5 ms·
Tokyo! Pros: - Safe almost everywhere even at night and generally very clean - Infinite amount of things to do, you'll never finish exploring new restaurants
by rococode 5y ago
Tokyo!
Pros:
- Safe almost everywhere even at night and generally very clean
- Infinite amount of things to do, you'll never finish exploring new restaurants (with delicious food) and stores
- International events happen there: conferences, concerts, etc.
- Very walkable (including the metro), especially around city center
- Reasonable housing prices - high, but comparable to cities in the US
- Politeness is baked into society and unpleasant interactions with strangers are very rare
- Rest of the country is fairly accessible by train for a weekend trip, and there's plenty of beautiful nature if you get out of the city
Cons:
- Difficult language and few people speak any English
- Fairly closed society/culture, you'll always be an outsider (but there are plenty of expats)
- Toilets in restaurants often suck and public trash cans are rare
- Bureaucracy is quite bad and inaccessible if you aren't fluent in Japanese
- Work culture is bad, though being remote could make that a non-issue
Some runner ups:
- Lisbon (excellent weather, low prices)
- Copenhagen (super safe, great quality of life)
For me though, the top 3 criteria by far are 1) a lot to do, 2) very safe, and 3) don't need a car, and Tokyo is pretty much the only major city that meets those.
- VirusNewbie 5y ago>Reasonable housing prices - high, but comparable to cities in the US If you count number of bedrooms, but if you look at sq.footage isn't it much much higher than almost anywhere in the US?
- brailsafe 5y agoThe U.S is probably uniquely excessive when it comes to McMansions and overall bigness of everything. You don't get affordable giant places in either country though if you live in a dense urban centre.
- flakiness 5y agoCons: It's very humid in summer and very chilly on winter. The traffic is less than ideal if you are a car person (although this doesn't matter to you). Coming from Tokyo to Bay Area and having family here, I wouldn't miss it much. Only things I miss are friends and food, which are both from my cultural attachment. That's said, many youngstars from Tokyo go back after staying here for several years, probably because of the loneliness and the boredom. So your points well taken.
- biehl 5y agoCopenhagen is great. Barcelona was great too. Lisbon looks very nice too. I imagine it like a slighly smaller and less expensive Barcelona.
- siquick 5y agoI’ve lived in both. They’re not that similar - mostly because Spanish/Catalan and Portuguese cultures and personalities are pretty different. Both great cities and you’d probably have a great time living in both.
- Dracophoenix 5y agoYou're just the kind of person I've been looking? 1)How long have you been in Tokyo? 2)What part of Tokyo do you live and work in? 3) How easy/hard did you personally find establishing a relationship (in the non-romantic sense) with the locals? 4) (If you're an American) How do you handle you're taxes? 5) What were some of the more surprising things about Tokyo that aren't mentioned enough? 6) How easy is it to get out into the countryside? 7) Where does one find expats to hang out with who aren't coworkers?
- akg_67 5y agoA few relevant subreddit for your questions. Most questions have been asked and answered in these subreddits. /r/tokyo /r/movingtojapan /r/JapanFinance /r/japanlife (don't post unless you already in Japan, but good info on daily life in Japan from foreigner's perspective) /r/JapanTravel (if you want to be tourist only)
- truetraveller 5y ago>few people speak any English Is this true? I would think that at least 50% would be able to speak English. Perhaps even up to 80%. Anyone else with first-hand experience?
- mywaifuismeta 5y agoIt's true. 50% may know a few words, but probably less than 5% speak good enough English to have a regular conversation about something more complex than the weather. You can definitely live in Tokyo without knowing Japanese and do everything you need to do, but your options, socially and otherwise, are always going to be limited.
- akg_67 5y agoSecond the other reply. I have been in Japan for 4 years. I will say less than 1% may be able to communicate in English, less than 5% may be able to string together words in English to help you with some common stuff, less than 10% may utter some words in English. But same is true, in reverse, for western foreigners living in Japan. Very few are able to communicate in Japanese.
- killingtime74 5y agoIsn’t Kyoto the same but better?
- HanaShiratori 5y agoFor me both cities feel completely different. Tokio definitely is much more lively / action packed. Whereas Kyoto has a much slower vibe...
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- wingerlang 5y ago> 1) a lot to do, 2) very safe, and 3) don't need a car I think Bangkok matches this pretty well.
- lemerou 5y agoI really don't think Bangkok is very safe. It wasn't when I lived there a few years ago anyway. I'm not saying it's super dangerous but it's definitely not 'Tokyo safe'.
- wingerlang 5y agoCurious about your experience, are you female or in some way a "targeted" demographic (whatever that means)? I've lived here since 2014 and I can't really say I've ever felt scared, not even once. I feel more unsafe in Scandinavia where I am from.