Job Discussion Forums

[flyer]

yes, 2 hrs is just crazy

I would never do that (every working day)

[TokyoLiz]

I'll qualify it for you then, Flyer - I work four days a week at the location 2 hours away. There are at least three other Japanese staff members who travel a commute as long or longer than mine. One of them is the principal.

It's Japan, land of shoganai and gaman.

[Miyazaki]

[southofreality]

[flyer]

[ripslyme]

I've had short (5 minute walk) and long (2 hours each way) commutes in Japan. Getting that 5 minute walk was merely luck of the draw. The long commute was something I had to deal with. (I had just signed a new lease on my apartment because I thought I had a job in that town. However, that fell through and the only thing I could find was that far away job. ) anyway... Once that lease was up, I moved closer to the job. I have to say that it was a bit easier for me as I am single with no dependents. If I were supporting a family and had a mortgage, it would be significantly more difficult for me to just pack up and move closer.

At any rate, what I'm trying to say is while it is possible to not have such a long commute in Japan, sometimes there are extenuating circumstances.

[vancouver_syndicate]

I got lucky and had a five minute walk to my school when i was living in tokyo. mind you, i lived in a tiny studio. at least it didn't cost me too much.

[flyer]

I would just refuse to travel 4 hours each day just going to and from work

there has to be other possibilities

I would only consider it on a very short term basis

[Brooks]

2 hour commute?
That is not normal.
Many people around Tokyo will commute for an hour and a half.
For me, I only spend 10 minutes on the train.

Some people have a tough time when they get transfered to a new branch and then have to commute longer.
You don't want to move out just to pay more key money.

[Sweetsee]

50-minute commute to work by scooter for me these days. It costs �200 a day for petrol and my employer pays me �1240 for train fare.

[Glenski]

Many schools try to put their foreign teachers in housing as close as possible to work. Look at these other figures for the average Japanese, and then think "gaman" and "shoganai" and how lucky you are.

The Japanese spend more time commuting than either other East Asians,
Europeans and especially North Americans.

�Americans and Canadians seem to live closest to their working place
or school: One out of four North Americans commutes as little as ten
minutes or less in one way, and for two thirds it takes less than 30
minutes. Only 24% of North American commuters are underway for more
than 30 minutes and only 8% for more than one hour. Also a majority of
Europeans lives within 30 minutes of their working space or school.
The number of commuters traveling between 30 and 60 minutes, however,
is with 33% higher than in North America. On the other hand, very few
Europeans (6%) are commuting for more than one hour. Also, the
percentage of people walking to work or school is much lower in Japan
(7%) than in either East Asia (18%), North America (17%) and Europe
(15%).�

�How long do the Japanese commute?

About half of the Japanese respondents indicated that they need less
than 30 minutes to go to work/school. On the other hand, one fourth of
the respondents need more than one hour. In addition, the results show
that it takes students longer to commute than company workers: 34% of
students commute for over one hour while only 21% of company workers
travel that long.
Train riders are underway the longest with half of them traveling for
more than one hour. 60% of car drivers, on the other hand, need less
than 30 minutes to commute to work/school. Also commuters taking the
bus do not travel as long as train riders: for 70% of them it takes
less than an hour to commute one way. Almost 7% of people from the
countryside indicated to commute for over two hours per direction and
day. The same group makes up only 2% among people from cities.�
Japan Guide: October 2000
http://www.japan-guide.com/topic/0011.html


�The average commuting distances for commuters whose destinations are
located in the urban centers are 26 km in Tokyo, 20 km in Chukyo, and
21 km in Kinki, and increasing. Also, the commuting hours to urban
centers are 68 minutes in Tokyo, 59 minutes in Chukyo, and 60 minutes
in Kinki, and can be longer in the Tokyo and Kinki areas.�
Japan Statistics
http://www.stat.go.jp/english/index/official/29.htm


Japan Studies
�More than 70% commuted for one hour or more (one-way) in 1999, and
the length of time spent commuting has increased over the past 25
years. A little less than half the sample (42%) now commute for more
than one hour (one-way), implying that some three hours per day are
spent on getting to and from the office.�
Japan INC.
http://www.japaninc.net/article.php?articleID=205


Commuting Time of Japanese Workers and Students, 2000
Workers (minutes) Students (minutes)
Greater Tokyo 66.9 73.0
Greater Nagoya 59.0 72.6
Greater Osaka 61.2 75.2
Note: One-way commuting time.

Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Daitoshi kotsu
census (Major Cities Traffic Census), 2000
http://www.fpcj.jp/e/fandf/pdf/15.pdf

[TokyoLiz]

Nothing about me is average, Brooks

Like Ripslyme, extenuating circumstances caused me to hang on to my nice, cheap apartment in a semi-rural area east of Tokyo, where most of my friends are, and commute across Tokyo to a part time job where I had a light schedule. The school's annual schedule has a lot of interruptions, and I get long holidays. Hard to complain.

I've developed a few commuting 'buddies' along the way, a fellow teacher from the school who travels a little further on than I do, and local friends who I wait for after work in Tokyo and travel home with. The local Japanese friends have much longer hours than I do, despite my long commute.

Comparing schedules the other day with a friend at the pub, we discovered that he leaves home and gets back at roughly the same time I do, though his commuting time is half of mine.

There are good points for me. More than half of the ride, I get a seat. I've read a lot, studied for night school, and brushed up on my Japanese. I'm basically forced to sit and study, which is a discipline that I needed to develop. The commute is one heck of a discipline, I know...

I carry a company-paid teikiken and take advantage of what Tokyo has to offer on my way home - meeting friends, night school, events, parties, lectures, medical services and shopping.

I've found a new position, starting April, which is a one-hour commute into Tokyo. Perfect for me.

Flyer, I'm sure Hokkaido is great, and the opportunity to live close to work is a big draw. If I were to take a local job in my area, I'd probably see a very short commute, but I'd be far from night school and other things I want to do.

[flyer]

OK, cool, sounds like things are working out for you

[fat-elvis]

[Wintermute]