Is that easy to live in Japan with their culture and society?

Hi,

I live in Hyogo, Nishinomiya, not far away from Himeji.
The cost of living is not high(compared to Osaka and Tokyo) here in Hyogo and
I live in 2DK(2rooms, a Dining and a kitchen) which
costs about RM2,100/month .

I believe the cost of living for two in Himeji
will be somewhere between RM7,000 to RM9,000.

For details, please see below :

Monthly bills (if the rate is RM 1.00 = 32 yen):
rent : RM2,100
internet(1Gbps) : RM150
food : RM 2,000
beer : RM 1,000
water: RM200  * water charges depend on the apartment(some provide this for free)
electricity : summer, winter:RM320, spring, fall:RM100
                    We do not have Chilled water charges(those are included in the Electricity bills).
gas : RM200
cellphone bills :  RM320

total : RM:6,290 (for 1)

for 2 : food *2, beer *2, water * 2, electricity * 2, gas * 2 and cellphone * 2,
total : RM 6,290 + RM 4,040 = RM 10,330

But there are ways to cut costs
(if you cook, you can easily cut RM 1,000, if you don't drink and party heavily like I do, you can cut another RM 1,000),
so I believe the number would be somewhere between RM 7,000 to RM 9,000.

This is not so expensive considering the fact that the fresh graduate usually earns about
RM 7,000 - RM 8,000 in JP.

I was working in KL until last year and was living in Mont Kiara area(Publika).
If your boyfriend is an expat and was sent to Malaysia by his employer in Japan, I assume
he has a good amount of income and will have no problem supporting the cost of living for two.

But please be aware,
the houses and apartments are quite small in Japan(compared to the huge ones in Malaysia).

I love Malaysia and truly miss my days in KL.
Selamat Datang ke Jepun, we welcome you here in JP.

Warmest Regards,
Kenny Tanigawa

Hi,

Thank you for your msg and all those information.
First of all, he's not sent by the company in Japan.
Let's say if he's earning only 150k¥.. So

So, it will not be able to support for two for sure even we don't really party. Drink maybe once a week or so.

If I go to live there, yes, mostly I'll cook.
And are you malaysian as your name seems like a Japanese.
Do you drive there or own a transport?
The cost you calculated which is around RM7k to RM9k for two.. For me is so way too expensive to live there if only one work.
Which means, he needs to earn at least 300k¥ to have just enough and at the same ttime and can't have savings..

Don't give up so easily lah...

I believe if he gets a job in Japan, he can earn above RM8,000 (this depends on how he built his career).
Fresh graduates in Japan usually earns around RM7,000 - RM8,000, and considering the fact that
more Japanese companies are looking for business opportunities in southeast asia, I assume MANY companies will
be offering him jobs with good salary.

The most important thing is, what is your boyfriend telling you about going to Japan?
If so, what is the approximate salary that he is planning to get from his future employer?
Many companies offer place to live so in that case, you can cut another RM2,100.

And as for me, saya orang jepun.
I was working in KL for 3 years(until last year) and my favorite food there was Nasi Lemak.
Do let me know if you have any other questions.

Caria Tan,

Hi! I think Tanigawa-san is right ... it may seemed like a "dense forest" in the beginning.
As always also to many, new things are out of our daily comfort zones and we tend to be sceptical or unsure of the outcome.

But?? when you settled down, things will fall in place ~ one by one, (it may not be a 1 month thing) but you'll see that the forest is actually not too scary in actual. In fact, it's very nice with "waterfalls" and "beautiful plants" inside it, maybe?!

As for your case, it can be good if you may try to get a feel of Japan first by coming with him on a tour visa. Spend some time together, discuss and scout for accommodation, food cost, etc.. Idea is to gauge the cost and decide on what is crucial, separating the "needs/necessity" and "wants" to both of you consensus for a start. Have a simple 'family' plan, then, try to execute it step by step.

In nature, things can never be 100% as to our wanting or expectations. Just got to work it out in some way, over in time and improve, that's all.

I had a similar experience in Kalamazoo, Michigan but I was alone. It took 6 months to actually settled down and I moved 3 times! Everyday is like, I'll convert the USD to Malaysian currency just to see how much I spent for the day! LOL!

