# New to Yokohama



## kikiboo

Hi!

My family & I will be moving to Yokohama in July. We hope to live around the Yokohama station area. I will be working so my husband will be taking care of my 2 year old son until he starts school. I am hoping some of you experienced Expats can help me make a smooth transition to Yokohama as I have a ton of questions...

1) we have unlocked phone- which is the best fall &internet package

2) what is the best app/ website to get train info?

3) where do you do grocery shopping?

4) do you know of any online grocery shopping?

5) what do I need to be aware of when looking for an apartment in Yokohama station area?

6) I am thinking of owning a car... what advice is there for purchasing? Tax/ insurance costs to be aware of?

7) Is there toddler group meet ups? 

8) What are MUST items to be adding to my shipping?

Thank you very much for taking your time to answer some/ all of these questions. If you feel I should be aware of other facts/ info... I’m a sponge to know!


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## myrrh

If you really have a job, your employer should be helping you find an apartment. There is no reason I can think of for somebody living in Yokohama to purchase a car--among other things, the main subway lines usually come every few minutes. Not knowing your future salary or your current budget, I have no idea what you should ship--note that everything is available here...for the right price. Finally, and regardless of where you live, there will be a bunch of grocery stories with roughly similar pricing within walking distance. Choose one.


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## Don_Lugo

1. AU
2. Hyperdia [dot] com
3. You'll figure it out, but there's a Costco in Yokohama too...
4. Local Farmers have door delivery services, your new Japanese co-workers, friends, and neighbors can easily help with that.
5. Answered above, but I think inventory is very low because of the 2020 Olympics upswing
6. A car is not needed, and is a great expense. Public transportation here is one of the best in the world, and very reliable.
7. Not so much as just loose parents meeting up for playdates, more like pre-kinder child care, and plenty of that available.
8. Clothes! Japanese sizes and styles are very different than other western countries. Stock up on underwear and garments. Everything else is relative.

Welcome to Japan


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## JamesInJapan

I agree with the above comments.

My own opinions:
1) Avoid any of the big-name carriers, like Docomo, Softbank, AU, etc. They are all crazy overpriced. There are tonnes of cheaper carriers popping up these days. DMM Mobile for instance is super cheap and the speed is great in big cities like Yokohama.

2) I have always used ekitan.com, but I just had a look at HyperDia as suggested by Don Lugo and it looks a lot better if you aren't used to Japanese yet.

3) I get my food delivered to my door by Coop. Cheap, always been great quality, and no need to go out.

4) See above.

5) I don't know Yokohama, at all. But I do know about renting apartments in Japan!
A lot of places expect you to pay 4-7 times the first month's rent up front (and it doesn't cover the first months!). These days a few places are waiving that nonsense and doing it western style, a small damage deposit and you are good to go. So be really careful about those "key fees" and "gift fees" and so on. It is highway robbery. What the hell kind of key costs 1000$.

6) I miss my car so much. I miss working on it. There simply is no reason to have one in a bigger town like Yokohama. If I rent a car every weekend the cost would be cheaper than the parking spot of my own car alone.
If you do decide to buy a car, you need to show that you have a place to park it. They don't just sell cars without the buyer showing a parking spot. If your building has parking, you will likely have to pay an additional 25,000 to 40,000 yen a month on top of rent for it. You can expect that range elsewhere for permanent covered parking.
Cars need regular maintenance checkups that cost upwards of 100,000 yen. If I remember, the first one is after 5 years, then every 3 years. Insurance is expensive also. There are virtually no cheap mechanics, any issue is going to cost you a lot to take care of compared to pretty much any western country. (I miss my oil change with 50 point checkup for 70$, or brake pad change for 90$, and so on.)

Regarding drivers license.
When I came here I brought an international drivers license version of my Canadian license. This helped a lot.
I was able to convert it to a Japanese license by doing a visual test and a really basic multiple choice test (it was like pictures, and I was allowed a translator, which is crazy cuz the street signs are all in Kanji lol, but I only use the navi anyways). 
The license was converted to a green type (like novice level, the stage before full license, which is blue, then you go 5 years without an accident or getting pulled over and it becomes gold). I am not sure what the restrictions are on the green one, like if you can have a kid in the car.

7) Stay-at-home dads are virtually non-existent in Japan. 10 years here now and I have never met anyone who as even heard of one. 
There ARE kids meetups, called mama-tomo, like groups of mom-friends. It might be tough for your husband to break into that dynamic. Who knows, maybe some groups would love it. The whole mama-tomo culture is enormous, these mothers whose kids were friends often stay friends their entire lives.
That said, there are lots of daycare centers. Soon your kid will be wearing the same color hat as 50 other kids!

8) I have a hard time with shoes. The length isn't the issue, my feet aren't so giant, but they are wider. People here seem to have really friggen narrow feet. I always buy a pair of shoes or 2 when I go back home. I'm 95 kilos, and I have no issues with underwear or pants, but the sizes I wear are often near the largest the stores have to offer, so anyone bigger might have trouble. Q-Tips! Oh my god the ones in Japan are such trash, people here don't even use them, they use bamboo sticks to do mimikaki.


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