Job Discussion Forums

[BigPoppa]

I've searched and found multiple threads on living in Kansai vs. Kanto (with the consensus being that the Kansai region is more enjoyable and cheaper).

I've also read that the job market is much better in Kanto, and about this I have a few questions. I am trying to decide whether to stay in Tokyo when I arrive and use that as my base for job searching, or whether I should set up base in Osaka and start looking from there.

1) Does the pay for similar work tend to be around the same, despite the higher cost of living in Kanto?

2) Is the job market in Kansai so saturated that someone with no experience will have serious trouble finding a decent job?

3) Conversely, is the job market in Kanto so much better that someone with no experience will find a decent job pretty easily?

4) Does either area have a higher proportion of jobs teaching kids vs jobs teaching adults?

5) Other than rent and transport, is the cost of living a lot higher for other things in Kanto? Are there things you just can't find in Kansai?

6) Are people in Kanto really so busy and unfriendly that I'll have trouble making friends (both JP and Gaijin)?


FWIW: I'm a white male college graduate with many years of experience coaching kids in baseball and soccer but no teaching experience. I'm hella Genki around children but tend to be pretty withdrawn around adults.

[Brooks]

Kanto does have higher prices, including at the supermarket.

People are friendlier in Kansai than in Kanto. Tokyo is just big and spread out, and people you know live far away and you have to make a real effort to meet them. I find that if I don`t initiate things, I can`t meet people. Everybody's schedule is different.
In Tokyo, everything is about work. That is why people move here: to make money. Other things are of secondary importance, unfortunately.

Like anywhere, you have to pay your dues and get experience before you can get a better kind of job.

There is more work available here than in Osaka. The big question is, how long a commute can you stand? In Osaka, the commute will never be as long. Some people spend 3 hours on trains per day.

[BigPoppa]

I could get used to reading on the train, but 3 hours would sap my will to live.

So would it be fair to say that Tokyo is like New York and Osaka like Chicago?

[Brooks]

3 hours per day is extreme, but there are people that do it: ie Japanese salarymen that want to live far out.

I wouldn`t say Osaka is like Chicago, but Tokyo is like New York and Washington combined.

[rampo]

[gaijinalways]

Tokyo can be okay, but people do tend to be busy. Or maybe I am one of those people now..

Kansai people, especially those from Osaka, are often regarded as the 'Americans of Japan', louder, friendlier and more direct than their Kanto area cousins.