Job Discussion Forums

[jar]

Anyone ever been there? It's in Kanagawa, pretty close to Yokohama. Just wondering what it would be like to live there, if there are parks nearby, how built up it is etc. It's probably just another nondescript dot on the map but any info appreciated. Thanks.

[eihpos]

Hi,

I lived near there when I was going Westgate for a while. It's a bit grim, not much to do there to be honest. It's not the worst though. There were a couple of good ramen and udon paces. There were some bars and izakayas. It's pretty convenient to alot of places, especially Yokohama and Kamakura - I can't remember but think it was less than 30 mins on express or semi express train. I don't think there was a big supermarket there but I used to go to one under the station which was satisfactory enough!

[jar]

Thanks very much! This is exactly the kind of stuff I was looking for. Anyone else? Also, if you live deep in the suburbs and want to go out in Tokyo/Yokohama at night there's obviously no way to get home - so what time do the first trains start up, about 5am? I'd be assuming nightlife in Yamato would be non existent.

[TTTT]

I never stopped at Yamato to do anything but transfer train lines, but you'd be 5 minutes from Machida which is a cool urban hub. You'd also be close to futamatagawa, which is where you need to go to take care of all your driving license needs.

[jmatt]

I lived in Tsuruma, in Yamato-shi, one stop from Yamato stn. on the Odakyu-Enoshima line for about 6 months in 1998 and it fucking sucked. Boring as hell, and since the bases are nearby, people seemed none too friendly if you happened to be a short-haired white guy, understandably so, I'd guess.

Though, there was a little bar a few minutes walk from my place that was run by a grizzled, old, bearded Japanese guy who had thousands of excellent records in the place---apparently in the 70's and 80's it had been frequented by black GI's, the women who loved them, and had been a raucous spot. But by the mid-90's with most of the servicemen basically heading to Roppongi or staying at the shitty "clubs" at the bases in Zama or Atsugi, his business had dried up and he was only left with stories from the past. Certainly gone now, but undoubtedly nothing more interesting has taken it's place.

Luckily though, do yourself a favor---Machida is close by in one direction, and Fujisawa isn't too far off in the other----both are far, far preferable to living or carousing in Yamato.

[mitsui]

Lots of yakuza.

People live there since you can take Odakyu to Shinjuku and Sotetsu to Yokohama.