Job Discussion Forums

[Mark]

Hi folks,

Hopefully someone can give me a little help here. I live right in the centre of Tokyo and I've recently been thinking that for the sake of developing my Japanese language abilities, I should probably get out of the city for a year and move to some small city where there isn't as much of an expat/English-speaking community.

But, since I'd only be getting out for a year, I probably wouldn't want to go somewhere with a strong dialect because I'd probably spend most of the year just getting used to the dialect.

I thought about Sendai, but I don't know if it has a strong dialect or not, but it's a touch far from Tokyo (and, of course, not small). There's also Nagano to think about.

But, I'm thinking about Utsunomiya. I stopped over there for a few hours on my way back from Nikko and it seemed quite pleasant. Small, but not too small. Close enough to Tokyo to visit, but far enough to create a sense of distance. The folks seemed reasonably friendly. I was surprised by how often I saw people smiling and looking at other people and things like that.

So, after all that prelude, can anyone tell me anything about life in Utsunomiya? Particularly from the point of view of someone who'd like a break from the coldness/unfriendliness of Tokyo life as well as getting immersed in Japanese.

And, for folks that don't know anything about Utsunomiya, any suggestions of other places that might fit that bill.

Thanks a bunch,

Mark

[moot point]

Personally I'd aim for something smaller if you really want to immerse yourself.

How about Izu-hanto? It is a bit warmer and there are several small towns dotting the peninsula that you could probably find work in.

[Mark]

You're probably right about choosing a small town. It's just that I've never lived in one, even back home, and I'm not really sure if I could take it or not.

I've actually never been down to Izu, so I should probably go and check it out. Do you have any experience in small towns in that area? Do you think the small town folks there would fall into the "hey, let's go find out about the new guy" category or the "Shun the outsider!!!" category?

From what I've heard from friends who grew up in small towns back home, they seem a bit of a funny business. I don't think it's a Japanese thing, just a small town thing.

[zignut]

When I was living in Japan, I transferred to a school in Aomori-shi from Tokyo. All of my students in Kichijoji warned me that I wouldn't understand a word from those "Tohoku people", that even they couldn't understand them. But I found their warnings to be unfounded. For example, in Tokyo I was told they'd say "daz" instead of "dess" for desu, but even with my poor Japanese ability, I could tell that this wasn't true. By and large, the language seemed pretty much the same.

I wholeheartedly endorse your plan of getting out of Tokyo for a while, and I wouldn't for a minute worry about picking up a country dialect. It certainly won't make you unintelligible, as some claimed to me.

Good luck!

[furiousmilksheikali]

[Squire22]

[Venti]

Mark,
Sendai is a great city. It's decent-sized but not full of the cold, inhumanity that plagues Tokyo. I learned most of the Japanese I know while living there (between JLPT level 2 and level 1 now). People use different Tohoku dialects often around the Sendai area, but people usually use standard Japanese when speaking to strangers (other Japanese as well) or when serving customers. I mean, you wouldn't expect someone at the local shiyakusho to rattle off a bunch of questions using Yamagata ben, would you? It does happen, but it's not the norm. If you take classes in Tohoku, it's not like you're going to be taught Japanese with the local dialect; you're going to be taught the standard Japanese. If you make Japanese friends who use the local dialect quite a bit, there's still no worry; They're able to use standard Japanese for your benefit. Most Japanese are able to do so. People in the Kansai area tend to use the regional dialect quite a bit, but Kansai's a special place.

[Mark]

[Mark]

[Mark]

[Venti]

[guest of Japan]

I lived in Utsunomiya for a couple of years. I even met my wife there. I'm quite fond of the city. The biggest problem is there are not that many job opportunities. The Japanese being Kanto people are not real easy to get to know at first, but may well become very loyal friends. The foreign community is quite friendly.

I've written on Utsunomiya on this board before, so just do a search to find out more.