I'm moving to Japan! (1 Viewer)

[greggor]

About six months ago I recieved orders to Japan and this week My family and I are moving out of our house, and tying up loose ends before we leave on the 10th of October. I just wanted to say bye to everyone here on the forum until we get to Japan and get set up.

I'm sure going to miss friends, family and the American way of life, however I am looking forward to getting my hands on some cutting edge technology and upgrading to separates while I'm there so it won't be all bad. Take care guys this forum has been a wealth of information over the years.

Greg

 

[JustinCleveland]

You do speak and read Japanese, right? Otherwise a lot of that cutting-edge tech will be a lot of nothing... hell, it'll all be Chinese for all you know!

Have a great move!

 

[brentl]

Now THAT"S quite the move!

It's sure to be an adventure.

Goodluck !

Brent

 

[Lew Crippen]

Good luck Greggor and have fun. Be careful on those upgrades. Japan has 220v current.

 

[Yoshi Sugawara]

Good luck on the move - Japan has 100v current, not 220 btw

 

[Garrett Lundy]

About six months ago I recieved orders to Japan

Are you in the military? Military bases may use the same household current as in America, then you wouldn't need to worry about upgrades.

 

[greggor]

Yes I'm in the military and will hopefully be living on base. The houses on base all use 220. From what I have been told many of the audio/video devices sold in Japan have the capability to switch from 220 to 100.

Has anyone here ever lived in japan before? If so how did you/your families like it? This will be for three years so hopefully my wife and daughters will be able to adapt. Our sense of adventure should make the whole experience an enjoyable one.

Greg

 

[Lew Crippen]

Yes—a couple of times and I loved it.

Without knowing your family it is a bit hard to predict how they will react. But if I were giving advice, it would be to make sure that you get out of the base environment a lot and really experience life in Japan (as opposed to the quasi-U.S. lifestyle in the military).

 

[greggor]

Thanks for the advice Lew. We plan on taking full advantage of what Japan has to offer and experiencing as much as we can. There is a very good possibility we may end up living out in town, which can be quite a hassle from what we have told thus far.



After 12 years in the Navy and several duty stations later I couldn't agree more. Infact most of the negative things we've heard about japan came from people who lived on base and never "explored". Were you stationed there at one time?

Greg

 

[Lew Crippen]

After 12 years in the Navy and several duty stations later I couldn't agree more. Infact most of the negative things we've heard about japan came from people who lived on base and never "explored". Were you stationed there at one time?

Yes I was for 18 months many years ago—mostly on Okinawa, though I spent time in a couple of different parts of Japan as well.

Since then I’ve vacationed to Japan and also I’ve worked in the Tokyo area a number of times.

Commuting can be a real problem, depending on where you live, especially if you have to travel long distances during peak hours. But it all depends—the last few times I worked in Tokyo I took the bus to work everyday and it was quite easy and convenient. On the other hand, some of the rush hour rail/subway commutes can be as bad as you have heard.

Otherwise I found public transportation to be very convenient. It is not too hard to get within walking distance of a great many tourist and cultural attractions.

 

[Mark Romero]

Onbase housing in Japan, at least in Misawa and Yokota and Camp Zama, uses 100V 50Hz AC. The only 200V would be for your dryer and stove.

 

[Quincy]

I lived on Camp Sagami Depot which is 15-20 miles from Camp Zama and I remember having a blast. I lived there for 3 years from 87-90. It was wonderful going off base and seeing all the sites.

P.S. I bought electronics offbase all the time while I was there and never had a problem plugging them in while there or back here in the US.