Living in Tokyo vs. Rural Japan
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2021
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"Why I chose rural Japan" first ten seconds of the clip answered that without needing any words.
100% agree I love living in Iwate. I’ve only been here a year but the scenery is just jaw dropping and the quiet inspiration this place provides is magical. One of my favorite things here is going for my run after school around the mountains and rice paddies in Kawai-mura (between Morioka and Miyako) it’s just so special smelling the air, feel of the cool air as I run over rivers and see waterfalls and forests reaching up to the heavens. I even saw monkeys a couple of weeks ago, never believe they lived in Iwate. I’d like to try living in Tokyo for at least one year to say I tried it but the chances are I’d always want to come back to Iwate or at least somewhere in Tohoku.
so true
Yes, so true
I feel like I really lucked out when I lived in Japan - semi-urban town, with more rice paddies than buildings, and 10 mins to the Prefectural capital by local train. There's absolutely benefits to living in cities and in more rural communities - thanks for making this video; I think a lot of people who are planning on coming to Japan (whether on JET or other means/purposes) could really benefit from watching it!
So I lived in Misawa, Aomorii Prefecture in late 90's early 2000's and that location is by far my favorite place I lived ever. The people the environment, the culture were amazing the weather was fun and god the nature was amazing. If I could go back I would in a heartbeat.
As a recent subscriber (playing “catch up” on older offerings), I just want to say thank you for your excellent channel! I’ve had the good fortune to visit Japan twice - Osaka and Tokyo - but hope to make a return trip, especially to visit the north. The landscapes and cultural treasures you have shared have increased greatly my desire for another visit.
Great video, Quinlan! It was interesting to hear someone’s perspective from having spent extensive time in both areas. I would love to hear you talk about the changes in Japan over the last 20 years you’ve been there that you noticed! I think that would be a really interesting video!
Oh- great idea! I'll see if I can come up with some interesting points to share on that!
Bach Collegium Japan is performing in Tokyo during my trip. Can't wait to see them!
I'm sold!! 😄👍
Hi, thanks for liking my hometown and my mountain🤣 Iwate-san!’ It’s so great to hear that someone like you who introduces “Inaka” like this on UA-cam to share your experiences in northern Japan! I was born and grew up there, but not so many people know about the qualities and benefits to live there. I will follow you on Instagram definitely, and hopefully we can keep in touch!
I want to live vanlife one day in japan. that is one of my big goal I want to experience. Thanks for showing us inaka
@@NickolayskaarX great goal!
I'm from a small town in Nebraska (2,800 population), so I would definitely prefer living in rural Japan! Visiting big cities would be a fun treat for sure, but for everyday life, rural is the way to go.
100% agree!
Show us more countryside plss... Japanese countryside is soo beautiful. There is a photographer on Instagram who shares these rural japan photos and those are fantastic.
Great content and interesting observations! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Great video 🤗 it’s a joy to see all the beautiful places and get your take on them
I lived in Hokkaido for two years and totally agree with your reasons. I've never been to Iwate, but after seeing so many of your videos, I absolutely want to now!
i really like the chill chatty format of this video!
I live in rural Southwest Idaho, 45 minutes from the nearest town. I love it! I tend to get headaches when I go into town to shop. I love how you show us these beautiful rural areas! When I visit Japan I plan on travelling the more rural areas. Thanks for the great videos!
Thank you so much for making this video! I have been wanting to be an ALT for a while, and being an ALT in a more rural area is so appealing to me. Thank you for all the videos that you make!
I love how thorough this video is. I'd really love to visit, and possibly live in, Japan someday. It's nice to hear the opinions of someone who has really lived in both areas for a long time.
Inaka living is my dream!! If I ever win the lotto or can save enough I’d love to live in Iwate. Thank you for sharing!!
the countryside looks so gorgeous :) thanks for an informative video :)
That was an enjoyable and informative talk. I have lived in Okinawa, Aichi, and Hokkaido. They have distinct features which add richness to life experiences.
Great info, thanks for sharing.
Love the videos Quinlan. I miss Iwate a lot!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
Thank you!
Thank you Q! It was a very enlighten story about city vs countryside.
I’m moving to Japan this Fall (hopefully) and your video sir is so insightful for a clueless person like me so Thank you!!
I love hiking, so that would be a great place to live!
