My blog about living in Japan

hibby

I've been living in Osaka for 8 weeks now, thoroughly enjoying it (if I didn't have to go to work, it would be 100% brilliant) and to my surprise, not experiencing any culture-shock at all.

I've been keeping a blog (when I have time, which is mostly at weekends) about Japan and what it's like to live here. It's not about "big" stuff - the idea is that each post is about some small detail and maybe eventually it builds up into a picture of life here.

It's mainly for friends and family back home in Ireland so that I can share my thoughts and my photos, but it occurred to me that some people here might be interested too, so please feel free to drop by. No ads, nothing commercial, just my words and photos.

awordfromjapan.wordpress.com

shindig-jp

I've lived in 大阪 for more that ten years and have witnessed quite a few changes before I moved on up to Tokyo . I have a keen interest in Murphy's Irish Bar .

The old Pig & Whistle was the number one place for the expat community before it sadly had to close down , Just wondering how Murphy's are doing in Shinsaibashi and the big question ! How many Irish have even found the place ?.

Some photos of the place and area would be great for you to upload here and throw in a little Osaka ben comments with them.

Ookini .......

Beruthiel

hibby wrote: »

it occurred to me that some people here might be interested too

I just spent the last 30mins mooching through it.
Thanks, an interesting read from someone living there.
You say that you're not experiencing any culture shock, it must help immensely to have a Japanese partner.

Freefaller

Hi, I do check in to boards from time to time :-) (long time lurker) and I thought this thread was very good especially the posters blog. I'm going to Japan in mid July/mid August. August depending on getting the 'working humanities visa' and July depending 'on working holiday.' Is there a good Irish social network in Kyoto/Kobe/Kansai? (I know they are very distinct places in their own right)

I know as the poster mentioned their are irish pubs, but on the whole is their one or two in say Kyoto for example or a few more then that? where you go to keep in contact with Irish people? Are there any other ex pat networks?

Perhaps their would be someone who would be interested in being a travel buddy, to Japan if they are going in July/August.

Can't wait to go to Japan by the way. Your blog is great and the white cat is so cute

Anyway, Chat again

hibby

Thanks a million for the compliments on my blog. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I don't know if there is an Irish expatriate network. I know of quite a few Irish people who are living in Japan but I never meet them. I imagine they are quite spread out across the country and mostly all getting on with their own lives.

As for Irish pubs, I'm not really knowledgable but I doubt if there are more than one or two in any given city. Where I live is pretty much 100% Japanese except me.

Freefaller wrote: »

Can't wait to go to Japan by the way. Your blog is great and the white cat is so cute

When I go home I'll tell my dog you called him a cat!;)

OakeyDokey

Great blog, fascinating read. When I eventually visit I'll look you up haha!

hibby

Beruthiel wrote: »

I just spent the last 30mins mooching through it.
Thanks, an interesting read from someone living there.
You say that you're not experiencing any culture shock, it must help immensely to have a Japanese partner.

Of course you are right. Without my wife's help I would not have been able to manage to rent a house, to get electricity and gas and a mobile phone, to get a driving licence and a car... I imagine getting a bank account would be very difficult, but fortunately my wife already had one.

Everything involves so much paperwork and bureaucracy, everything works on the assumption that you are Japanese. Even if you speak Japanese really well (which I don't - yet) it can be quite a battle.

If I were trying to do all this on my own, the obstacles would be overwhelming.


But, setting aside all the "official" stuff, everyday life is basically similar to at home in Ireland. Get up, walk the dogs, have breakfast, commute to work, work, commute home, have dinner, study, walk the dogs, sleep.

hibby

shindig-jp wrote: »

I've lived in 大阪 for more that ten years and have witnessed quite a few changes before I moved on up to Tokyo . I have a keen interest in Murphy's Irish Bar .

The old Pig & Whistle was the number one place for the expat community before it sadly had to close down , Just wondering how Murphy's are doing in Shinsaibashi and the big question ! How many Irish have even found the place ?.

Some photos of the place and area would be great for you to upload here and throw in a little Osaka ben comments with them.

Ookini .......

