What It’s Like Living In Rural Japan?

In comparison with the bustling life of big cities like Tokyo in Japan, life in Japanese rural areas is very different. If you are curious about what it’s like living in rural Japan and want to know the pros and cons of Japanese rural life, you should definitely read this blog. Now, let’s check this location guide out!

How Is the Japanese Countryside?

Mentioning the countryside, you may imagine a spacious area with lots of greenery right? Well, besides that rural Japan also has other things that can make you interested. Living in rural Japan, you can enjoy wonderful nature with many places to go hiking, bicycling, or camping. In addition, rural life in Japan possesses a lot of good features that can attract you to move here.

The Japanese countryside is a destination with wonderful nature

In the next part of this blog, you will be provided with information about the pros and cons of living in Japan countryside. From this, you can decide whether you will choose to live in Japanese rural areas or not.

Pros And Cons Of Living In Rural Japan

1. Pros

• Quietness

The first benefit of living in rural Japan is that you can enjoy the quietness. Japan, in general, is a quiet country even in the city so that the countryside is more quiet and peaceful. Perhaps the only sounds which are considered loud in rural Japan are from the insects, the announcements, or the jingles at train stations.

The first benefit of living in rural Japan is that you can enjoy the quietness

In summer, you can hear the sounds of cicadas waking you up very early in the morning, but that will not bother you right? You may like to hear those sounds rather than the sounds of car horns beeping every day. The loud sounds of the insects at dawn seem not to be able to damage the peace of the Japanese countryside. Instead, that can be an alarm clock for you to start a new day full of energy.

• Fresh Atmosphere

Japan is the cleanest country in the world, so there is no doubt that its atmosphere is absolutely fresh, especially in the countryside. Here, in rural Japan, you are surrounded by lots of trees, rows of rice fields, and green parks. Therefore, if you are finding a place to escape from polluted air or heavy smog, rural Japan is for you. What’s more, breathing clean air can help to improve your life expectancy and make you feel happier.

The atmosphere in rural Japan is absolutely fresh, which can extend your life expectancy

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• Fresh And Delicious Food

When you first come to Japan, you may find that all kinds of food taste strange to you. However, you will then get used to Japanese cuisine and start to like eating them.

Sushi is a very famous dish in Japan, but it can be unpalatable to you if you eat it in Tokyo. Nevertheless, it tastes really good in rural Japan, even in restaurants that serve sushi as fast food. Additionally, seafood in the Japanese countryside is more delicious than in the city. Thus, if you are a seafood lover, you’d better live in rural Japan.

The food in rural Japan is fresher and tastier than in the city

• Sense Of Community

One more advantage of living in rural Japan is the sense of community. It seems that there are more friendly people in the countryside than in the city and everyone knows each other.

When you need help in rural Japan, people here are willing to help you immediately. For example, if you get lost and want to ask them for directions, they will stop what they are doing to show you the way. Maybe as the pace of life here is not as fast as in cities like Tokyo, people tend to be friendlier and more hospitable. Japanese rural residents can make a lot of effort to include you in their village events and activities that offer a chance to discover the local culture.

Another advantage of living in rural Japan is that it brings the sense of community

• Cheaper Cost Of Living

The cost of living in rural Japan is generally lower than in big cities although the cost of groceries is relatively the same. Rent is much cheaper than in urban areas. For instance, you only have to pay about ¥16,000 per month for a spacious 1LDK, but in Tokyo, the price of a similar room can be seven times more expensive. In addition, kindergarten is also cheap in rural Japan. However, its cost in Tokyo is so high that getting into a public kindergarten can be impossible with a bit of income.

Rent and childcare are two things that make rural Japan different from the cities and it appears that living in the Japanese countryside is more beneficial as you can save a lot.

With cheaper living cost, living in rural Japan can help you save a lot

2. Cons

Everything has its both sides, so living in rural Japan also has several drawbacks.

• Limited Job Opportunities

Offering limited job opportunities is one of the bad parts of living in the Japan countryside. This is the reason why even Japanese people are leaving their homes in rural areas to move to big cities like Tokyo or Osaka. If you are a non-Japanese speaker, the chance of getting a job here is even slimmer. Even though you have a job in rural Japan, you cannot assure your career growth.

Offering limited job opportunities is one of the bad parts of living in Japan countryside

• Inconvenient Public Transportation

If you travel to another country and don’t know the way around, you will definitely choose public transport as a means of transportation, right? However, public transportation in rural Japan is very inconvenient. If you want to get anywhere, you may hardly find a bus or train. The frequency of buses or trains can be 2 or 3 times per day. Even in some Japanese rural areas, buses don’t work on weekends. Therefore, you should have your own vehicle if you would like to live in rural Japan.

The public transportation in rural Japan is very inconvenient

• Lack Of Privacy

In the Japanese countryside, everyone knows each other, which is good on one hand. On the other hand, this can sometimes affect your privacy. How you behave or whatever you do can become the topics of gossip. This problem may bother you a lot if you don’t want to be a celebrity.

Lack of privacy can be a problem if you don’t want to be a celebrity

For more information about living in rural Japan, you can watch the video below:

Conclusion

Now that you have known how living in rural Japan is. Before deciding to move to the Japanese countryside, you’d better consider the pros and cons of living here carefully. If there are other advantages and disadvantages of rural Japan that you know or have experienced, please feel free to share!