Job Discussion Forums

[wasabi13b]

Just got a job teaching with NOVA... its the best I could do considering Im only 3 years into my 4 year degree. My current occupations are kindergarten teacher for 3 days a week and chef for 7 nights a week, but am looking forward to the challenge of teaching in Japan.

Reason why I am coming I am doing a bachelor of international business majoring in I.B Management and My minor is Asian studies, so it'll be extremely useful for future career prospects, I also have family in japan that I haven't met apart from a few which is another reason for coming.

I am very interested in drifting, I have been drifting for the past 6 years in aus and am leaving some valuable sponsors behind to come over for the experience. I am subscribed to Drift-tengoku magazine and follow the D1 and MSC drift series in Japan through option and drift tengoku dvd's. It is not the main reason why I am coming to japan, but it definately is one of the things that attracted me to it in the first place. For all those that may be thinking (like the interviewer for NOVA) I am not coming over becuase of the fast and furios tokyo drift movie.. I think its junk really.

Has any ex pats on here bought a car and driven around, how esay did they find the whole process?I know it is damn expensive compared to here in Aus, but I have just sold my car so I do have a little cash. I have around AU$13000 left after all my expenses are paid for, would this be enough?

How easy is it to find a car space in tokyo and the price (just an an average or places around hachioji) as I have requested to be posted near here as that is where my cousin lives, but he will be in the US when I arrive and I would like to get a car when I arrive. He has told me it is around 10 000 a week but he is not sure as he does not own a car (he is just a uni student at Soka U), and that finding an apartment with a car space would cost around 80 000 a month, it seems quite cheap considering nova wants just a little under that for a shared apartment.


Thanks Guys! any help would be greatly appreciated.

Alex.

[international.teacher]

I lived in Japan for six years and drove for the first four. It can be very expensive.

It can be relatively cheap if you live in the country side and drive a yellow plate 500cc car.

If you live in Tokyo traffic will be hellish and I wouldn't recommend having a car there. You could not even but a car without having a contract for a parking space first.

If I went back I would buy a big motorbike, as I am a biker, but he disadvantage is that you cannot have a pillion on the motorways (unless the rules have changed since I left).

Hope that helps you a wee bit.

[easyasabc]

[quote="wasabi13b"]Has any ex pats on here bought a car and driven around, how esay did they find the whole process?I know it is damn expensive compared to here in Aus, /quote]

Hmm - I'm from Aus, lived in Japan close to 8 years and had a car the whole time. The first couple of years I got a car with my job but after that I bought my own and it was way cheaper than buying a car in Australia. You could buy an OK car with quite a bit less than the money you have on hand.

I don't think buying the car is going to be a big problem for you but in a big city finding somewhere affordable to keep/park it would be. I lived in a small city where public transport was cr*p and I really liked having a car to get around. I suppose partly because I lived a couple of kms from the downtown area I got a reasonably priced parking spot with my apartment. But if you plan on living in Tokyo you really won't need a car to get around because you can rely on public transport and the hassle of parking wouldn't be worth the cost.

[kdynamic]

As long as you are willing to pay for parking, gas, insurance, etc, then yeah getting a car isn't hard. I am a big car person myself and I have a Nissan Skyline. I live in the countryside and I love having a car. If you want to enjoy driving in Japan DO NOT move to Tokyo. All the real driving happens out in the country side. Wasn't Initial D set in Gunma? Anyway, you want to be near those mountain roads. Having a car in Tokyo is pretty useless until you drive it waaaay out of the city.

Since you are from Aus, you can take the car home with you when you leave (I don't have that option since I am American), so I would recommend investing in a nice JDM car you can't get back home and then exporting it. Then you'll be the cool kid on the block back in aus with your JDM car. You can actually get nice rides here cheap if you buy used. You're a drifter so you'd probably want like a silvia or something right? You can pick them up for not too much and then pour money into modding them. Modding is huge over hear and you'll be in heaven at Autobac's buying parts. Have fun!

But also be aware of all the speed cameras and stuff. You do NOT want to get caught doing anything.

[theoldman]

I'm an owner/driver living in the center of Tokyo, and I actually have money left over each month from my transport allowance after running my car. I get about Y25.000 a month in transport costs and I put about Y4000 a week into the car in fuel. Of course I am not taking into account the other asociated costs.

The other posters are correct in saying that second hand cars, including low kilo, fairly new cars are reasonably cheap and if you are heading back to Australia you only need to own it for 12 months before you can ship it back.

I bought a small car because I live in the center of Tokyo, 8 year old VW Polo, 40,000kms, that cost Y500,000. Great condition, but the car had a ticket price of Y320,000, so be very aware of all the extras you have to pay just to get it on the road.

Garaging is expensive in Tokyo, you can pay up to Y50,000 a month, so I think your cousin is pretty accurate with a quote of Y10,000 in the Hachioji area.

One other thing, with regards to buying cars, and price, I found a car yard in Kanagawa that only sold used Nissan 300ZX cars. The average price was Y800,000 for a 2 year old car with less than 10,000kms. Buy a couple of these, garage them for one year and take them back to Australia and sell them, and you would make a tidy profit, as another Australian is already doing.

[earthmonkey]

[Khyron]

[Khyron]

[wasabi13b]

thanks for all the responses, have found out I will be somewhere near Minamirinkan, does anyone know much about this area? I have made another topic post on it. THanks heaps!

[PUCK]

Cars can be had quite cheap -- even free in some cases. It's the insurance, gas (which has become ridiculously high lately), maintenance / shaken, parking, taxes, and other associated things that will end up costing an awful lot. If you really plan to use it a lot, then it might be a good investment. Otherwise, do the math and figure out approximately what it will cost you per month. Then figure out how many kilometers of taxi rides you can get for the same price. Most people will be surprised at the incredible number of taxis you could take -- and it would still be cheaper than owning a car!

I had a car in the suburbs but dumped it when I moved central. Now it's my 250cc bike almost everywhere I go. It is economical, parking is usually not much of a problem if you're careful, and the convenience (storage capacity, comfort etc...) is amazing. You can get around much quicker than with a car. Actually, the traffic in Tokyo isn't that bad. Rush hour can get a bit congested but not as bad as most other world cities. However, it's the traffic lights that can really slow you down, not to mention those !@#$%^& taxi drivers.