13 Years in Tokyo, 2 Years in Nagoya, and the Real Truth About 'Livability' After Returning to Osaka ①
Living in the countryside as a new graduate is a good experience now
In my first blog post, I mentioned that after graduating from graduate school in Osaka, I lived in the countryside of the Kansai region for six years. Since I thought I would always work in factories, I assumed I would spend my life in places with plenty of nature.
It is true that I also had that longing, which everyone has at least once, to live in Tokyo. I was at that age, but because it was the countryside, there were no opportunities to meet people. The people I met were either part-time housewives or girls who had come with their boyfriends as temporary staff. I was at that age, after all... And among my four colleagues, three had girlfriends... ↓See the first post below
In the latter half, I got used to life, spent my time snowboarding, and went out by joining communities on Mixi, which was very popular at the time. I also met my current wife around that time.
Back then, it was a series of 'what if this happens,' and thinking about it now, it's a time I'd like to experience again, haha. Well, I spent my 20s living in the countryside like that, but a turning point came when I was two months away from turning 30.
#TransferredEmployee #RealEstate #AllMighty #TokyoVSOsaka #40s
Sudden factory closure announcement and the unexpected move to Tokyo
I will never forget that on the Monday after I took a paid holiday on Saturday, the department head put up a notice, which had never happened before, saying that there would be a morning assembly in the cafeteria.
I will never forget that.
We heard that as the company expanded overseas, our factory would also close in March 2010. The local part-time workers were disappointed and slumped their shoulders. For me, it was the news that my first transfer would happen in six months.
Well, there were four of us in the same cohort, but the one I was closest to had already passed the first-class architect exam and resigned.
The remaining two also left for their new lives within January.
For some reason, I ended up seeing things through until everything was completely empty, and on March 1st, I was called in and received the official notice that had been delayed.
'You are ordered to work in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, for the launch of a new business.'
For someone like me who was hired as a technician, it was a surprise, but as I said at the beginning, I didn't have that much attachment to the department, and the expectation of being able to work in the city outweighed the pain of being taken off technical work. I proposed to my wife, told her I wanted her to come to Tokyo, and headed there.
I underestimated the Tokyo metropolitan area
The rent was indeed high
When I first looked for a house, I was used to the countryside standard of 48,000 yen for a studio apartment with a parking space, so I panicked because it was expensive. I didn't rent in Tokyo, but in Fujimino, about 20 minutes away by train, and started my Kanto life.
Fujimino had a new station, so the roads were wide and it was easy to live in.
But it cost about 100,000 yen for a 2LDK. Thinking about it now that I'm back in Osaka, that was expensive.
There are surprisingly many slopes
Also, the workplace was in a place like the bottom of a valley carved by a river, and unlike Osaka, there were many slopes, which was quite tough. I realized that the Kanto Plain isn't just spread out flat, but has quite a lot of ups and downs within it. Osaka certainly has the Uemachi Plateau, but that's only in one part, and the rest is flat, so in that respect, I don't think all of Saitama is like that, but I think I might have made a mistake.
I was greatly swayed by the existence of renewal fees
In the metropolitan area, against the backdrop of the post-war housing shortage, most places charge a renewal fee of 1 to 2 months' rent every two years. The reason is that in the old days in Tokyo, there was a huge influx of population and a shortage of rental properties. The power dynamic of 'I am doing you a favor by renting to you' was strong, which was the cause.
In the Kansai region, Kyoto also has a huge shortage of rental properties due to the massive influx of students, so the renewal fee culture exists. Nowadays, it seems that many other areas, mainly for new construction, also charge it. It is important to check every detail without fail.
I also hated renewal fees, so in my fourth year, I moved from Fujimino City, which was close to my workplace, to Wako City. I cut the rent a little to 90,000 yen (minus 10,000 yen), but in exchange, I had to settle for moving from a 2LDK to a 1LDK.
Instead, I chose a new building. However, three months after I moved to Wako City, I was transferred to Nagoya. From the real estate agent's point of view, it was a huge nuisance. Some places charge early cancellation fees, but they didn't, so I was relieved, but I felt a bit sorry.
Ikebukuro is a big city, but I found it inconvenient
Personally, it was painful that it took another 20 minutes from Ikebukuro to catch the Shinkansen when returning to Osaka. Also, my wife was from Kumamoto, so we often went to Haneda, but it was far from Ikebukuro to Haneda... I think it would have been better to live in Wako City instead of going all the way to suburban Fujimino, even if I had to endure it a little.
Tokyo is vast, the transportation network is fragile, and the Shuto Expressway Route 5 is always congested and unusable, so in the end, the train is faster, but it's a crowded train. It's a town full of wounds, but because of the concentration of everything in the capital, people keep flowing in. Prices go up. If I had lived there for a long time, I would have endured it, but after living in Nagoya and Osaka, I often thought it was inconvenient. My wife was happy with the size of the Tobu Department Store, though, haha.
Saitama has good cost performance. Don't be obsessed with the city center.
Also, once you have a family, you inevitably look at things from the perspective of visiting your parents' home, so I started to feel that the location of the Shinkansen and airports is important. That's why, even though it was called 'Dasaitama' (uncool Saitama), Urawa and Omiya are places where you can go to Tokyo without changing trains, and you can go to Haneda with one transfer at Shinagawa, so compared to central Tokyo, it still has the best cost performance, so I'm convinced it ranked as a livable city. The 'Fly Me to Saitama' effect is terrifying.
No matter how many checkpoints there are on the Arakawa River, haha. Being able to go to Tokyo Station without changing trains is huge... Also, I have the image that Lake Town and many large stores have opened, like the LaLaport that was built right after I left Fujimino, so if I were to live in Kanto again, I think I would live in Saitama.
The secret to livability is the first train
I often see tweets saying, 'I'm about to be crushed in the rush every morning.'
In my Fujimino days, I was surprised that I couldn't get a seat on the express train even in the 5 o'clock hour. (Everyone commutes from too far away...) After two and a half years of living in Nagoya, when I returned to Tokyo, I lived in Wako City. It was helpful because I could sit and go to Yurakucho, Shibuya, Shinjuku (and I could even go to Yokohama by then). That's why I don't remember my commute being that hard.
Also, I think Minami-Urawa, where many first trains for the Musashino Line and Keihin-Tohoku Line depart, is quite attractive. I used it quite often when going to Chiba or Tachikawa.
The metropolitan area is vast, so the commute time inevitably becomes long = live at a station with a train depot where you can get a seat. I think this is the most important thing for me.
In Kansai, the travel time is short and it's not that crowded, so I don't think the status of having a first train is that high. People who are thinking about living in the metropolitan area from now on might want to remember the destinations of the timetables for each line and the locations of the train depots.
This time, unlike before, I have summarized the pros and cons of the metropolitan area based on my actual experience. Next time, I would like to talk about Nagoya as well.
If you found this article relatable or helpful, please give it a like❤️ and follow me; it would be a great encouragement. Also, please feel free to share your own experiences, such as places you found convenient, or opinions from others who have lived in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya!