenities, and I need to be near some population center that would sustain an office of my company. I'm just interested in a little more sun and warmth, as I try to stay very active. I enjoy fishing, diving and being near the sea in general. I've looked at Okinawa, as it is of course a good destination for such things, but being an American, I'd rather not be rubbing shoulders with too many Marine jarheads, no offense to them.

I also enjoy the juxtaposition of the sea and mountains. Last year I lived on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, Mexico and found the scenery to be thrilling. Alas, there is no money to be made there, so I moved on. Eventually I will leave Japan, but I'd like to go out with a bang in terms of geographic and climatic fulfillment. Being near mountains or hills of some variety would be great , as I also enjoy hiking and cycling on trails. I'd find a great deal more pride in my living environment if the area was particularly scenic, and I know but am not aware of the best places in Southern Japan to find such places.

Any ideas on where these ideas might be met? Thanks for the advice...

[Gordon]

Tough criteria. I think you might be asking too much of Japan. Granted there is a lot of this country I haven't seen yet, but natural beauty, sun and close to nightlife is not something I've discovered. Let us know if you find it.

[Glenski]

[Zzonkmiles]

Maybe Kobe would satisfy most (but not all) of the OP's criteria. Kobe is a reasonably large city with a large music and arts scene. It's also very close to Mt. Rokko and Suma Beach. It's not a tropical paradise however, as there are four distinct seasons there, with winter being the longest one (cold between November and March).

I agree with the other posters in that you're asking for a bit too much. Everyone is entitled to their own preferences, but I don't think there's any place in Japan that could meet all of the requirements you seek. And then even if you COULD find such a place, finding a job there is an entirely different matter.

[mrjohndub]

Look, nightlife isn't a major priority of mine. It'd be nice to catch a train and travel for an hour or two to make it to a city that does have some entertainment options other than neighborhood bars. I particularly enjoy live music, as I am originally from a city famed for it. But, it's a minor consideration. I'm much more interested in the landscape details.

Glenski, at the risk of sounding practical, I'm not sure why you didn't understand my comment. I'm sure there are many nice places that would fit my ideas but wouldn't have sufficient population to keep my company's interest in maintaining an office. I would think a city with a population nearing 100,000 or above would usually do the trick.

[Zzonkmiles]

[Speed]

You might try Miyazaki city. (About 300,000 people?)

Has beaches you can go surfing at with decent waves. The Nichinan Coast is just south of there and has a goreous coastline extending south to Kagoshima. Just outside of Miyazaki are a lot of pretty and rural mountains.

Relatively warm to the rest of Japan; it`s pretty far south and has unobstructed exposure to the Pacific. If you like nature, lots of powerful typhoons to enjoy too.

[Glenski]

mrjohndub,
Thank you for that clarification. I honestly had no idea what you meant with the peculiar phrase "office of my company", when it is clearly not YOUR company.

So, now my question is this...
Are you saying that you want to move to a city where your current employer has an office, or where your current employer would be able to set one up? You could easily ask your employer for the first point. As to the second one, I'm going to irk you further by saying that it sounds weird. Sorry.

[mrjohndub]

Glenski, I think you're splitting hairs, but whatever. I don't think it's meant to be an attempt to irk me. However, there is a tendency of some people on this site to scoff at others' posts over trivial reasons. Not you, necessarily. Thank you for your input. And of course the company is not owned by me, but I think it is quite common for many, if not most people, to refer to the company that they work for as 'their company,' at least from time to time. To answer your question, I'd like to find a destination in which the company that I work for would likely have an existing, viable office. I did mention in the original post that I work for a large eikawa corporation, so I didn't forsee any confusion being generated regarding ownership.

As for Zzonkmiles, my second post was an attempt to point out that nightlife was only one of several things that would be nice to have available, and that access to it over distance--and not immediate proximity--would satisfy. You seem to be going off on a tangent about it that I was trying to avoid. As for gratitude, what gratitude do I owe you, exactly?

Thanks to everyone else for their responses. Kobe and Miyazaki both seem like intriguing places to look into.

[bornslippy1981]

If you can sacrifice the cold in winter, Kanazawa isn't a bad place for nightlife, mountains, and beaches (within an hour). There's an airport there, and the Thunderbird train will get you to Kyoto in two hours.

[markle]

Taiwan?

Seriously the money is not bad and it meets most of your other criteria (don'y know about nightlife)

[freddie's friend daniel]

[wintersweet]

My friend from Kyushu also recommends Miyazaki:
http://www.outdoorjapan.com/columns/surfjapan-20.html

It has about 300,000 people, so that might not be big enough.