Living Abroad in Japan

by Ruthy Kanagy

Imagine yourself living in Japan. You head home past vendors selling ramen to a traditional wood house, open your sliding door, and take off your shoes before stepping onto your tatami mats. You know the locals and speak Japanese with ease. You show visiting friends around with the confidence of one who belongs. Author Ruth Kanagy shows you how to make your dream take shape. She left her life as a Japanese teacher in America to live in Japan. While some give up—daunted by the financial, bureaucratic, and decision-making issues that accompany a move so extraordinary—you'll be led step-by-step through the information you need on visas, money, jobs, housing, safety, language, culture, and history. Ruth has done the research and made the mistakes—so you don't have to. There's a place that matches your budget, needs, and dreams: perhaps it's an apartment in the urban mecca of Tokyo, a seaside abode in the Hokkaido prefecture, or a home in the slow paced and traditional island of Shikoku. You can make it happen. With Living Abroad in Japan, it's easier than you think.

Genres: Japan, Travel, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Ming Wei · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very detailed book about the fundamentals of life in Japan, very interesting, touches on subjects that I was not expecting, really enjoyed reading this book very much, this book could also be useful for people wanting to travel to Japan, well written, nice book structure, well presented. no editorial eroors, nice book cover.

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Until I started looking, I never realised the lack of (English) books about living in Japan. You can find a lot of travel guides, but face it, a vacation is vastly different from staying a few years. With a vacation, you're more worried about hotels and places of interest. With a medium-to-long-term stay, you're thinking about rentals and jobs. And think about it, while it's entertaining to read about people's stay in Japan, these autobiographical books hardly have the concrete information you need. One of these few general guides is Living Abroad in Japan by Ruth Kanagy.

Living Abroad in Japan is divided into three sections: Welcome To Japan (a short but more than adequete introduction to the country), Daily Life (which covers the move to Japan, housing, medical and financial considerations, etc. ) and Prime Living Locations (which is a more in-depth look at housing, giving details about rents and such).

What I like about the book is that it's informative and entertaining. Ruth Kanagy shares a bit about her life in Japan, interviews others who have lived there, and writes in a rather conversational tone (to see a two-sentence excerpt, I have a teaser here). She also doesn't gloss over the unpleasant side, and talks about the discrimination you may face, especially in housing.

I don't know about you, but I'm not expecting to go to Japan and be welcomed with open arms. While the fact that I'm Asian means I won't stand out as much as a Caucasian, I still don't expect to be treated like a native. After all, understanding the culture and respecting it is only natural, and I'm going to try the proverb "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" (Except for when it comes to my Faith. That is the only thing I won't compromise).

Needless to say, I think this book is very useful to read before you make the move. It helped me to consider issues like inkan, which is a personal seal needed for things like banking (after talking it over with my parents, I decided to make one there once I arrive), the mandatory health insurance (I completely didn't think of insurance), gaijin registration and many such other items. While it does have some reccomendations as to where to go (when talking about Prefectures), the emphasis is on adapting to living conditions there, and the resources mentioned (like the handbook each perfecture has) is useful.

Oh yes, further resources. The 39 pages of the book is dedicated solely to resources, online or print, incuding books (fiction and non-fiction) recommendations and films (not everything is about the data). Some of the books look interesting, and I think I'll try to look for them. But as for consulate information (and information in general), it's mostly about the American, British, Australian and Canadian consulates. Also, the currency conversions are to US Dollars, so... (But anyway, if you're going to live in Japan, you should start thinking in terms of yen instead of trying to convert everything to your home currency.)

Now, one Amazon.com review mentioned that the medicine section was grossly inaccurate. Basically, the book advises bring 6 months supply of personal medication. Now, this (second) edition is from 2008, so some information might be out-of-date - check with the Embassy of Japan in your country. But from what I could find, the Kouseikyoku (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) pdf document (again, I don't know when it was published so it might be out-dated) says that you can only bring in one month's supply of medicine for personal consumption and even so, no stimulants whatsoever. If you need more, you need to apply for a Yakkan Shoumei, which they call "a kind of import certificate".

So here, are some resources that I found on the internet that might be useful to you:

From the Kouseikyoku:
Q&A for those bring prescription medicines into Japan with them (PDF document) - Updated 30 Jan 2012
General Link for bring Medicines into Japan

From the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
Procedure Chart for Visas for Work or Long Term Stay
Guide to Living in Japan (PDF Document)

(First published at http://nihonjinjanai.blogspot.com/201...)

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am moving to Japan on March 27 to live and work there for 4 months, and I found this a useful book to begin my journey.

[Yami Bishop · Rating 3 out of 5]

very informative but needs to be updated .

[Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the author's overviews of the different areas to live in Japan, and descriptions of the things to do there, what the regions are known for, what the people are like, and something of what other Japanese think of people from there. I only wish more of Japan was given such treatment, but the author discusses the following locales: Tokyo, Hokkaido (where the author grew up and is very familiar with), the central mountains (viz., Gunma and Nagano), Kansai (Osaka, Kyoto), the Seto Inland Sea (Shikoku and Hiroshima), and Kyushu (Fukuoka).

The rest of the book is about the mundane realities of living in a country as a foreigner, and was also quite interesting. I will update my review if I ever avail myself of this information.

[Cress · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're unfamiliar with Japan and are moving to the country due to work, be it to teach English or any other occupation, I would say this book is an excellent resource. Most of the information it provided were things I was already familiar with in researching for my upcoming move or given to me by my hiring company. What's useful about the book is to have all that information in one place and particularly the plethora of resources it lists in the back. I know I'll be taking this book with me to Japan, so I guess that should be a decent enough testament.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who is only days away from moving to Japan, I found this book very helpful. It's written by a woman who grew up in Japan, and so has very helpful and explicit information about everyday life, from housing and transportation to local customs and very helpful insider tips. It's also full of up-to-date resources and a handy phrase guide with a native's guide to Japanese pronunciation.
I'm definitely bringing this book with me to Japan, it's going to be invaluable.

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, we're off to Japan for 15 months on June 30, and this book contains a lot of helpful information about setting up daily life. So far, so good.

[Cass Ulinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

read it in about 3 days, skipped over most of the 'where to live' middle section, as that's not my reality right now.