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Well, Japan is an ancient and justifiably proud civilization which went from isolation to top of the heap in terms of world power in just a couple of generations. They have the scars to prove it. The entire country is about the size of California. The population is about 1/2 the US total, and they're mostly squeezed into the 15% of the country that isn't on the side of a mountain. The cities are large, crowded, dirty. They are also quite dynamic and have excellent public transportation systems. Japan is a major player on the world economic scene, so they have more than their share of air & water pollution.
Asian values are a bit remote from Bible-belt Christianity, and they've never heard of the Golden Rule. There is great pressure to conform to the current social norm. The language reflects this and, although daily conversational Japanese is not as difficult as many people think, becoming a fluent speaker with an ear for the subtle nuance of social and corporate niceties is nearly impossible.

Tokyo and Osaka have probably the largest non-Japanese populations and both rank among the world's largest cities. If you like cities, Tokyo can be very exciting. It's cosmopolitan, has plenty of museums, galleries, nightlife - everything people go to cities to find. I've never lived in Tokyo and prefer not to visit - imagine New York's character cloned onto LA's sprawl or Paris on steroids. It's massive and goes forever. Public transportation is good, so getting around is not a huge problem as long as you leave yourself enough time. Tokyo is VERY expensive and affordable housing hard to find. Check out Time Out magazine for more info:
http://www.timeout.com/travel/tokyo

I've lived most of the past 20 years in Osaka. It's big, noisy, dirty and, like Tokyo, has its share of all of the above. Osaka is to Tokyo as Chicago is to New York. The weather here is similar to Washington, DC, but the atmosphere is more like Baltimore, MD. It's an industrial town, so air & water quality are not the best. That said, there are very nice suburbs within commuting distance. There is work for teachers of English and other languages but the boom is over. You can expect about $2100 a month for 35~40 hours a week (not including commuting and prep time) at the major language schools. You can figure 1 to 1.5 hours is a "reasonable" one-way commute here. Your salary doesn't go very far, but lots of folks figure out ways to make it work. Most of us have a couple of private students or more than 1 job or ... For more info on the Osaka/Kyoto area, try: http://www.kansaiscene.com/current/html/home.shtml

If you don't like cities, the Japanese government has a program called JET which recruits young college graduates to come over and teach at public schools all over the country. Your experience will depend a lot on your willingness to keep an open mind, your ability to live in some fairly isolated circumstances, your sense of humor and your willingness to do things in a new and different way. If living on a mountain in the middle of nowhere with almost no one to talk to is your idea of an interesting work experience, give it a try. For info on the JET program, try:
http://www.jetprogramme.org/

I know a lot of this sounds negative, and I don't really mean it that way ... completely. I have, after all, been here more than 20 years. It's a country that works, after its own fashion, but in ways that seem incredibly mysterious to me at times. I'm married to a Japanese woman and my kids go to Japanese public schools. I teach at several private schools, have Japanese friends, love Japanese culture (temple gardens & architecture, haiku poetry) etc etc etc, but I am also reminded on a daily basis that Osaka people can be extraordinarily rude: line-jumping is a way of life here; people use their cell phones absolutey everywhere (including places where it is specifically forbidden); they smoke whenever and wherever they like (including places where it is specifically forbidden) ...

It's a fascinating place and I have no intention of leaving. This is my home. But I would be lying if I said it did not sometimes require a massive effort of will not to freak out on the morning commute. I have a nice condo in the hills and it's a wonderful retreat from the actual city - I can't wait to get back after a 12-hour day. I do have time once in a while to visit some of the really incredible gardens or go to a hot spring. There are worse places and conditions in which to live, but Japan is not for the faint-hearted.

Google "Japan" for lots of info from Lonely Planet, CIA World Factbook, Wikipedia, Yahoo Travel, etc. and by all mean come over and give it a shot ... just walk in with your eyes and heart open.

2007-03-21 22:20:04 · answer #1 · answered by peter_lobell 5 · 0 0

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2016-11-26 22:38:53 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

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2007-03-19 18:24:09 · answer #3 · answered by C-Ray 3 · 0 0

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