Life in the inaka

[Frap]

im in a town of 4000 and after one year it's already boring imo

every day same people, same places, same experiences

there's nothing (or nobody) new to do in the immediate vicinity after a certain point

hoping to move to an urban area come august 2017

[acpc2203]

I don't even live in the inaka, Tottori is just depressing.

[ambrosse]

Was placed in a mountain valley town in south central Mie prefecture. 9500 people.

Pros:
-Super low cost of living
-Locals are friendly and helpful
-Small schools = better teaching and learning environment
-Chances to learn and use Japanese via immersion
-Beautiful nature
-Chances to do hiking in the mountains and boating/fishing/swimming down at the ocean
-Despite location, there is reasonable day trip access to Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, and Nagoya (within 3 hours train ride from my closest larger station taking cheap trains only)
-Tons of local festivals that aren't swarming with people like in the larger areas

Cons:
-Driving is required otherwise daily living is impossible
-Closest conbini = 10-15 minute drive
-Struggles if you don't know Japanese or can't understand the clusterfuck collective that is local dialect (and I'm talking Kansai-ben + Mie-ben + local village dialect =_= )
-Trains are useless as all stations are unmanned, and the trains always late and slow as hell
-Closest "city" for shopping + closest larger IC compatible station = 1.5 hour drive
-Lack of privacy


Love it here regardless!
The mountain valley is absolutely beautiful and I wouldn't trade this placement for any other.
It's a good location where getting to city areas is just a little bit of a drive away.

[Jiggit]

Pros: no other foreigners.
Cons: no women

[Wild Rover]

I do just fine, thanks for your concern.

Sure...


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[Wild Rover]

Pros: no other foreigners.
Cons: no women

Boom... Says it all


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[hypatia]

Was placed in a mountain valley town in south central Mie prefecture. 9500 people.

Pros:
-Super low cost of living
-Locals are friendly and helpful
-Small schools = better teaching and learning environment
-Chances to learn and use Japanese via immersion
-Beautiful nature
-Chances to do hiking in the mountains and boating/fishing/swimming down at the ocean
-Despite location, there is reasonable day trip access to Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, and Nagoya (within 3 hours train ride from my closest larger station taking cheap trains only)
-Tons of local festivals that aren't swarming with people like in the larger areas

Cons:
-Driving is required otherwise daily living is impossible
-Closest conbini = 10-15 minute drive
-Struggles if you don't know Japanese or can't understand the clusterfuck collective that is local dialect (and I'm talking Kansai-ben + Mie-ben + local village dialect =_= )
-Trains are useless as all stations are unmanned, and the trains always late and slow as hell
-Closest "city" for shopping + closest larger IC compatible station = 1.5 hour drive
-Lack of privacy


Love it here regardless!
The mountain valley is absolutely beautiful and I wouldn't trade this placement for any other.
It's a good location where getting to city areas is just a little bit of a drive away.

Yep. This about sums it up. I'm in a "city" of 25k in the mountains in Kansai, but this is still accurate (except I can get around my city at least on bike. For the most part)

[acpc2203]

Pros: no other foreigners.
Cons: no women

Since there are very few foreigners people always want to talk to me about random crap. Could be pro or con depending on your personality/tolerance for having the same conversation.

[patjs]

If you're way out there you have a much higher probability of locals wanting to buy you food and drink all the time. You never know when some guy is going to insist you drink with him or visit some establishments with him and pay for the entire thing.

In the cities you aren't that much of a novelty so the likelihood of this happening tends to decline. .

If you want privacy (like especially if you are single and may be seeing people) you might not like the inaka. Because you'll have no privacy. Everyone knows what you're up to. People see you in the one store in town.

[fryfry]

1st year JET, here. I was 30 last year when I applied, as well, so fancy that.

I was placed in southern Japan, in what I'd describe as a "big town". It's not quite inaka, but is close to it in some ways, with its nature spots and general air of boredom compared to that of a big city. It has plenty of karaoke, good eats and conveniences which make life easier, but if you wanna do anything else for 'fun' (or meet Japanese who are around or under your own age), you have to hop on a train or boat and look elsewhere.

I've made it sound pretty con so far, so here's the pros:
- The people are genuinely friendly, in that non-rushed, towny sort of way. There's even an unofficial international club you can join and contribute to with stuff like cheap cooking and calligraphy classes.
- The seafood eats are exceptional. Even better than the city from where I came, which I still insist (to everyone's annoyance) is the best food city in the U.S.
- For a larger town, the scenery and nature are breathtaking, and there're plenty of outdoor activities. Also it's in a prefecture densely populated with JETs, so there's no shortage of native English speakers badgering you for a night or day out.


Having 5 months of living here under my belt, I would say that if you're used to city life, don't trap yourself in an idealized view of how inaka life would be if you're placed there. After two months, I was already seeing the necessity of driving beyond my city's borders every once in a while, just to preserve sanity against the monotony of daily life. Being "off the beaten path" may sound nice, but if you're not ready and willing to fully embrace a lifestyle that's very different from the one you've enjoyed thus far in your adult life, you may be in for a rude awakening. Then again, if you are, it may be a real treat for you.


edit: ehhh, and I've just realized that my life doesn't have all that in common with inaka life. I'd still say to prepare yourself for a lifestyle change if you're coming from a big city, though.

[naginataonthebrain]

In southern Kyushu, in a town of 54,000 and shrinking...

Pros:
- Majority of my schools are small, which makes for a better teaching environment
- Randomly get free produce from my neighbors and coworkers
- People are very friendly
- Get to experience Japan in a way that most foreigners don't

Cons:
-Closest city to shop, watch movies, go out partying is about 1 hr 20 min drive
- Pain in the ass to travel to and from
- Most of the kids here haven't ever or don't plan to ever leave Kyushu so they don't see the point in learning English
- You will always run into one of your students or their parents outside of work.
- You need to have a car in order to go anywhere fun


Despite that, I'm enjoying my time here and plan to sign up for year 3.