Job Discussion Forums

futbol1182 · Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 6

Well, I accepted a position in Fuji and I am arriving during (what I hear) is a very busy travel week. I get the feeling that I may have some trouble exchanging money upon my arrival on the 5th because of the holidays. I'm staying in a hotel in Tokyo that night and it has been my travel experience that most hotels will exchange traveler's checks (at a horrible rate). Is this the case in Japan?

Also, has anybody been to Fuji? What can I expect?

Thank you for everybody's useful advice on this website. It has really helped me out.

azarashi sushi · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Posts: 562 Location: Shinjuku

Is it Fuji City in Shizuoka? If it is, you're in for a shock!

Which school will you be working for?

futbol1182 · Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 6

Yep, Fuji City (Fuji-Shi) in Shizuoka. Its just a small school with only a couple of teachers.

Shock - of course, right? I'm a Californian going to Japan. Fuji has a pop. of 230,000, so it can't be that rural. Anyways, bring it on...I'm going there for an adventure.

Are there some of the bigger chain schools representing that area?

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Whereabouts in California?

6810 · Joined: 16 Nov 2003 Posts: 309

230,000 not rural. In Japan! Wrong!

I live in a city of close to 400,000. Sure, there is a general downtown but it is very rural. I live in an area of ricefields. Then, where the ricefields end there is a highway, then a highway, then some mega-malls.

Sound rural to you?

futbol1182 · Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 6

I'm from the Bay Area, but I spent the last few years in school in San Diego.

I guess I won't know how rural it is until I get there and see it with my own eyes. Its all relative. "Mega-mall" doesn't sound that rural to me, even if you have to take a highway to get to it(unless you need to travel for several hours to get there).

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Don't think you will have any problem exchanging money at the airport. Did you find a reasonably priced place in Tokyo?

futbol1182 · Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 6

Yeah, I got a place for under 6,000. Sounds ok to me if they hold my reservation.

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

That sounds good. Where is it and how do plan to get there?

futbol1182 · Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Posts: 6

Why, are you buying drinks?...its the hotel Kazusaya. supposed to be near Tokyo Station.

earthmonkey · Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Posts: 188 Location: Meguro-Ku Tokyo

I'd not reccommend travelers checks. I would bring a few hundred dollars in cash to get you through the weekend and bring the rest in International Postal Money Orders. They only cost about $3 each at the post office in the U.S. Each one can be up to $550. You can cash them at any Post Office in Japan for free at a decent exchange rate.

Good Luck!

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Just curious as to how you were planning to get from the airport to Tokyo.

azarashi sushi · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Posts: 562 Location: Shinjuku

Hi Futboll1182,

Usually I try to be positive and encouraging to newbies...

But man, you are in for one nasty shock! Which school are you going to be working for? Does the name of the school begin with the letter "B"? If so, that'll be like rubbing salt into the wound.

The problem with Fuji city is not that it's rural. And actually, if it was just a rural town with rice paddies, it would probably be a nice place to stay. The problem is that it's an industrial town, famous as the most polluted place in Japan with the highest rate of leukemia (sp?).

I bet the school told you what a lovely "resort" town it is and how beautiful the mountain is... Did they also mention the 300 odd paper factories that are there spewing out smoke 24/7? Did they mention that it has the highest incidence of leukemia in Japan? Did they also mention the foul stench in the air EVERYWHERE in the city? Probably not. All the schools there lie to their prospective employees because otherwise no-one would work there. It's a hole. No two ways about it. It's a hideous and depressing place to be. Get your visa and start looking for another job. You'll spend all your wage travelling out of the city on weekends.

saloc · Joined: 04 Jul 2003 Posts: 102

Just to add a little balance to the above post. A.S. is right in that Fuji is very polluted and does smell pretty bad a lot of the time. However, plenty of people I know have lived there and had a good time. They didn't love the city itself - it's not the prettiest of places - but they did have a good time because they made lots of friends, and several of them stayed there for a few years. So, no, it wouldn't be many people's choice of a great place to live but you can have a good time there with the right attitude. It's up to you to get out and make friends and if you do, then (provided you're willing to put up with the pollution) you can have a good time. Also, there are amateur football leagues in the area but I don't know how easy they are to join.

Montbell · Joined: 24 Jan 2006 Posts: 18

I agree with saloc. Fuji city is not all bad. Yeah, it smells strange, but so does New Jersey, so it didn't bother me that much when I was there. I always thought people in Fuji were very nice, kind and helpful, and very friendly. I guess they know they have to compensate for the place itself.