Places to work remotely in Japan
 

Like many others here, I also plan to work remotely from Japan for a year! And I'm planning to do homestay as much as possible, so that I can experience the family life there.

Since I'll be doing remote work, I'd be on my laptop most of the time during the day. But if I just do my work at home Mon-Fri, I worry that the host family will find that too weird. So it might be better for me to go outside to do work every now and then. But I'm not sure where I might be able to stay for such a long time during the day. Cheap places would be good. Library? Cafe? Manga cafe? Any suggestions?

I also plan to get a SMS+data sim from iijmio and do the monthly plans. Anything I should watch out for? Is it with getting a voice sim card? I'm thinking VoIP would be sufficient most of the cases, and I also have Skype calling.

Where can I go to meet people (Japanese or non-Japanese)? I'm not really a bar person.

Thanks! Hope to see you all there!

It all depends on where you will be staying in Japan. You will find most homes have internet, and this will usually include anyone who is hosting visitors from overseas.

On the other hand, free public wifi is not as common as it is in America or Europe. You will find places where you can pay as you go for internet service in some shops and businesses, and most metro regions have a Starbucks or similar places. Japan is roughly where America was 15 years ago when it comes to public wifi.

Libraries and public buildings usually have internet and wifi, but not parks or open areas.

You can get a smart phone with a sim card and monthly internet service, but you are generally limited to about 7 gb of use. Fine for general browsing, email, and working with text, but not enough if you view a lot of video and such.

Cost of living is very cheap in the countryside, and very expensive in the metro areas. A bottle of cola will cost 88 yen at a countryside grocery store, it will cost 129 yen here in Roppongi.

If you want to meet people, you can volunteer at the local schools or city office, there are many things you can do.

Enjoy your stay. I have been here for 8 years now, and still enjoy it very much.

Thanks for the reply!

Would I look awkward if I go work at those public places, like the libraries, and cafes? Or is it commonly done enough? I mean, I'd likely be there 8 hours a day, and a few days in a week.

I hope to avoid places that are too crowded, but not too rural either. So I don't plan to stay in big cities like Tokyo and Osaka for too long. I read that those places have coworking spaces, and internet cafes. Those might be more scarce in places that I'd like to go to. So I was thinking of public places that are more readily available in less modern/busy cities.

Ah, volunteering is a good idea!

Don't worry about spending too much time in these places. You will often see someone buy cup of ice water at a McDonald's, and then have a seat in the restaurant for the entire day. Libraries are full of people who are happy to spend the all day there. And in a place where men can be seen walking down sidewalks in women's bathing suits with stiletto heals, I wouldn't worry about looking awkward.

Net or or comic cafes rent space by the hour, or by the day. Travelers on a budget will often spend the night as they are cheaper than a hotel. The smaller cities may not have such places, but then again the cost for a hotel room is cheap enough that people would rather pay for a bed than an office chair.

Have you considered about the time difference between Japan and your business region ?