Job Discussion Forums

gesundheit71 · Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 18 Location: New York, NY

Has anyone on here lived/worked in the Chiba area? Do you recommend it? Can you tell a bit about what it's like? Thanks!

Mike L. · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 519

Spent 3 years in Narashino. That's north eastern sort of Chiba between Funabashi and Makuhari. Quite built up and about 40 min from Tokyo.

It really depends where you are thinking of going. Southern Chiba is very rural.

Do you know what place you might be going?

gesundheit71 · Joined: 03 Mar 2004 Posts: 18 Location: New York, NY

No idea, just curious as I'm now applying to M.I.L., which is only in Chiba.

guest of Japan · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 1601 Location: Japan

M.I.L.s schools are located relatively near Narita airport. I don't work for them, but I've contemplated it. It seems as though they give their teachers very nice apartments. The hours are pretty standard as well as the pay. The company looks small enough to be comfortable, but large enough so that you don't go crazy.

The schools all appear to be located in small cities. A rice field will never be far away. You should count on a 45 minute trip to tokyo by train.

I live in Chiba and I rather like it, although I hate the rural town I'm in now. My next job will keep me in Chiba but in a more urban area. Chiba is not the cultural mecca of Japan. Toward Tokyo it is a bedroom community and as you go farther away you see a lot of rice fields. The ocean is never too far away although the mountains are. The climate is pretty comfortable.

I hope this info proves helpful.

TokyoLiz · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1548 Location: Tokyo, Japan

I live in Chiba City. The only thing that I find a drag about living here in Chiba is that work is an hour away. My school is on the other side of the Yamanote loop, so it takes me a little over an hour on the Sobu Line to get to work.

Some great things about Chiba are the cities - Narita has a beautiful temple complex, even if it is surrounded by somewhat tatty little food and trinket stalls. Chiba City boasts an awesome International Centre with lots of English publications, free Japanese lessons and a connection to real people in the community. There are lots of green places, rice paddies, little places to explore, onsens and coastline.

Have you seen this? It has a bit about the onsen in Sakura, on the way to Narita.

http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyo/recent/health_beauty.asp

Here's the Chiba website

www.kanko.chuo.chiba.jp