I’ve lived in fairly large cities for most of my life, more recently London...but I moved to a small mountain area of North Carolina and now I miss the big city so much. I dream of living in NYC, I love the energy. Maybe some day, visit Japan. I love your stories, and journeys. These videos keep my wanderlust stirring. So thank you 🙂
thank you for posting this! I totally agree, people are sleeping on northern Japan, beautiful outdoors, fresh food (grown and wild!), craft breweries, the list goes on!
Quinlan, you presented a well-balanced description of the contrasts between inaka and city life. The stimulus of new experience in the city is correlated with age--as you get more saturated with experience, the contrast with tranquility, harmony, and quiet beckons more sharply. Olga and I hope we can stay at your AirBnB when we visit Tohoku next year (fingers crossed) when it is safe to do so!
Thanks! I was worried it was overly rambling. Yeah- hope travel is smoother next year!
The countryside looks so beautiful... Blissfully peaceful and generally free of human beings... ⛩️
Thank you for choose Iwate.
I'm glad to see this video.
Thanks for watching! I love Iwate!
bloody amazing video
Proud member of the club here!
Thanks for this video! Very good! I think something between, Morioka and Tokyo is Sendai, which is also a wonderful city :)
Sendai is indeed a great city!
Good spot for a talk
Hey love the vids, keep up the amazing work you definitely should more subs
Wow, what an amazingly wonderful life you lead!
Thank you for your informative video. You explained so nicely the differences of the two places to live.
I certainly know about those hot Tokyo summers. When I was performing at Tokyo Disneyland back in the 1980's our stage was in the blazing sun! We suffered! Good thing I was young.😊
The area you are in now looks so beautiful. I hope I can visit someday.
Be well.
Very glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!
Countryside gets my vote too. Although I would happily live anywhere in Japan, I would need to be near the coast, near the mountains and 5 minutes from the silence of nobody around. So North Japan sounds perfect for me and I'm already planning my retirement there, hopefully in 10 years. Cheers Q
Nice and very interesting video!
Iwate sounds amazing! The videos are awesome and I really want to get out there at some point! I've been to the rural arts of Niigata and that was beautiful as well, but like you said not having a car can be a bit of a pain ha
This was a great video, thanks for making it! I am now curious about your garden and gardening in general in Japan. Are there any special gardening techniques or crops that you learned and that are unique to Japan?
I can only really compare gardens here to those in my home state of Wisconsin. The main difference is that gardens where I'm from tend to be on flat ground, whereas in Japan they almost always make little long mounds of dirt called "une" that they plant seeds in. So I often follow this rule here too, I think it works with the amount of rain they get here.
In terms of special crops... I don't grow anything all that exotic - just blueberries, raspberries, asparagus, green beans, chile peppers, zuccini, basil, and corriander.
Really appreciate this video Q! Hope you are doing well.
I'm doing well, thanks! Best to you as well!
Do people accept you in your town as a foreigner? or do they keep you at a bit of a formalized distance? Having lived in rural Wis, do you notice a difference?
I too was going to ask this. I imagine in urban areas people are less surprised to see foreigners than rural areas, but does it remain an issue when living long term rural? Or do you maybe not notice it since you're used to it?
Excellent video by the way!
Yeah- I feel accepted. People are very friendly! Of course I am not viewed as Japanese - that's probably never going to happen given how I look. But people are warm and accepting, and I don't lack for Japanese friends, etc.
I lived in the Madison area, which isn't actually rural in Wisconsin terms... so I can't speak for rural Wisconsin - which would be cow and cornfield land... a town with 3 bars and a gas station, LOL.
Andrew- Sometimes people in Morioka are a bit surprised, and I get the standard "wow your Japanese is great" after I say a single greeting sometimes. Once at my local supermarket an old lady told me (in Japanese) "Welcome to Japan!" - which felt kind weird given at that point I was 18 years in...
You definitely get more attention and people are curious. But I'm used to it, as you say.
Your channel is Amazing. I agree with you on all points.
Great insight from Your perspective. I have moved to Nagano ken 3 years ago right at the foothills of the Japanese Alps and think that Tokyo is a great place to come home from. Nice to go there but even nicer to leave.
That sounds like a dreamy place to live! I would really like to hike the Japanese Alps..
Great video! Great perspective! I’ve only ever lived in Yamagata (besides six months in Okayama). Don’t think I could live anywhere else.
Yamagata is pretty great!
well done. Enjoy your life there. blessings.
Thank you!
