Questions about living in Japan?

Question

Hi you guys! I'm going to work in Japan in two weeks and I have some questions:

1) How much money does a single person spend on food in a month?

2) Aproximately, how much money does it cost to travel by train five days a week for one month?

3) Is excesive touching or another kind of molesting behaviour towards women actually occur on trains? Or elsewhere?

4) How stressful is to work for someone not japanese but working for japanese people?

5) Where or how can I make friends outsite work? Japanese or foreign people, I don't mind.

Thank you!

Answer 1

1) Food depends on your needs. 70% of the foods are imported from outside Japan. I spend about 6000 yen per week, i eat only healthy foods, so I pay more. As a family of four we spend about 15,000 yen including my strict healthy foods.

2. Train costs depend on distance. My commute costs are covered by my company, but I just bought my 6 month commuter pass for 77,660 yen. I have a 50 minute train ride each way. I live in Tokyo.

3. It happens, but rarely, in 3 years I have not seen an inccident. More and more trains are offering women only cars during rush hours.

4. The learning curve can be stressfull. I speak, read and write Japanese. I have along story, that ends up with me becoming a a health conscious person. In my case I work for a very large international company. It took me about 1 month to learn how to work. 6 months to make mistakes and learn. After one year, I had many peaks and valleys of good and bad times. I learned that the nail that stick out gets hit, so conform, do as the Romans do while in Rome. The second biggest thing is preparing to move a tree, or nemawashi. In order for me to complete a task or make a change, I should consult my colleagues, team leaders and subordinates. Once the group has understanding then we can move forward. Despite any common sense and no brainer decision, if I follow that way of telling everyone (and waste time in doing so) I can complete my job with out extra stress. It takes time and mistakes to learn the unwritten rules of each working environment. I mention all of this in hopes that you may be hit with less stress. You will have an adjustment period with stress. I gurantee that. Every gaijin sings that song at least once.

5. Making friends is best through networking and introductions through people you work with. Just walking up to someone and starting a conversation can be startling to people here. There are great clubs like www.tokyogaijins.com that can act as a point to meet new people.

I can go on and on about working in Japan. In my case I am working in the corporate world. Feel free to send me email if you would like to ask for more information.

Answer 2

1. It depends on how much you eat and where you eat. Prices are consistent with those in the US or the West. Just don't eat at restaurants everyday. Even if you did, some restaurants are cheap.

2. It depends. The farther you travel by train, the more expensive it'll be.
http://www.japanrail.com/

3. It happens but it isn't that common. If it does, just move to another part of the train and ignore the person. Or say something loudly and point at him. The last thing the person wants is attention.

4. It can be pretty stressful. I am an American who has worked in Japan for over 2 and a half years. Obviously, the biggest problem is communication. The first manager I had wouldn't talk to me about anything. Not about work and not about the city I lived in. It was quite stressful for me since I was new in the city, I had a new job and she wouldn't help me. I didn't know anyone else. MOST will be at least somewhat helpful. Expect to be independent. Expect some communication problems. Be open. Ask questions. Be polite. You'll get by.

5. Also, be open and be polite. Starbucks is always a designated foreigner hangout in every Japanese city that I've traveled to. There are also at least one or two bars that are foreigner hangouts. Be open, be friendly, try to study Japanese and you'll make friends. It requires patience but you can do it.

Answer 3

1. Food: YOu can eat out at the cheapest places for about 400-500 yen a meal.
you can buy yakisoba or ramen and cook it at home for about 100 yen a meal or 200 yen with meat.
you can buy a brest of chicken for about 100 yen on special-specials occur frequently.
Fruit is expensive usually at least 100yen a piece. bananas are cheap.

Most companies, including Englisgh teaching companies pay for transport. If they don't you should buy a monthly pass. Of course the cost will depend on the distance but 10000 yen is my best estimate.

Some men grope women on trains. A small percentage (1-2%?) but they do it frequently. there were several thousand arrests last year as a result. Of course most goes unreported. Some train lines have woman only carriages to try to reduce the problem. It doesn't occur anywhere else really, because Japanese men use the extremely crowed conditions of peak hour trains to conceal their attacks.

Japanese people are usually easy to work with as long as they don't own the company. Owners are usually more worried about money then whether you live or die.

You will make lots of friends easily. don't worry.

Answer 4

1) This can vary greatly. If you cook all three meals, you could get by on as little as $300 a month. The other extreme is if you plan to eat all three meals out, in which case you should plan on spending at least $600 a month. Good thing about Japan, especially Tokyo, is the variety of dining and the lack of tipping. You can spend as little as $4 on lunch, and no tipping. Naturally, if you are accustomed to the finer things in life, then a wagyu (Japanese beef) dinner can easily set you back $200.
2) Depends on how far your commute is. Buy a commuter pass (your employer should supply this). For an average commute, I would guess about $100 a month.
3) It rarely does. But it's about numbers. You have millions of people commuting on trains into Tokyo everyday. There are bound to be a few bad apples. But you should stay alert, as you would stay alert for potential attackers in your country. If you are ever subject to unwanted touching, then scream, punch, kick, or use whatever you have as a weapon to inflict pain. Real men do not grope. These perverts are sissies who target only helpless women.
4) I guess this would depend on how good you are at getting along with others. If you have good people skills, then it's just a matter of getting used to the customs and Japanese-language environment. Non-Japanese who go home burned out are often those who come to Japan with a grand mission of "civilizing the Japanese." This approach obviously never works. But if you go there with an open mind and willingness to learn, Japanese will open up to you, and you should have much less stress at work.
5) Visit your local shiyakusho (city hall) or kuyakusho (ward office) and learn about the activities they sponsor. Or email me. I'll be your first friend in Japan. :)

Answer 5

1/ Depends if you eat out or cook for yourself. Eating out is usually a lot cheaper than in western countries, especially if you go for Japanese food. Supermarket shopping can be expensive, especially fresh fruit and veg.

2/ Depends how far you travel, but if your commute is around 1 hour, you'd be looking at 15000 yen per month. But as the guy above says, most companys will pay the expenses.

3/ It does occur occasionally on the really busy trains. But instances of it happening to foreign people are extremely rare. Don't worry. Also, most trains in Tokyo now have women only cars.

4/ It may take a lot of getting used to. Cutoms and practices are extremly different to western businesses. The biggest problem I encounter is my boss agreeing to one thing and then later going back on his word. This is normal practice in Japanese companys.

5/ I would recommend going to Japanese classes. Most places have free or almost free classes, check at the city office. You can meet lots of foreigners from various countries and Japanese people too.

I'd be interested to know where you are from and where in Japan you are going to be living. If its Tokyo/Kanagawa I can give you some more tips.

Answer 6

I can only help you a few.
1) It all depends on what you eat. If you eat American style food, it will be fairly expensive. You can hop into "meshi-ya" (diner) and have a good size meal for 8 bucks or so. Or - you can go to ramen shop and do the same for 5 bucks.

2) It will probably cost you NOTHING, as many work places pay for your train fare. Otherwise, it depends on how far you travel. You can buy a month long coupon and save a few. You should inquire once you get there.

3) Yes. The best thing you can do is, grab his hand, raise it above his head, and yell "CHI-KAN!" (means pervert). They rely on the fact young women say nothing. When you expose them, they'll quickly dissapear.

4) Japanese men usually do not have much hobby and they tend to go drinking after work. If this is your thing, then you can follow them to the bar.

Answer 7

Take 10k US

you will be Ballin!
trust me