Job Discussion Forums

[markle]

I'm looking at getting a teaching position and I was weighing up the pro and cons of looking outside the major centres.
A friend who had worked in Japan had suggested that the country might offer better conditions (accom, etc)
So what do you guys think? is there a difference, what are the particular benefits of getting out of town?

[homersimpson]

I have lived in both settings and they can be as different as night and day. In my experience, I paid more for transportation on a daily basis (subway/trains) in the city; in the country "commuting" was not a concern. Cities offer far more discounts/specials on food, simply because there are more restaurants competing for business. Cities over more choices of products at local supermarkets. Traditional entertainment such as movie theaters, dance clubs, musical concerts, etc. can be virtually nonexistent in the country (although most towns have a video rental store). Country towns are quieter and hence offer far less anonymity. (People will know what you do and who you do it with). If you are interested in learning the language, towns will certainly give you more of an opportunity to practice, however, there is a popular misconception that if you don't speak Japanese somehow you will be unable to survive in the countryside (not true; not as convenient a lifestyle, but still doable). Depending on the area of the country, small town people can be friendlier than city slickers (or they can be shier and unaccomodating). In my case, I have enjoyed both cities and towns for a variety of reasons. Actually, I have experienced a city of over 2 million, one of 300,000 and one of less than 40,000 during my stay in Japan. All had different things to offer.

[cafebleu]

Be careful about living in the countryside in Japan.

I have known people who spent a lot of time and money on the weekend or their other time off, getting away from their home in the countryside and going to the city for relief and relaxation. Some foreigners who have lived in the countryside get really restless and bored there.

One really good thing can be the accommodation prices. Accommodation prices can be great in the countryside - I had a friend who could rent a house for 50,000 yen and he was so lucky. It was big and had a good garden and he had a little distance from his neighbours.

However, one of the big downers of living in the countryside is that you
also have to contend with a narrowness that may be present in any number of Japanese people because of their insulated and insular culture and lifestyle, but in the city people it is less pronounced as they are busier and/or aren`t obsessed with what the neighbours think. I lived in a country town for some time and I honestly found the neighbourhood to have too many busybodies. Women around 50 or over are especially bad.

I think much of it has to do with their non-existent relationships with their husbands, something that also happens among younger Japanese. I was amazed at how husbands and wives of working age are separated for a long time because of the husbands` business trips and take it as being normal, and amazed at how kids are sleeping in their parents` bedrooms. One young man I knew had a large family and so he slept in his parents` room. He was 19 (!!!)

But to get back to the countryside women, especially those of around 50 and over - not all but some are racist, nosey, rude, and obviously deprived of a fulfilling life in any number of ways and so concern themselves with foreigners and their activities.

If you do live in the countryside it`s good to put a distance between yourself and your neighbours to some extent. You can get to know the nice ones but be a little aloof. Your life is your life and if your neighbours have narrow ones, it is not your role to be snooped on and annoyed. If you`re a man it will be better because unfortunately women here, especially older ones, like to engage in a certain type of bullying by putting pressure on other women to conform. The fact that what they are asking you to conform to is not necessarily normal by any other number of perspectives, is not the point.

[Gordon]

Yikes, that's a pretty bleak description of small-town Japan. I've been here over a year and haven't really seen that. I'm sure it exists, but I don't think it's that bad.
As far as expenses go, living in the countryside is far cheaper. There is a lot less temptation to spend your money and go shopping. When I go into Osaka or Kobe, I'm glad to leave and am amazed at how quickly my yen is spent.
People stare at you more in the a small town obviously and that can get a little annoying.

[cafebleu]

I think the experiences of foreign men and women are usually different. Where I lived a policeman used to call in to the people next door and I would hear the woman gossiping about me. It`s there in country life but maybe you don`t notice it because you are not a woman.

I also found that Japanese women DO take more liberties with a foreign woman. I knew a foreign man who did not live so far from me but the Japanese women left him alone. I also went off to my boyfriend`s apartment in a different place because had I brought him home then the neighbours would have gone on about it and it probably would have affected the enrolment numbers of the locals at the school I worked at.