日本の大都会に暮らしたことがないので、田舎暮らししか体験したことがありません。でも、おしゃったとおりで、日本の大自然の中で暮らせるような生活ぶりはやっぱ最高ですね。
んだんだ。最高だと思います。
15yrs in Tokyo, leaving for a house by the seaside this month.
To redrive the rural communities, big corporations should offer more stay-at-home work.
There are many works that doesn't requires the employees to be in office.
Also there is no need to attending colleges, instead there should be job-seeking-skills learning center in these communities.
I love Iwate, spent a lot of my time in Japan there, lived in the city of Kitakami (just south of Hanamaki) and I agree with Quinlan, the nature is just amazing and I love mountains, the more the merrier. 😊 So seeing Quinlan's videos of places that I know and have visit several times is like coming home.
I lived most of my Japan time in Tokyo, west side and also north east side, but also early on I lived in Saitama, I love all those places and the super convenience that Tokyo offer is so nice and you get so spoiled fast. But, if I have to chose, I will always chose the Japanese countryside, specially the northern part of Japan, I love snow and not to burning hot summers.
Good info. I bought an Akiya in yamaguchi rural Japan
Nice!! Sounds like a lot of fun!
@@GoNorthJapan yup, love the Inaka!
Hello Quinlan! I enjoy watching your hiking videos and find them very therapeutic!
I am currently planning on visiting Japan for 2 weeks from late Dec to early January and I wanted to fit a day for hiking on my first visit to this exciting country!
Are there any short tranquil routes you would recommend for an amateur (Mostly hiked on tropical weather) going solo or you wouldn't advise to go hiking on these dates (because of weather, less hikers...) ?
Late December to early January... I think for a beginner Hakkoda, Zao, or Moriyoshi would be good because you can rent showshoes right there and take a ropeway up to a beautiful area and then just walk around a bit and take the ropeway back down. So it's low impact but high beauty...!
That's awesome! We have a similar story! I used to live in Fukuoka for few years then moved up here to Aomori and love it so much.
Nice! And hello neighbor!
Brilliant 👍🏻
Wow it’s great to find a video like this cuz I’m from Iwate! We are thinking to move somewhere in Iwate in the future as one of the possibilities but there are so many things to think about.. Are you planning to live where you are now for the rest of your life?
Your channel makes me homesick but I love to watch at the same time lol
Thank you for the beautiful footages of my home 🤙🏼
Glad that you liked it!
Who knows what the future holds... but I have no plans to move away from Tohoku!
Couldnt agree more. I had a friend that lived in the bigger cities that told me they could hear their apartments neighbor pulling a tissue out of the box.
I live in the Los Angeles area and unfortunately I know my upstairs neighbors don't wash their hands when they go to the bathroom. I can hear too much 🙉
Great video! Would love to hear what contract work you manage to find? I would imagine with your talents it would be for the tourism board.
A lot of it is related to consulting and advising related to tourism, yes. Also I've gotten some gigs for local TV shows and commercials. I get translation and narration jobs as well. Sometimes I'll teach a seminar on how to better support foreign residents or tourists in various situations and contexts.
I have a question (and maybe you've answered this before), but why did you first move to Japan? And how does that reason compare to your decisions nowadays to stay in Japan? What's the same, what's changed (for better or worse)?
I hope to be moving to Japan myself one day after uni!
It's a long story on how I first ended up coming here. I was never particularly interested in Japan before I came actually. I studied Tibetan language and some Mandarin Chinese in university... .but anyway I only planned on staying for a year or two and that certainly changed!
In terms of what has changed over the last 20 years, that's probably a good topic for a video.
I love the countryside & hope to buy here in Washington State soon. I hope to visit Japan in the next year & definitely want to see the countryside more than the cities. I can’t do the hikes you do as my physical disabilities don’t allow for anything other than short, level walks. Can you recommend any of those? Thanks!
Sure- the Hachimantai summit area from mid-April through October has some really nice mostly flat hikes around the alpine wetland on top! Also the Shirakami Sanchi in Aomori has some stunning walking paths!
@@GoNorthJapan Thank you for this info! I’m hoping to get my book tour scheduled soon & I’ll have time for myself. I use a cane most of the time but for long walks, I have to use my walker. I can’t wait to visit Japan!
That first shot was lovely! You should do wallpapers!!
Oh, that's actually not a bad idea. I wouldn't mind having that as my PC wallpaper.
@@GoNorthJapan Me neither!!
