Japan's Best Prefectures?
 

What are the best prefectures in Japan? In a few years I hope to be an ALT in Japan and just wondering which prefectures I should set my eyes on. I was thinking about Saitama at first since it's close to Tokyo but I read from people that it's basically a shithole with the Japanese there being the equivalent of rednecks and a place with no Japanese charm. I was also thinking about Chiba since it's also not too far but I've read it's not that great either. So what is the best prefecture do you think? I like warm weather but many people like Hokkaido so I don't know if I should settle for the cold. Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto also seem popular. I'm not sure if I'd like an inaka (countryside) or a small or large city. If I was in inaka I'd like easy access to the bigger cities. Out of these, which do you recommend and which to avoid, and why?

Fukushima
Ibaraki
Tochigi
Gunma
Saitama
Chiba
Kanagawa
Niigata
Toyama
Ishikawa
Fukui
Yamanashi
Nagano
Gifu
Shizuoka
Aichi
Mie
Shiga
Kyoto
Osaka
Hyogo
Nara
Wakayama
Tottori
Shimane
Okayama
Hiroshima
Yamaguchi
Tokushima
Kagawa
Ehime
Kochi
Fukuoka
Saga
Nagasaki
Kumamoto
Oita
Miyazaki
Kagoshima
Okinawa

I had the same question, what place would be the "best" to move to when traveling to Japan? I asked myself, of course Tokyo came to mind at first, and my answer still is the same. Though I feel there's still countless great places to be seen in Japan, so there really is no "correct" answer. Just preference is all.

Aichi is a really nice place to live, nice city life, but plenty of greenery. Gifu isn`t too bad if you`re into historical stuff - Gifu city is kind of mundane though. Shiga is sort of nice. Shizuoka has too much touristy stuff. Mie is cool if you like futuristic looking chemical factories.

And then there is Fukui, which has come out on top of the "happiest prefecture" "richest prefecture", "most natural beauty" etc etc lists for god only knows how long.

I wish I could help with other prefectures, but as I don`t have THAT much experience outside of this area. My visits to Saitama, Chiba, and Tokyo all sucked to no end. You couldn`t PAY me to live around there.

Thanks for the advice. I'll be exploring my options. Chemical factories? I'm sure that's not good for your health. Then again, I'm sure there's tons of chemicals floating around everywhere. Right now I'm keeping an eye on Shizuoka because this person who has lived there for three years really likes it and can't say enough good things about it. However, what got me interested is that it has easy access to the bigger cities like Nagoya, Kyoto and Tokyo. Check out this link and read her comments and look at her links. She's really making this place seem like heaven.

BigDaikon.com :: View topic - Shizuoka Uber Thread

Yeah, she has quite a lot of information inputed in that thread, but it seems all school related or the sort. Are you going there for school related matters?

I want to be an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) in an organization like JET in a few years. I just want to know some good prefectures so I can write them down in my preferences on the application.

Wow, it seems everyone seems to want to be an ALT or joined the JET program. As much as I appreciate teaching others my native language, I couldn't possibly ignore or deny the job I want to be in. I always thought being a ALT or joining the JET program can only take you so far, but not the entire way.

If you don't mind me asking, what job do you want to be in? Do you want to work in Japan? The reason many people want to be an ALT is because it's an easy way to explore and live in Japan.

Hmm, I haven't thought of it much to be honest, though I can't possibly see myself being a ALT or joining the JET program even though I hear its the easiest route to choose when wanting to work and live in Japan. Yes, I always wanted to work in Japan, seeing as how I always dreamed of seeking a new life and a diverse one at that. I guess you can say that I always had my eyes set on Japan from the start. I would like to work in a business firm or top notch company, so I say, but of course I have to become fluent in Nihongo first before I can come across the thought, which I plan on doing, and being a ALT or joining the JET program is far from that considering you teach and work with English basically throughout the whole day.

Hyogo - is a very nice place. it is big, Kobe is part of Hyogo-ken. Its near osaka, kyoto and himeji ( though I think this is still part of Hyogo ). Nature, night life, historical places its all there. :D

Hiroshima- is a very interesting city/pref. to live in. Compare to the other major city, it is a calmer there. I like it there too. I had a very memorable trip to Hiroshima, and if I have a time again, would love to visit the place again. The transportation system is very interesting too.

Kyoto - my forever love :D. I never get tired of visiting Kyoto. I simple love this place. Need I say more, its Kyoto :D

Osaka - a busy and bustling city, 2nd to Tokyo. It is basically also known as a "subway city". Transportation withing the city is more on subway that is. Both upperground and lowerground of the city is bustling. You can even get lost underground of Osaka. Basically there is "another" city beneath the city.

Wakayama - very countryside. I still have to go to the mountain and sea area, but what Ive seen in the city so far, well lets just say I got bored after 30 minutes of walking around :D But they say, Koyasan ( Mount Koya) and sea area, is a very good place to get away too on summer, so I've still got to visit the place.

Saitama - very countryside. Not for me.

Chiba - very countryside. Not for me too. :D

Nara - if you love deer , there are lots of it in Nara . Actually the place is peaceful. But well, it is still too countryside for me.


Mie - hmm when I went there, I did not see any factories at all, must be the other side of Mie. It is a very nice place to visit, but not for me too.

Kanagawa - well I live in the area near the main plant/office of our main company before, but I don't think the place is for me too :D Unfortunately, Ive not toured the whole area when I live there, because we were not allowed to used a bike .. :D

Hmm, difficult question...

On the one hand, Nagano has bigger and steeper mountains. On the other, Hokkaido gets more and better snow. Definitely plenty of wide open places in Nagano but even more in Hokkaido. Then again, I kind of like living in Gunma just wish I was closer to the center in Maebashi or Takasaki.

Really depends on what you plan to do in Japan. For me, snow is a fairly big deal. If you want to blow all your money partying and clubbing, take your pick of the big cities. If sightseeing and picture taking is your deal, live near Kyoto. If you want to get away from all the foreigners and really get into Japan, live somewhere like the Tohoku region or Shikoku.

finally i found the site. This is a very close friend of my friend :D who used to live in Nagano and I think she has also lots of insight about her life in Japan particularly in Nagano

Grace Under Pressure

I don't think you actually teach throughout the whole day. It's a pretty relaxing job from what I read with little responsibility. You just sit on your ass the entire time before you are called up to do some English exercises with the kids at a certain time in the day. There's lots of free time and little stress. While you're waiting to be called up you can just sit there and listen to the teacher and kids as they interact in Japanese, or you can study Japanese. You're only dealing with English when it's your time. Again, this is what I read and I'm sure most of it is true.

Thanks for the link. I will take a look at it. I appreciate everyone's responses. Keep your insight coming. Right now I'm interested in Hyogo (Kobe) and Osaka. Those seem like great locations with many great cities close by. I'm not big on snow so I think I'll just visit Nagano and other places with snow.

My school was like that about a month ago. Then I got a new JTE and everything changed. And when it is like that, I wish I was teaching because a job where you do nothing is not very fun.

Thanks for the brief insight, but like Jason pointed out its not very fun doing nothing especially on a job. Though I wouldn't mind unless the girls are very beautiful and I can stare at them all day, but I'm only saying that now since I'm still basically teenager. If you don't mind me asking, how old are you by the way? I'm 16 if you were wondering. Also, what made you set your eyes on Hyogo (Kobe) and Osaka? Since I'm quite curious myself in looking for a great place to live and work in.

You don't always teach high school students. Sometimes you get assigned middle schools so checking out the girls if they're still in middle school may be a litle creepy. :D I'll be 21 in a few months. Jeez, I'm getting old. I can't believe I will be that old since I still feel like a teenager so I may even forget that I'm a dirty old man and look at the high school girls myself. :P Anyway, I'm curious in Kobe and Osaka because they're big cities with lots to do and they're close by other cities like Kyoto. I've always read that Osaka is a pretty cool place and Kobe seems to be nice as well. Samokan's description of Osaka and Kobe were pretty interesting so that got my eyes set on those two cities.

I am biased towards the Kanagawa Prefecture. My Inlaws live in Hadano, I used to live in Zama, and most of my old hangouts are between Zama and Atsugi.

That said, Kanagawa is a pretty nice place IMO. There is plenty to do (as with most places in Japan) and it is relatively close to Tokyo.

The cost of living is significantly less than Tokyo too. Of course, I can just stay at my Inlaws house and enjoy this view :)

Awesome view there, by the way, are you living on a dependent visa (married visa) since your now married?

Actually, I no longer live there. I was stationed at Camp Zama from 1991 to 1993. My wife and I try to go to Hadano every year or so to visit my In-Laws.

Ah, I see. Well, best of luck with everything and congratulations on the whole marriage, must've been nice.

Hyogo prefecture is fantastic. Great people, near Kyoto, closeish to beaches(about an hour in the car) loved it made some of the best friends of my life there. It's beatiful aswell.

Very nice. I appreciate everyone's opinions. So If anyone has an opinion about this subject, please comment. I'd like to hear what anyone with experience in Japan has to say.

It wouldn't be "creepy" if you are my age to say the least. Oh yeah, did you get your degree or even started yet, or are you just looking for a place to settle in Japan once you find a job there?

I'm working on my degree. I will use my bachelor's degree as a way to get work in Japan.

Sounds nice, I guess we are both working are way up, hopefully our hard work will pay off in the long run. By the why, why type of bachelor degree are you aiming for, and what are you majoring in?

What type of bachelor's degree? What do you mean by that? There's bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees. I'm just going for the bachelor's. Anyway, I'm a Criminal Justice major.

Yeah, that came out wrong. But yeah, you answered my question anyways, thanks. Criminal major, can't say exactly that its relevant to being an ALT or joining the JET program, but oh well. Anything works these days.

Criminal Justice major, yeah. I chose this major because it's interesting to me. The only other major that interested me was Psychology. I don't think it even matters what major you choose since many times people get jobs in fields that have nothing to do with their major. You don't need to major in English, Japanese or whatever else to be an ALT. All you need to have is a bachelor's degree in any field and be a native English speaker. That's all. Did you really think you needed to major in English or Japanese to work as an ALT in Japan?

Not really, though it would help. I just never felt that it was right on learning something that interest you but you can't apply it directly to your work, well you can always change occupations so it shouldn't matter in the least. How long are you planning on being an ALT by the way, or are you just seeing how everything works out for the best?

Oh yeah, no need to be uptight on the whole major thing, I knew what you were mentioning from the start. Were all down to Earth people here, so being formal is not necessarily always that fun, thought I should get that out of the way.

I don't know how long I'll be an ALT for. I first want to get to Japan and experience the country and the job before I decide. I've never been to Japan so I have no idea what it has in store for me. However, I've been interested in Japan for a long time so I'm hoping to work in the country for a while being an ALT or something else.

Man, I can very much relate. I too never been to Japan but always had my eyes set on it from the start, my early childhood also influenced me in Japan even more. So I'm always getting questions like, "where's the best place to live?" or "omg, so you need a visa just to do this?" and so on, but the picture is starting to get clearer at the moment thanks to research and people's help. I'm trying to hold it down here and finish everything I started, since I don't plan on moving back to California unless I'm visiting relatives or the like. So yeah, just being an ALT and getting out there is always a plus, maybe I'll reconsider and do the same in the near future, but for now I have more important things on my plate.

I also have this kind of question as I intend to try and move to Japan after I get my degree, I was thinking Tokyo, but no one has mentioned it as a decent place, why is that?

Of course when someone becomes fascinated with the Japanese culture they usually gravitate towards Tokyo. I know I did for a while. It's a big bustling city with a ton of lights that really sparks up your imagination and makes you feel like you're in an anime or another world. However, the bottom line is that Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world. It's also loud and there's just too many people at any given time. Many people prefer to live elsewhere and just travel to Tokyo on train. A large number of people that work in Tokyo live elsewhere and just commute to work. I feel that anime fans who got into the Japanese culture really should explore other cities of Japan besides Tokyo. I believe that Japan has more and better things to offer than just Tokyo.

Well, if you like nature then a rural area would probably be best. Here's a link that talks about prefectures:

Prefectures of Japan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I was thinking, because I want to be a Psychologist (hence the degree) Tokyo is more than likely going to be the best place to go because of it's population density and such like.

Would you recommend other places?

An English Psychologist in Japan? You'll probably have to speak fluent Japanese. Hell, I'll be coming over to Japan in a few years as an English teaching assistant so I really can't help you out on that one.

Well, because I'll be at Uni I can get Japanese lessons for nothing and I'm already teaching myself (around revising and procrastinating) Japanese anyway.

They'll give you a visa if you have "fluent" or "functional" Japanese, I think, which means I'll have to take the weird proficiency test.

You don't get visas based on your Japanese language ability. Unless I'm missing something here?