Moving in Japan

August 20, 2023

Before we get started: NativShark has recently hit its 3-year anniversary since its release, which was on the 15th!!

At this point, we've completed Phase Two and we're 88 Units into Phase Three, all of which are full of content to help you not only survive, but live and thrive in Japan, communicate with friends and loved ones, do your favorite hobbies, and so much more exclusively in Japanese.

Thank you to everyone for the journey up to this point. It's been a fun one, and it's really nice talking to everyone and hearing your stories and motivations, both in the community Discord and in responses to emails like this ^^

Moving!

I moved to a different area in Fukuoka recently, and oh boy is moving different from how it is in the US.

Before I tell you exactly how, check out this picture:

This is around where I moved from. The area treated me well but it was time to… well, move on 🤣

Anyway, it was quite the journey because I did it all by myself language-wise.

To be honest, I don’t know how people who don’t have some major language skills manage to move between potentially contacting moving companies, doing the contracts, and setting up their utilities like gas, electricity, water, internet, etc.I had to make so many phone calls in Japanese.

Perhaps in Tokyo it’s more manageable than in Fukuoka?

Reply to this email and let me know if you’ve moved in Japan and how much Japanese vs English you used + did you get help etc.! I’m really curious ^^

Either way, I’m very willing to bet that the higher your ability is, the easier all this is.

Which means that pressing that Study Now button is really going to help you when it's your time to move.

So keep that wheel of progress turning:

→ → → Study Now ← ← ←

The bane of my existence

These words make me shudder in fear every time I think about moving in Japan:

Starting fees.

If 初期費用しょきひよう (starting fees, initial costs) don't fill you with fear, then you probably haven't moved here yet.

When you move in the US, you have a deposit of maybe a month of rent that you’ll usually get back if there’s no damage etc. on your apartment, but in Japan… you have to pay many months of rent.

Usually, it's about 6 months right up front. And only 1 of those 6 actually go to… well, paying for the rent.

The other 5 just magically disappear.

Poof.

Gone.

And on top of that, when you move you also pay a cleaning fee! Which is super strange because you already paid one when you moved in.

And then you'll get a bill from your old apartment saying they replaced wallpaper, which for some reason was not included in the cleaning fee that you paid when you moved there, or when you moved out.

My brain trying to understand this:

The moving process

Anyway, if you want a really easy move, you can hire a moving company.

They pack up all your stuff in boxes and move it for you. They're nice because they're less likely to damage your stuff than if you asked me to help you move instead.

They’re even better when you’re not broke from the 6+ months of rent you just paid. Sometimes they even put fliers in your mail:

You can call a moving company like this and they’ll send a person to your house to get you an estimate for free.

When getting an estimate, you’ll want to use the word 見積みつもり (estimate [of cost]).

Make sure that 見積もり is 無料むりょう (free) as well! I think most of them are.

I got a 見積もり and realized it was a bit too expensive for me on this move since I’ll have like 6-7 months of rent being paid all at once.

So I rented a truck and my friends helped me move instead. Perhaps I can elaborate on that process in another newsletter.

For anyone who is thinking about moving to or within Japan, make sure you save up a lot of money!! It might cost more than you think.

And if it doesn’t, then hey you have money saved up and that’s always nice^^

Living in Japan

While moving to or within Japan may be a bit of an upfront cost, the cost of living is generally much cheaper than the US in my experience, so there's no long-term worries there thankfully.

And that's without mentioning that moving to Japan was undoubtedly one of the best decisions I've made in my life.

And moving to my new apartment has also been amazing as well and I'm so glad I did it.

So if you're thinking about moving, don't fret the details too much, and just keep showing up to your studies.

I hope you find it as amazing of an experience that I did and currently still do.

Just… maybe put away just a bit of extra money.

Some new Japanese

While I was studying through NativShark the other day, I learned ばっくれる (to not show up):

I like learning more casual stuff like this.

Knowing this kind of vocab really helps you nail jokes in Japanese as well as being able to express yourself in more ways, or just plain understand what people are telling you.

If this sentence is too hard, all you need to do is keep hitting the Study Now button, and you'll understand it when you get there. This sentence comes from a vocab flashcard in a bit over halfway in Phase Two.

NativShark goodie bag

The content team released 4 new Phase Three Units this week~

New Phase Three Units

New Podcasts Episodes:

The Konnichiwa Podcast

The Big Reveal - Spotify

Good luck and happy studies,
Ty