Great video! Wooo, I live in Madison, WI! East side forever
East side!! Love Mother Fools, Mickey's, etc.!
@@GoNorthJapan I have had many drunk nights on Mickey's patio😆 I am loving your channel, man! I'm so glad you and Abroad did a collaboration, its how I found you
I actually enjoy the level of anonymity I get from living in larger cities. I like that some employees from businesses I frequent know me as a regular but otherwise I can walk around and no one actually knows me. I'm just a private person and especially don't like nosey neighbors. So the everyone knows you and basically someone always knows where you are part of smaller town living is not something I'd like. I do love nature though, especially mountain and forest areas.
Also, did I hear you say your house has 9 or 10 rooms?! I want to say "house and garden tour!" but completely understand if you don't feel comfortable publicly posting your house online. Since you do use your house for Airbnb though, maybe a mini tour of the rooms you rent would be okay with you. What about a gardening video? 🤔 I might just be a little jealous of your garden 😅
I hear you. I can enjoy both the big city anonymity, and the smaller town friendliness. But I understand preferring one or the other!
Yeah- depending on how you count (one room is 2 rooms joined into one) it's 9 or 10 rooms in total. It used to be a combination liquor store/home, so the home for the family that ran the liquor store and the shop parts are all in the same building. I divided the shop into two rooms since it was just too large to keep warm in the winter as one gigantic room.
I may do a tour eventually, but it's kind of hard with lighting (GoPro is bad for narrow spaces that aren't really well lit) and it wouldn't be well stablized if I used my Sony.... so I'm not sure how I'd film it. My garden I love... but I don't weed anywhere near enough to proudly show it online, LOL.
I'm getting like 500 grams of raspberries every day from my garden though.. my freezer is filling up.
Tokyo for a day trip Rural to live...
And of course if you do your research properly (+ have a bit of luck with what's in the market at the time?) you can have your cake and eat it too: if you get a place in rural(-ish) Japan that's close to a Shinkansen station (Morioka has one) Tokyo is easily and comfortably accessible for, say, a day trip (shopping, event, etc).
not cheap but really quite fast, it's true!
Yeah- I think Morioka is good in these terms. Pre-pandemic I used to go to Tokyo pretty regularly to see concerts. In the year leading up to January 2020 I went to Tokyo 6 times to see a number of shows including Bon Iver, the Pixies, Daughter, Alt-J, Slow Dive, etc.
Brilliant!
What sort of dialect is spoken in rural Iwate and how hard is it for you to understand? I know that younger folk in Morioka will pretty much speak standard Japanese.
ooh yes, interesting question!
There is a sort of dialect called "Tohoku-ben" and then that subdivides into similar dialects by region. So there is "Morioka-ben" - the Morioka dialect, which is similar to nearby areas but with some small differences. It's mostly the older generation, 60 and older, that speak in that way. I can understand it pretty well, but I can't imitate it well. I do however use several local dialect expressions in my everyday Japanese, which people find funny and endearing. Wins me points with local older people.
@@GoNorthJapan Have you encountered the Tsugaru dialect in western Aomori? That's supposed to be quite different from standard Japanese. It's convenient that standard Japanese has pretty much taken over (wink at Kansai, Kagoshima and some other places) but something historically unique is also being lost.
@@deanzaZZR Yeah, the Tsugaru dialect is pretty distinct even from the dialect spoken around here! I can more or less understand it, except for maybe what really old people mumble though. I've traveled around there a fair bit as well. Love all the unique accents!
I liked the video 👌👌
What places would you recommend for a balance between the rural areas and big cities? I wouldn´t like to live in a crowded place but I also wouldn´t like to live in a place too far away from the commodities of the big cities.
If you mean in Japan, then I think there are a lot of mid-sized cities that would be just right. Morioka, Sendai, Kanazawa, Nagano, Matsumoto, etc.
@@GoNorthJapan Yeah I meant in Japan, thank you very much for your answer.
Those first few seconds are just so beautiful! I can totally understand why you would choose this place and call it your home 🏡. Speaking of which, do you have the Japanese citizenship or are you a permanent resident?
I just have permanent residency. At this point, Japan doesn't allow dual citizenship generally... otherwise I'd get citizenship as well.
@@GoNorthJapan Hopefully there will come a time and Dual Citizenship will be allowed
It looks very serene. But that about bugs and mosquitoes? Even in the big cities a small bush can host enough cicadas to be deafening. And what about the giant wasp? How dangerous are they? Thanks a again for the great vids. You really inspire me to explore the Japanese countryside more.
