Job Discussion Forums

[Ray 2]

Hi there

I was just wondering if anybody knew anything about this particular area in Japan.For example ,is there a good social scene there,like a night life ?Cost of living?etc .I did a search on this Forum and couldnt find anything on Shikoku .Would deeply appreciate a response?

Cheers

[Gordon]

Shikoku is an island, not really one particular area you can reach at once. I don't think there is much of a night life scene. Matsuyama is the largest city of 600,000 people and Takamatsu is second at about 350,000. There is something going on, but not when you compare it to Osaka. If you are asking about Shikoku and night life in the same breath you will probably be disappointed.
Cost of living? I live in Kagawa and I think it was voted as the cheapest place to live in Japan or something to that affect. Great place to save your yen as there is little to spend it on and food and accomodation is pretty reasonable.
Ask if you have any more specific questions or about a particular city. Hard to generalize about an island. I've been here 4 years now.

[abufletcher]

Ditto what Gordon says. As the name implies, Shi-koku is four prefectures (Kagawa, Tokushima, Ehima, and Kochi). Each has one main city (Takamatsu, Tokushima-city, Matsuyama, Kochi-city, repectively). Takamatsu and Matsuyama are considerably bigger than the other two.

Beyond that Shikoku is mostly small towns -- and some REALLY small towns. In general, it's not a "city life" sort of place.

[J.]

Shikoku is a good place to escape from the frenetic and closely populated cities like Osaka, Tokyo, etc. There is close access to mountains for hiking or picnicing, you can easily get to Okayama (and onward) via a train ride on the bridge, about 40 minutes or so. And you can see a bit of what Japan used to look like before rampant industrialization (in some areas). Parts of Tokushima (one of the prefectures) are beautiful.

I'm not sure why you should be able to save more money here; we have many of the same stores as everywhere else and if not, Internet shopping will bring everything literally to your door, including imported groceries and books from Amazon. But, for sure, rent is cheaper here.

Every city here has a few clubs and tons of small local bars called izakayas, but if you are looking for a lot of English-speaking companionship you probably are not going to have the same choices here as the big cities. It's a trade off, somewhat less convenience for a slightly less stressful life. Whether it will suit you depends on what you are looking for.

[Lynn]

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=22899&highlight=shikoku