Kris

August 25 2006 

-Where were you born?
In the city of Göteborg, Sweden

-In which country and city are you living now?
I live in Yokohama, Japan.

-Are you living alone or with your family?
I live with my wife.

-How long have you been living in Japan?
About one year.

-What is your age?
35

-When did you come up with the idea of living in Japan?
My wife got a job here in Japan and we both thought this to be a good opportunity to come and live here. I have always been interested in Japan and thought that this chance was too good to miss.

-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?
Not for me. I have a spouse visa and with that you can get a type of work permit. If you come here with only a tourist visa I think it would be more difficult.

-How do you make your living in Japan? Do you have any type of income generated?
I am working as a freelance cameraman. I used the Internet to find places to contact once I was here.

-Do you speak Japanese and do you think it's important to speak the local language?
I started to learn Japanese when I came here a year ago. Things get a lot easier moving around if you learn some basic words like please, thank you, excuse me, etc. Even for a tourist I think it is polite to make some effort to pick up a few of those words. When it comes to really learning Japanese it is a long journey. For an expat who is here for a limited time of one or two years and who don't need do use Japanese at work, I think it is probably not worth learning.

Having said that, I enjoy learning Japanese and find it very rewarding. The culture and the customs are expressed through the language and if you want to make any sense of such things, at least some studies of the language here is a must. To save yourself from trouble I also think that learning a little about the local customs is necessary, just so that you don't offend people too much with your behaviour. The rest will come gradually, don't worry about it.

-Do you miss home and family sometimes?
I just came back from a few weeks in Sweden and with the Internet it is now easy to keep in touch with people. There are a lot of things to and see in Japan. Summer is surfing and winter is skiing.

-Do you have other plans for the future?
I want to travel all over Japan. Okinawa is a place I really want to see. Korea and China are also countries close to here that I want to visit.

-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?
We live in a rented house with three rooms. Prices for that in this area range from 140,000 yen to 250,000 yen a month. On top of that there are a few fees that you pay when moving in.

-What is the cost of living in Japan?
Myth number one about Japan is that it's extremely expensive. It's not. Maybe in the 1980s an apple would cost 10 US dollars. But that was a very expensive apple during a period when the yen was strong and the bubble economy was expanding. What's true is that there is a wider range of prices here. That is there is a bigger difference here between the cheapest apple and the most expensive one than in other places. Try having a beer at a club in Tokyo's Ginza district and compare that to a beer at your local joint and there will be huge difference.

-What do you think about the Japanese people?
I like the Japanese people. To me they have been friendly and generous. But I think they treat foreigners like, yes, foreigners. It is difficult to be anything but a foreigner. I mean that for them I am first of all a foreigner, and then a person. This has not caused me any problem. I always get good service and nice general treatment. What it means is that I think that I can never be Japanese in the same way that I very easily "become American" when I visit the Unites States. Still not a problem, I like living here, being foreign.

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Japan?
The service is always excellent here. And in Tokyo, everything is available; no matter what you want to get, there is some store selling it. It is also very safe: people are polite, and violence is not common. There are also slightly negative things, but I don't think it is generally worse here than in Europe or the US. With a positive attitude one can live a good life here.

-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in Japan?
There is so much I can't list everything. Just try to prepare yourself mentally that you are going to a place where many things are done differently. On my web site I share my experiences living here. You are welcome to visit: gaijindo.com.

-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about Japan?
Since I live in the Tokyo area I read the Metropolis magazine and I check out their site when I can't pick up the paper.