As I said, Japanese women tend to bully other women by expecting them to fall in line with their own narrow, decades ago thinking. If you spend enough time around Japanese women (and men) who are not friends with foreigners or who are not open minded or relatively young or young, then it hits you how social attitudes here remain in the 50s. I never knew of anybody living together without marriage in the country and if they had, the neighbours would have made their lives hard. The Japanese do not have those kind of pre-marital, non-marital relationships openly and I have never met any Japanese woman who lives with her boyfriend or older male partner.

[markosonlines]

I'm living in Ise, a city of　about 100,000, with my Japanese girlfriend. It seems to qualify as 'the country' in Japan. Our neighbours haven't caused us any grief (yet), although the only person we share a wall with is a gaijin colleague. We get a few stares, that's about it, and we haven't made much effort to hide our lifestyle. Maybe the locals are cool, or used to gaijin living here. Or maybe it's because we are saving our money and spend a lot of time at home. Either way its been cool for us.

If you want to work your shift, go home and save your money I'd say the country. Cheaper living, less distractions. If you want to party, or work extra shifts, privates, part-time on the side for extra cash, go the big smoke.

Just my two yen

Markos

[3rdEye]

I can't make a complete comparison to urban areas since I've always lived in rural or semi-rural areas, although I visit cities often. Anyways, I think living in the countryside can be an excellent and wonderful chance to meet great people. If you don't mind the inconvenience of not having the city amenities, such as night life, restaurants, clubs and theatres nearby, then rural life can actually be a blessing. In terms of the demographics in many rural areas, the younger generations usually move to the cities for university or job opportunities, so most of the population left behind are older generations or retired. If you don't mind a population generally older than you, than the country is fine. There are some younger generations around, but most young adults leave for careers in the city. Ironically, alot of younger Japanese also like to mock or joke about the countryside, even though some of them may have rural backgrounds themselves.

Initially, I was interested in cities since I love the nightlife, I like to boogie but as fate would have it I ended up rural. One place was so remote that there wasn't even a train station in town, and the nearest one was a 1.5 hour drive through mountains, of course I got a car. Now, I'm still in a rural area, although there is a train station in town, but its a minor local train that comes every 30 minutes. Still inconvenient by urban standards. Materialistically speaking, the best thing about the country is all the money you can save. Its definitely cheaper. If you are concerned about saving money then the country is the place to live. Not to mention all that fresh free country air.

The country is also a fantastic place if you value the human relations aspect, and it is a great opportunity to meet average working class rural people. If I could characterise urban and rural people in general, I would say that rural people are generally more practical and gregarious in their outlook on life. I like the honest no-nonsense attitudes of many of the rural women and men I've had the pleasure of knowing. Anyways, I've always had great neighbours and some really struck me with their kindness and compassion. I would often get free handouts such as vegetables and rice from people that had extras left over from their gardens or plots of land. In one situation, I was practically adopted by the people in my area and treated like family. I was often invited over the years by various families for lunches, dinners, outings, ceremonies, or festival. In a few cases I was lucky enough to attend things that were quite personal in nature, such as a funeral, death anniversary, and wedding. These are things one normally has no opportunity to experience if you aren't close enough to someone. I feel I got that chance to get closer to people faster by living in the country. I don't know if I could have easily done it in the city.

Perhaps the one minus point of the country is that since everyone knows everyone else, there is gossip, but unless you're a hermit with sociopathic tendencies or have anything to be ashamed of, I really don't think its a major problem. Although in one of my more revealing moments, I was talked into wearing a fundoshi, and there was gossip about that. Since my area had orchards I also got to pick persimmons at a family's persimmon orchard. It was a cold and rugged experience, but wonderful as I got to take back all the persimmons I could carry. I had a Persimmon Party at my house and got some of the locals to taste the new recipes I invented for persimmons from raw to cooked. It was a hit!

Sorry for the long ramble on my life, but anyways, I highly recommend you try the rural lifestyle for at least some part of your life. Its so easy to choose a city and knock the country, but what I've found is that the country can be a blessing in disguise. Give the country a try. It was and still is a great experience in my life. Cheers!