Hi shindig.jp, I didn't realise you're an Osaka veteran! Maybe you'll be able to answer Freefaller's question about expat networks. I am aware of Murphy's pub, but I haven't been there yet. We're planning to go to a pizza restaurant on Friday evening in Shinsaibashi and might call into Murphy's afterwards to see what it's like. If we do I'll take a few pictures and post them.

Sindri

Very informative and interesting. Thanks . What is that pun you mentioned you had when you visited an Indian restaurant?

hibby

Sindri wrote: »

Very informative and interesting. Thanks . What is that pun you mentioned you had when you visited an Indian restaurant?

Ah, the joke.

So, you go to an Indian restaurant, then when the nan bread arrives you pick it up and with a completely straight face you say "Kore wa nan desu ka?"

Explanation available on request.

Beruthiel

hibby wrote: »

Explanation available on request.

Jeez hibby,
just cough it up will ya!

hibby

Beruthiel wrote: »

Jeez hibby,
just cough it up will ya!

Well, "kore wa nan desu ka?" means "what's this?" and also means "is this nan (bread)?" That's the joke. Sorry.


A variation on the theme: "ikura" means caviar and also means "how much?" so if you see a jar of caviar on sale in a shop you can pick it up and say "kore wa ikura desu ka?", which can be understood equally well as "how much is this?" and "is this caviar?"

Freefaller

Hi thanks for replying :-)

Well I kind of guessed that might be the situation, no networks for Irish or much of an Irish social scene. Not to worry, i'll happily assume my place among the natives. Trying to listen to as much of the Japanese language as I can, to fight the inevitable sadness for the loss of English, perhaps. Its just good sometimes when your abroad to keep contact with your native Irish once in a while. What is it ha to stay grounded? To shy away from the lost in translation complex :-)

I'm sorry, I just saw a white cat in the Japanese style home, haha . My appologies to your dog. Going to check out more of the blog now from Osaka..

Well, thanks again and just to say, its looking August. Busy, busy getting everything organised. Very important to start right as you mean to go on

Caybar

Hi Freefaller,

There are a few irish networks in Japan, im not a member of any of these so cant comment too much , but will stick them up here for your own information, The INJ site in particular seems to have some useful information about living in Japan, also has a directory of Irish pubs, Which you might find useful!

http://www.irish-network-japan.com/en

There is also the Japan GAA, not sure if they are active in Kansai tho..

http://www.japangaa.com/index.html

Ireland Japan Chamber of Commerce
http://www.ijcc.jp/http://www.ijcc.jp/

Freefaller

Hi Caybar,

Thanks a million, really appreciate the link to the Irish GAA in Japan and the groups of Irish in different regions. All very informative and helpful. I have signed up to the newsletter and I will be sure to check out some of those groups once I arrive :-) Hey you never know, if its possible that I work in Osaka/Kyoto and the posters are interested, we might all meet up in the pig and whistle some night haha :-) Sure its only an hour by train from Kyoto to Osaka.

Thanks again and to the poster of the blog, what breed is your white dog? Chat soon.

hibby

We actually have 2 Japanese Spitz dogs, who travelled with us when we moved from Ireland in March (talk about bureaucracy!)

Walking the dogs in the park and in the local area is a very good way of getting chatting with people.

Freefaller

Can I borrow one of them ;-)

I bet you wouldn't part with them for love nor money

hibby

They are part of the family!

shindig.jp, we called in to Murphy's for a drink on Friday night. It was fairly quiet, with a laid-back atmosphere. I got quite a shock when my pint of Guinness cost 950 yen! I won't be drinking too many of those! It was a nice pint though, first in two months.

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funky penguin

That's pretty standard for a pint unfortunately

I have to say aswell.......that looks like a nasty pint :P

EDIT: HAve you seen the vibrator thing they have?

It's just a 350ml can they poor into a glass with no head, then it's placed on a metal plate that vibrates to creat the head.

Extremely Japanese.

shindig-jp

hibby wrote: »

They are part of the family!

shindig.jp, we called in to Murphy's for a drink on Friday night. It was fairly quiet, with a laid-back atmosphere. I got quite a shock when my pint of Guinness cost 950 yen! I won't be drinking too many of those! It was a nice pint though, first in two months.

