Job Discussion Forums

[Dooly]

I found the recent thread about Osaka vs Tokyo to be quite interesting. I was wondering how people felt Nagoya measured up to the other two?

I've heard:

It doesn't have as interesting nightlife

It's cheaper

People are more racist towards foreigners


Also, I wonder if the subway there gets as crowded as it does in Tokyo?

[Brooks]

no, of course trains are more crowded than Tokyo.
I didn`t really care for Nagoya when I was there, but if you can get a decent job there...
People seem to like it`s location.

Not sure about racism, but I think quite a few people from Brazil live there.

[Dooly]

^ Well, I've also heard that its a better place to live than to visit!

As far as racism, I've just heard that there are more night clubs or housing agencies that don't want foreigners.

[Nagoyaguy]

Personally, I like Nagoya (hence my name). I've been in the area for several years.

As far as trains, it is just like any other big city. If you ride in rush hour, it's crowded. Not to the level of TOkyo, but then again few cities match that.

If you want information, the Nagoya International Center has lots, plus a website. A quick Google search will take you there.

One of the best things about being here is the location. You are less than an hour by train from Kyoto or Osaka, and less than 2 hours from Tokyo. If you are into sports, the mountains of Nagano or Gifu are also a short ride or drive away. I find that having a car here is a necessity, though. I live in the suburbs and it is very convenient for shopping and various trips. On the upside, it's easy to find cheap wheels.

Not sure about the nightclub situation. I'm an old married fart and don't go clubbing much anymore. You can check a website for a magazine called JapanZine (see Google above) and it has club listings for Nagoya as well as lots of other information.

In short, it's a fine place. Cost of living is less than Tokyo or Osaka, especially rent. I pay 74000 yen a month for a fairly new and spacious 2 bedroom (plus kitchen, living room, and dining room) apartment. It's 2 minutes from the nearest train station, and from there a 25 minute hop to downtown Nagoya.

[Mark]

Yeah, from what I've heard, Nagoya is a largely industrial city with little to recommend it other than it's convenient location inbetween Tokyo and Osaka.

I'm sure it has its plus side, but it's probably the least popular major Japanese city.

My Japanese friends from Nagoya say that people there are not very accepting of outsiders. That applies to Japanese as well as foreigners.

[Dooly]

Thanks for the information! Actually, Nagoya sounds pretty good for me, since I'm kind of cheap and don't go out much at night anyhow. And I like mountains.

I lived in Taegu, Korea for 2 years, and it sounds very similar to Nagoya - big industrial centre, very conservative people.

[Brooks]

if you like hiking, I hear that Gifu is a good place to it.
Nagoya is not so far away. There is also skiing there.

I do remembering reading that if a salaryman has to take a business trip, Nagoya is the least favorite destination.
But the reality is that the economy is doing pretty well.
Nagoya is a common place for a business trip.
It seems that there is more work than Osaka, and Nagoya is not as big or crowded as Tokyo.
Nagoya is almost as big as Osaka, in terms of population.


I have a question: if you ride an elevator in Tokyo, people stand on the left, but in Osaka, people stand on the right.
In Nagoya, what side do people stand on?

[Zzonkmiles]

Nagoya is pretty much a very large city in the middle of nowhere. It's the largest city between Osaka and Tokyo, but there are few nearby major cities near it. That's what makes Nagoya different from Tokyo and Osaka, in my opinion. Once you leave the Nagoya suburbs, you are in the countryside.

Tokyo and Osaka, however, are large metropolises. It's nothing but concrete between Kanagawa, Tokyo, Chiba, and Yokohama. Similarly, you won't find much greenspace between Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto. It's just suburb after suburb after suburb.

The city itself has about 2 million people and is the 4th largest city in Japan (after Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka), so there should obviously be plenty of things to do. As for immigrants, there are many Peruvians and Brazilians living there, many of whom work at the Toyota manufacturing plant (HQ are located there) or in other wage-based hard labor jobs. That's probably a major factor regarding the attitudes the Japanese people may have towards foreigners there.

I've been to Nagoya before. It's an hour away from Kyoto on the Shinkansen, and another two hours from Tokyo. It has a major seaport and is not too far away from the mountains, as other posters have mentioned. You probably won't find as many Western foreigners living there (compared to Kansai and Kanto), but you certainly won't be the only one living there either. The cost of living is much cheaper than Tokyo and Osaka (both were recently ranked as the world's 2nd and 4th most expensive cities to live in, respectively) too, so that might help you save some cash. I actually considered living in Nagoya and was not turned off by what I saw when I visited there. Maybe it's worth a try.

[Mark]

[Big John Stud]

Nagoya is the first and remains the only city in Japan that I really dislike! Nagoya might be large but it is really a bunch of small town with people with small town attitudes! The only night life is in Sakae and ghost towns probably have a more livilier nightlife.

[Nagoyaguy]

One factor may be jealousy. THe economy in Nagoya and Aichi prefecture is rocking and rolling. There are jobs a plenty, lots of new construction going on, and so on.

As someone else said, Toyota is here. Toyota City is about 20 minutes east of Nagoya by train. Basically, Toyota and it's subsidiary/partner companies (Denso, Aisin, etc) run the place. And they do it very well. Nagoya downtown is far less claustrophobic than other cities. Thanks to the Americans carpet bombing the place in 1945, the new city plan included wide streets and a park running the length of downtown.

I find people here to be cool at first, but once you get to know them they are very friendly. None of the outgoing attitude you find in Kansai, but also none of the false niceness.

The city itself is fairly non exciting, but it is very liveable. Whatever comforts of home you want are available, plus the closeness of nature is a big bonus.

[markle]

I have lived in Toyota city for almost a year now. The prospect of moving to Nagoya 45 mins away did come up but in the end we are happy to go into Nags when we need anything. I guess Nagoya has everything, just not the biggest or best of it that you might get in Tokyosaka.

Never run into any racism. Brazilian are everywhere.