No one I knew had weekends off. One day seems the norm.

I'm not saying that all houses and such will be small, i'm just comparing in general that most of the houses i believe and read are quite smaller than what a middle to low class family or individual would purchase to own if that makes sense, if not then just neglect i've ever mentioned it.

I understand that the cost of living is quite a bit higher if I were to stay to live and work in tokyo than say somewhere like Chiba? just making random example lol.

well, I don't think the career that i'm going for will make me work 6 days a week at least without overtime/compensation but if thats the case, i won't be living in japan or will most likely try to find a job with a different company if i still end up wanting to live there.

what do you do? er work at

I've been to Japan a couple of times and the country and lifestyle has it's pro's and con's. Life I imagine will be extremely difficult if you live there I'm sure, especially if your striking out on the world by yourself for the first time. So I agree with MMM. You sort of need to "sample" the country first before you want to live there. If you just go there without knowing what to really expect then.....your screwed to be blunt haha.

I plan to visit the country again, hopefully for a longer stay. After I graduate from college in 1 1/2 years I'll be able to get a legal job there. Course that job for me is teaching English. Since I have been there before I know what living can be like there. The only thing I'm working on now is the financial plan and how much everything costs given different variables.

The pro's for me is that I'm in a foreign country facing the challenges and hardships. I guess it might be a con haha but it develops character in my opinion haha. That and it's a whole new culture and experince and I think it's exciting. The con's would be that I will miss being in America as well as family. Also, they have no tex-mex in Japan I believe...sigh.

Being from the UK, we're used to high prices and generally being a bit more boxed in so myself and other Brits I know generally feel that life in Japan compares well. The lack of opportunities for work other than English teaching seems to wear people down though.

It's true that apartments are smaller (and draftier) but you can afford, on a teacher's salary, to socialise in izakaya, restaurants and karaoke in a way that's unthinkable in the UK unless you're a top 10 earner. A nice place to live just doesn't seem as important to me any more.

I do think you have to be a pretty negative person if you don't enjoy being here for at least a year or two.

Here is a rather positive Hub on the subject of coming here to teach.

Hello everybody, Just moved to Okinawa...and am loving it. I saw this post and am just giving my opinion. I lived in NY, went to college out there and i loved it but Japan is not so bad. Yes things are expensive here but you wont hear me complaining, I live in a nice condo and have a decent car and am loving the the beach life...and that was my 2cents.

Kam

best threat ever

Okinawa is worlds away from mainland Japan

So, Okinawa doesn't count as Japan?

Of course it counts as Japan.
The thing is, it`s a very small part of Japan with a distinctly different culture, lifestyle, and attitude than anywhere else in Japan. Most people going to Japan will not be living in Okinawa - it`s very much an exception... Just like Hawaiian beach life is going to be very different from the life most people live in the US.