Job Discussion Forums

[radish]

Thank you to everyone who responded to my last post. I decided not to take the job.

Right now, I'm torn between teaching in Korea or Japan. Japan seems to be a far more stable and satisfying place to work, albeit more expensive.

Japan, however, has the six month quarantine rule for pets from North America. I have a cat I would like to bring with me and South Korea seems much more accommodating to the import of North American pets. My cat is up to date on her shots and healthy.

Has anyone brought pets from North America to Japan since the new six month quarantine policy has been in effect? Is there any way to shorten the quarantine, such as loopholing through a rabies-free area, such as Hawaii, which has a 5 day quarantine option?

This issue is one of the major ones that has me leaning toward Korea, so any advice/experience would be helpful.

Thank you.

[Glenski]

I thought the quarantine procedures were shorter for pets, especially cats and dogs.

Regardless, you should realize that most apartments do not allow people (foreigners or Japanese) to keep dogs or cats. This will make it very hard to get housing. Showing up in Japan with a job in hand and looking for an employer to provide housing for you and a pet is asking a little too much in some cases.

Coming withOUT a job but with a pet is even harder.

[Gypsy Rose Kim]

I have two cats. I got them in Korea. I will be taking them to Japan.

There's no loop-hole, but there is NO reason why, with planning, your cat should be put in quarantine for six months. I actually can't believe you'd fathom doing that. You do know it costs like $40 a DAY, don't you? On top of how stressful it'd be for kitty.

Instead, just skip all that quarantine stuff.

Okay, here's what you do. I'm in the last stage of this process, and will be bringing my cats to Japan next month. You have to follow these steps IN ORDER. It takes at least eight months from when you do the first step to when your animal can enter Japan.

1. Get your cat microchipped. Make sure it's the type that can be read by the Japanese quarantine department.

2. First rabies vaccine given. Make sure it's the right kind, as Japan specifies a certain type of vaccine. Don't ask me, I'm not a vet, but your vet will know. EVEN IF YOUR CAT HAS ALREADY BEEN VACCINATED, THOSE VACCINES DO NOT COUNT IF S/HE WASN'T MICROCHIPPED AT THE TIME.

3. Wait 30 days.

4. Second rabies vaccine.

5. Wait 30 days.

6. Bring cat back for a blood test. Serum test? I don't remember. Again, your vet will know. You'll get the results in a few days. Make sure you keep them in a safe place.

7. Wait SIX MONTHS.

8. Go see your vet, who will fill out the application so you can bring your cat to Japan.

9. Contact the port of entry and make an appointment with quarantine.

10. After receiving approval and confirmation of the appointment (which I already have), just bring the cats with you to Japan at that time. Quarantine will check them over, but it shouldn't take long. They say 12 hours, but the two people I know who've brought animals (one cat/dog & cat) were done in less than an hour.

My vets helped me a lot. Then again, I paid them a ton of money. Japanese quarantine has a website which has all of the instructions, procedures, and forms. You can print stuff out and go over it with your vet. Sorry, you'll have to google the website yourself, but it's easy to find.

It's expensive and you have to be organized, but it's quite possible to bring pets to Japan.

FWIW, my cats liked Korea and we had a MUCH bigger apartment in Seoul than in Tokyo. Tons of English teachers in Korea have cats, whereas it's less common in Japan. And, like Glenski said, it's hard to find a place to live with cats in Japan. In Seoul, it's no problem.

I'm bringing my cats to Japan, but I've lived in Tokyo before and have contacts and a guarantor for my apartment and stuff. You CAN do it if you're brand new, but it's hard.

Sorry for this long-@ss post. If you have any more questions, just ask!

[radish]

[Apsara]

You are looking at huge set-up costs, as even if you do find an apartment that will let you have a pet (a small percentage), the usual requirement is 4 times the month's rent as deposit instead of the usual 2 or even 1 month's deposit. Then in Tokyo at least you usually also have the 2 month's key money, 2 month's rent in advance, 1 month's agency fee etc.

It's possible to find places with no key money required but the deposit is harder to get out of.

[canuck]

For 99% of people coming to Japan, bringing a pet is a huge mistake.

For 100% of people coming to Japan, without a job, bringing a pet is a huge mistake.

[JimDunlop2]

Sheesh! I can't imagine doing what GRK suggested.

Here's my set of steps...

1) Sell/give away/eat your old cat in your home country.

2) Move to Japan

3) E-mail JimDunlop2 for a brand NEW cat -- (he will then proceed to steal a cat for you -- don't worry, the "owners" won't miss him one bit. I have a neighbour who's a crazy cat lady and keeps them by the dozen. They all $hit, fornicate and yowl all over my yard and otherwise take over the entire damn neighborhood anyway... And at least once a year I have to swerve around all the blind kittens left out in the middle of the road. Believe me -- they won't miss one if I take it).

4) Come to pick up cat at JimDunlop2's house -- or pay 1000 yen for shipping and I'll stick it in a box with some holes and send it by Kuro-neko shipping right to your door.

See, I just saved you 6 months of waiting and a LOT of hard-earned money!

[Mothy]

Sweet! I know where to get a cat in Japan now! Thanks Jim! Oh wait. I hate cats. Could you steal me a dog instead?

[Eva Pilot]

Just get a kabuto.

They are so much cooler and way less maintanance. Though perhaps not as much fun to put on a leash and take for a walk as you would a dog.

[JimDunlop2]

Hey, Mothy. I've looked into it -- there's a yappy little ba$tard mutt that lives nearby which might be just perfect for you, but the problem with stealing dogs from the neighbours is that they actually WOULD notice because it would involve either breaking into the house or trespassing into the yard to untie the dog.

Japanese people actually seem to care about the quantity and whereabouts of their dogs... But if you don't like cats, I totally understand. If you want, I could probably arrange a rooster and a couple of chickens though. (no joke).

Anyway, seeing that I'm already up to my yin-yang in neighborhood cats, maybe I can become the "crazy dog man" and start breeding them in my yard and letting them roam free... With a little bit of luck, maybe they'll organize themselves into a pack and the whole cat problem can be resolved naturally. The only thing I need to figure out then is how to get rid of a pack of wild dogs...

[partialtone]

If the cat is young enough you can ask the vet for the youth in asia special. It takes no time at all.

[Mothy]

Hey, a good egg laying hen could save me some money. They're kind of smelly critters though so I couldn't have any friends over with one of them living in my apartment. At least for once in my life it wouldn't be my own smell keeping human contact away.