Tokyo has mosquitos from hell! And the cicadas where I lived in Tokyo were really loud as well, though I actually like that sound.
I think Iwate is better in terms of bugs because we get good cold winters and they are only active really in the summer. There are murder hornets, but I've never had a problem with them. Just see them buzzing by once in a while. Overall I think the bugs are OK here.. but it can be hard in the summer when they are all over...
How's the dairy scene in Iwate? Anything like Wisconsin?
There is a lot of local milk, cheese... well nothing even remotely in the direction of Wisconsin... There is local cheese made at a big farm called Koiwai just west of Morioka, but it's pretty expensive for a small amount.
Hey, fellow badger! Madison born and raised! Seen any badgers there in Iwate?
No badgers in Iwate to the best of my knowledge... except me! lol
"Grey and ugly" Tokyo = Seattle?? 27 days without the sun one time? You said the magic word, Kyushu! Snow skiing but no snow shoeing! Tokyo is no more Japan than NYC is America!!!
This might be odd, but I can’t access your vids from Twitter, but links from fb work fine. Maybe it’s just my settings 🧐
Looks like Twitter was partially down for a while yesterday. Seems to work now!
I spent 2 years in Morioka teaching English in two different middle schools. Ah, food.....wanko soba! Unagi!
Nice! How many years ago?
@@GoNorthJapan We lived there from 1994-1996. I taught at Omiya and Yonai middle schools.
@@agilegold wow, quite a while ago! Nice!
👍👍👍
House Tour??
Possibly, I'll think about it!
Volcano 🌋
I mean even rural japans are well connected with other cities 😭
Garden tour video?
I don't weed nearly enough to do that proudly.. maybe if I clean it up better.. lol
But I am loving the near infinite raspberries I'm getting every day now. Can hardly pick them fast enough before they start going bad on the bushes.
What are your thoughts on Hirosaki?
Hirosaki is a beautiful little town! The castle is nice too!
I'm coming to your BnB soon as i can Q
Quinlan, are you a dual citizen? How does your tax situation work out, do you have to pay Canadian taxes *and* Japanese ones?
I'm not a dual citizen. I have US citizenship and permanent residence in Japan. So I have to file both US and Japanese taxes. But I only end up actually paying Japanese taxes.
I enjoyed your synopsis. I've heard that to work and live in Japan as foreigner you must possess a college degree. Is this accurate?
No, there are many different types of visas available that don't require a degree but in some way you usually have to prove that you can sustain yourself while staying in Japan. Check your local embassy for details.
I had a working holiday visa but they're only offered to a few nationalities and you have to be under 30 when you apply.
@@ixlovexrain Cool, thanks for the info.
As Julian said, it depends on the type of job and visa... as well as what country you're from.
ok great. When can I come move in?? XD (wish I was as brave as you and just do it.. :|)
heck I could afford a house too if thats the price...but not get a job...
House tour?
I could do that!
😄😄😄😄🙂🙂🙂🙂
I’ve never really thought of Japan as having rural areas. Thanks for the perspective between city and country living.
Do you have Japanese citizenship? Can foreigners buy a house?
I just have the permanent residence visa, which is good enough since dual citizenship is not allowed really in Japan. You don't need any particular visa status to buy a house or land here, just good luck getting a loan. (But if you're buying in cash you're fine...)
I have lived in urban areas for my entire life. Some were better, some a bit worse. Nothing compared to a capital city, but still pretty sizeable.
Every time I get out it's (not only literally) a breath of fresh air. I really love places like this, but living there would be very difficult to combine with my career plans. But luckily there are weekends and holidays : )
You should go on trash taste to talk about the all the awesome outdoors stuff you do and to get your name out more , make charmander make the intro
Hahaha, I think I'm too small for that just yet. If I ever go up to around 100K subs (who knows, it's possible eventually...) then I could ask Sharla and/or Chris to introduce me. But at this point I think I'm too minor.
@@GoNorthJapan no way man , you are more than big enough , plus your content is thru the roof awesome.
Meanwhile the cost of living in michigan...
First !
do you see much of the affects of climate change there?
Yes, the snow seems to be decreasing gradually each year, though we still get tons of it most years. And it's not as cold most winters as it was back 20 years ago.
THERE IS NO SNOW IN WISCONSIN YET . I THINK ,BECAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING.
👍👍👍