# Living in Japan for a while - not looking for a job



## plorf

Hi

I am in a situation where I have enough money to comfortably support myself, a few projects of my own on which I can work from anywhere, and the desire to live in Japan for a while. I don't speak any Japanese, I don't mean to settle permanently and I don't know for how long I'd stay. My best guess is a few months to a year. I'd like to have a home base in Tokyo, but relocate elsewhere whenever it suits me. Now from all I know lots of apartments need minimum stays, and I don't know if there are good and not outrageously priced serviced apartments. 
I suppose there's a solution to most issues and ideas I have, so let me just ask:

If you were in my shoes, had a bit of money on the side, were in your early thirties, how would go about this whole thing? Where would you live, what would you do if you weren't working on your notebook, how would you create a life where you meet lots of interesting people, but have plenty of quiet time for yourself? 

Any ideas, experiences, comments welcome.


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## larabell

That's quite an open-ended question, given you haven't provided any clue as to your preferred lifestyle. Certainly if you're not employed you should be able to be as active as you would like and the rest of the time could easily be quiet time.

A few bits of your question can be answered. First, serviced apartments do exist here and there is generally no minimum stay and no up-front key money. Check out Metropolis Magazine -- an English-language magazine distributed widely in Tokyo and sponsored entirely by advertising. They have a website and you'll find a number of ads related to housing. Of those, Sakura House has a building in my neighborhood and I've met some of the folks staying there. It seems like an OK place for short-term singles -- possibly not as viable for someone with a family. There are plenty of other choices... some with a hefty price tag but the ones that cater to short-term English teachers and other young folk are reasonable.

As for a visa, if you're not working you can, in theory, enter Japan for 3 months at a time and just leave and come back each time. The Immigration folks are getting a bit more strict but, as far as I know, there's no law against coming as a tourist multiple times. Japan has treaties with some countries that allow for someone to come over on a "working holiday" visa for up to a year. Your profile says Switzerland so you probably don't qualify for that. But if you're well-off enough to support yourself without working for a year, why not sign up for some kind of study course (like Ikebana) and come over on a cultural visa? You'd also get some first-hand experience in Japanese culture.


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## Patch66

as mentioned, 3 month in short trip abroad over to Taiwan or Soul, or catch some Sun in Guam or Saipan, job done.


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## plorf

Sounds great, so staying there for up to a year should pose no problems whatsoever? Getting a Visa renewal sounds unproblematic, finding furnished apartments easy... are there really no challenges to my plan?


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## Patch66

*trip*

challenges ?. personally I think you should come in as a tourist, dont give any hint of working, self employed or otherwise, you have the funds to support yourself so go with the 3 months in , short trip out, perhaps mix it up in terms of your exit points, ie taiwan, soul, guam, saipan, hong kong etc ..., and remember to buy return tickets at all times. as long as you can show means to support yourself and have details on where your staying should be fine. oh and can you cope with earthquakes, we had one this afternoon. enjoy....


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## Patch66

and you can stay 6 months too. again note the piece around remuneration, hence why i said come in as a tourist with no hint that you will be working. 

Any foreign visitor who wishes to enter Japan must have a passport, which will remain valid during the period of stay. 

Nationals of many countries are eligible to enter Japan without a visa unless the purpose of the visit is to reside in Japan, to obtain employment or to otherwise engage in remunerative activities. 

The following is a list of nationals of countries that have "Reciprocal Visa Exemption Arrangements" with Japan: 


For a period of 6 months or less
Austria, Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Switzerland and United Kingdom (UK citizens only)


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## MovingOUTofFrance

Im in the same situation ...dont need to work and have been travelling around the world...experiencing different cultures. I thought about japan as well but dont really know if i would like it. From what i know life in japan is stressful, people work a lot, and arent very happy..tokyo seems overbuilt, chaotic and unwelcoming. The country is not so beautiful either except just a lot of buildings in the cities....i think i would prefer to go somewhere less "developed" ...maybe like malaysia, vietnam ...or even china.


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## larabell

MovingOUTofFrance said:


> From what i know life in japan is stressful, people work a lot ...


Many, but certainly not all, salaried employees put in long hours. Whether that equates to working a lot depends on the person. But since you said you don't have to work and would just be visiting, I don't understand how that would affect your experience here.



> , and arent very happy


I dunno... that doesn't seem to apply to most of the Japanese I know. Maybe all those unhappy people are hiding somewhere.



> ..tokyo seems overbuilt, chaotic and unwelcoming.


I'm not sure where you're getting that from. Certainly "overbuilt" could be applied to the big cities but that's true of any big city. Check out New York sometime.

As for chaotic... I find Tokyo to be quite the opposite. There's an order here that, once you get to know it, can be comfortably reliable. It could seem chaotic when you first arrive but I'd attribute that to simply being in a different culture and not knowing your way around. For those who insist that their own way of doing things is the only right way, that chaotic feeling isn't likely to subside but, then again, that sort of person is likely to find any culture other than their own to be chaotic.



> The country is not so beautiful either except just a lot of buildings in the cities....


You're kidding, right? Big cities are pretty much all made up of a lot of buildings. If you want beautiful countryside scenery you have to get outside of the cities. It's that way all over the world. Japan has it's share of smaller towns and countryside.
You don't have to spend all your time living in the inner city (though I would argue that there are plenty of beautiful places in Tokyo, too -- but I'm basically a city person and maybe you're not).

Of course, the choice of where to go is entirely up to you and there may well be some place other than Japan that holds appeals more to you personally. But the excuses you give to avoid considering Japan as a destination don't make sense. Especially coming from someone who apparently has never stepped foot in the country.


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## lorgnette

If you were in my shoes, had a bit of money on the side, were in your early thirties, how would go about this whole thing?

I would find a relatively large city where fast speed wifi is available easily for me to travel and work on my notebook without worrying about wired Internet connections.


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## mowthe

Hello!

I live in Isumi, Chiba, the countryside - it's beautiful!

It really is beautiful and there's a train called the wakashio which is Keio line from tokyo station which takes only 1 hour from a station called Kazusa-ichinomiya.

considering the location (isumi) and that many people who pay 100,000's of yen each month to live in concrete sprawl and further, take 1 hour to commute to work within Tokyo every morning - I would say Isumi, Chiba wins hands down!! - peace of the countryside and the fun of the ocean with Tokyo at your fingertips!

When I go to Tokyo for partying, I either stay in a 1 night apartment in Hiro for about 6,000 yen, that way I can get up to all the mischief I want, or I stay up all night - which is easily done - though you have to set alarms for the journey home otherwise it can take a little longer if you sleep through your stop!

I have a pizza place down here now called Hofmans Pizza so I sell pizza's & burgers to happy faces these days rather than sit staring at a computer all day in a bank or such - which gives nothing back!

Happy Days !


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