Like the title said, I might be moving to Japan in the next 3-4 months due to work and I'd like to hear from other foreigners that moved and are now living there or used to live there what I should expect.
A bit of context: I'm 31, turning 32 this year, and I work for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of my country. There was a recent change in our diplomatic personnel in several embassies around the world, one of them being Tokyo, Japan. The soon to be new head of the embassy needs an administrative assistant to go with him, and I am one of the candidates. The job will be mostly assisting the ambassador with his day to day duties and helping any of our compatriots in Japan that need our assistance. Official work hours would be 9:00 – 17:00, but one must be ready to be called in case of an emergency at all times, and the pay is USD 3,000 a month (which I believe is about JPY 470,000 right now, give or take), with including benefits of a basic health insurance (no mayor surgeries, no dental). My Japanese is at a A1 (the most basic/beginner level, and that’s being charitable) and my English is at a bilingual level (my native tongue is Spanish). I would most likely be there for at least 2 years, since that’s usually the minimum new representatives usually stay when they are deployed to a new embassy (unless they are called back to internal politics at the ministry) So, with all that in mind, if I get the job offer and decide to take it, I have the following questions that I would like to hear from anyone who might have experienced this first hand please:
- Is that monthly salary enough to live without having to constantly micro manage all of my finances and worry that buying anything that isn’t an absolute necessity is going to risk putting a strain on me for the month? I’m not looking to be constantly buying stuff online or going out every weekend, but I would like to make the most of my time there by being able to visit other places in the country when I have the time and buy stuff related to my hobbies, mainly exercise, reading and drawing.
- Follow up to that question, what should I expect and look for in terms of apartment. I currently live in an apartment that has a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living/dining room for a price that is not cheap here but very cheap when compared to pretty much any 1st world country. I already know that I’m not getting the same kind of apartment in Japan in terms of size for that money I’m paying here, but I would like to live in a place with its own bathroom and kitchen, even if they are small. Is it possible to find something like that for, at most, JPY 100,000 a month (not including amenities like water, electricity, and internet)
- How hard is the process of settling in and going about my day to day life going to be with my current low-basic level of japanese and high level english? I am intending to improve as much as possible before I leave, and continue to study and practice when I’m there (side note: if anyone has any local institutions and/study material that they highly recommend due to their effectiveness I am more than happy to hear about them) but I doubt I’ll get to even B1 level before I arrive. I know some basic phrases, mainly for introductions and directions, but I can only barely read hiragana/katakana, I know like maybe 5 kanji, and I’m probably not having any casual conversations with the locals beyond “Excuse me, which way to the train station?”. My English is much better, obviously, so how much will that help me on a day to day basis?
- How expensive is it to maintain a healthy lifestyle? I like to stay active by going to the gym 5 days a week and going on walks every day, and I try to eat healthy mostly by making most of my meals at home with a lot of chicken, vegetables, pasta, fruits, eggs, and fish. If I wanted to maintain this sort of lifestyle, will that be expensive in Japan? How much of my budget should I expect to spend on just that?
Those are the main questions I have, but I welcome any advice and information you might have that you think is relevant and important for me to know.
Thank you in advance for all your help.
by Subject_Tutor