Well, eventually, things changed when I finally got adapted to the people there, the culture, the surroundings. New friends and new activities, plays an important part too.

Wish you good luck on this and you're welcome to drop me a line if you want.

warmest regards,

Tanigawa-san!

Hi! Pleased to meet you here. Your information is helpful to me too, as I am only here for 4 months. Thank you.

In Malaysia, I live in Subang Jaya and I have a Japanese friend, Mizukami Risa in Solaris Dutamas! Do you know her? She is from Osaka, and she loves durian and Tioman so much! Did you get to try the DORIAN???!!!! Haha! Do you love it? Another 3 weeks it's season time again there in Malaysia ...

Well, you're just 80km away ... hope we could do some Asahi "Clear"?? .... or Vodka ~straight ....together!??

Glad to hear you've been to Malaysia! Pretty Cool!

Hi all,

First of all, thank you very much for the explanations.

First of all, my boyfriend is a japanese.  After he resigned from his previous company in Japan. He decided to come back to Malaysia to try if he can get a better job (of course also means better pay). Actually he just started to work from end of March 2015 under a Switzerland based shipping company as Sales Manager of Japanese Account and is earning quite good with company provided him a car to use, but is not his field and he wanted to quit and back to Japan to work for his dad as his dad own a small real estate company in Himeji. (Do your know how is it in Himeji?)

Now, he doesn't know how much his dad will pay him as he said he doesn't mind cuz want to earn some knowledge on how to do the business. He does have some knowledge or experience in real estate but according to his dad.. the market now in Japan is kinda slow down and his business too. My boyfriend is actually talking about if his dad is paying him like 150 000 jpy per month. I am sure with that money, if he needs to pay for car or transport and house, it is not possible to save even he is just alone... am i right?

Himeji is quite a small city and i don't think i could manage to get a job even in the convenience shop if i speak little japanese as what he told me nowadays because of the economic slow down, the shop will hire just 2-3 staffs to work and will not take more staff.

If he can at least get 250 000 jpy.. is already different story. Am i too realistic?

Hi Moonrabbit,

Thank you for the message and info.
Risa, is she working as a hairdresser? I think I met her once.
When I was there, I saw a lot of Japanese peeps living there...

Anyway, I love Malaysian food including Durian.
The best Nasi Lemak I had was at Village Park near One Utama.

If you are living in Kyoto, we can meet up at Osaka or around Takatsuki area
(I live near Kobe so Osaka would be in the middle, between Kobe and Kyoto).

I've been to Subang Jaya few times during my stay in Malaysia, I liked the place
(and there were a lot of Japanese as well).
But the place I loved in KL was Changkat Bukit Bintang. Nice crowd and bunch of beer.

We can have a drink, beer, vodka, wine, tequila, Jägermeister, anything is good for me.

Warmest Regards,

Hi Caria Tan,

I agree with what Moonrabbit says, but I also agree with what you say.

In my personal opinion, I think it's better for him to stick with the company he's working now.
Good pay and a car, it's not bad( if he's working for 20 hours a day, that would be a different story).
But if he really wants to come back to Japan, I think he needs to talk with you and his dad
(if his dad will really be his next employer).

My first recommendation is, talk with your boyfriend about how he is planning to live with you in Himeji.
I think your boyfriend knows how much money he will need to live in Himeji, and
he may already have a plan( ask him to share that with you ).
Also, do you know that many of the employees working for the real estate companies in JP work on
Sat. and Sun. as well? They usually have only a day off in 1 week(which is Wednesday) so you may want
to check that with your boyfriend. If he's working for 6 days a week, that means, he will have less time to spend
with you...

My second recommendation is, like Moonrabbit says, visit Japan with your boyfriend during
a break(e.g. Hari raya), and see for yourself, what it's like to live in Japan.
You can learn a lot of things(both good and bad) just by being there.

If you are planning to work in Japan, you can look for jobs to teach English, Chinese or Malay.
There are a lot of Eikaiwa schools(English conversation schools) in Japan and they are constantly
looking for someone who can speak English and other languages( you do not need to know Japanese to get hired ).
I think they will pay you more than JPY150,000 if you are hired as a full-time employee.

Do let me know if you have any other questions.

Warmest Regards,
Kenny Tanigawa