Thanks for the pictures hibby . Did you get to speak to the manager ? I have a little surprise. The Irish manager's sister is married to the Japanese owner of Murphys he's called Miyachi-san .

Miyachi has a Yakisoba Stall in the Peoples Park in Dun Laoghaire so you can mix a little Irish connect into your blog on Japan and Osaka .

Guinness is expensive yes but when you're earning in the local economy it works out just about right. I'm a high roller when out on the town and often drop 40,000 on a good time .The street noodle stall on Midosuji was always a last stop for me before heading for the first train home in the mornings .

funky penguin in Kanazawa

Yep, I've had the half pint shaken Guinness . I first thought that the barman was warming the half pint on a coffee hot plate as i didn't notice the plate vibrate I just watched it come to the boil and was about to tell him he'd got my order wrong.....

hibby

shindig-jp wrote: »

Thanks for the pictures hibby . Did you get to speak to the manager ? I have a little surprise. The Irish manager's sister is married to the Japanese owner of Murphys he's called Miyachi-san .

Miyachi has a Yakisoba Stall in the Peoples Park in Dun Laoghaire so you can mix a little Irish connect into your blog on Japan and Osaka .

I may have another connection - if the manager is a guy called Michael O'Carroll he was in my sister's class in school, and my mother was his teacher.

I'm not sure if it's the same stall but I've bought Japanese food from a stall in the People's Park in Dún Laoghaire. Does the owner Miyachi-san live in Ireland?

shindig-jp

hibby wrote: »

I may have another connection - if the manager is a guy called Michael O'Carroll he was in my sister's class in school, and my mother was his teacher.

I'm not sure if it's the same stall but I've bought Japanese food from a stall in the People's Park in Dún Laoghaire. Does the owner Miyachi-san live in Ireland?

You have connected the dots . Yes he lives in Ireland.


have a good one hibby and looking forward to reading more blogging

ironictoaster

Really enjoy reading this, got it bookmarked!

Konata

Cheers for posting the blog hibby, I LOVE reading about people's experiences in Japan - no matter how big or little!

Looking forward to reading more

thechanger

@hibby Thanks for sharing your blog. May I ask in what area do you work and how did you happen to find employment in Japan (Before or when you arrived)? Do you work in a Japanese speaking environment?

I'm asking mainly as my wife (Japanese) and I hope to relocate to Japan in the year or two.

Thanks

hibby

Hi thechanger,

I didn't have to find a job in Japan because I was seconded to work here by my Irish employer, so the job was fully arranged before I arrived. Unfortunately that means I am being paid in euros, which aren't worth very much at present!

I am working in a Japanese-speaking environment in a Japanese-speaking company (regional gas supply company). However my own Japanese ability is very much not up to the task of doing useful work in Japanese, so my colleagues are being very helpful and accommodating in working with me in English. For example I will be giving a presentation this afternoon, in English.

Of course I am doing my best to learn but (as you may know) it's not easy!

Sorry that's not very helpful for you. I wish you the best of luck in finding a good job and moving here.

funky penguin

Hibby that's excellent to hear such accommodation with English! Sometimes the English teachers I work with get frustrated with my lack of Japanese. ENGLISH teachers.

hibby

Yeah, my colleagues are very good and I know how lucky I am. I am doing my best to use Japanese for "normal" (i.e. non-work) conversations. But there's just no way I can work in Japanese, not yet anyway.

It looks like the rainy season has just started today!

crazygeryy

hibby wrote: »

I've been living in Osaka for 8 weeks now, thoroughly enjoying it (if I didn't have to go to work, it would be 100% brilliant) and to my surprise, not experiencing any culture-shock at all.

I've been keeping a blog (when I have time, which is mostly at weekends) about Japan and what it's like to live here. It's not about "big" stuff - the idea is that each post is about some small detail and maybe eventually it builds up into a picture of life here.

It's mainly for friends and family back home in Ireland so that I can share my thoughts and my photos, but it occurred to me that some people here might be interested too, so please feel free to drop by. No ads, nothing commercial, just my words and photos.

awordfromjapan.wordpress.com

I stumbled on this yesterday.what a brilliant read/blog.I'm really enjoying it keep it up.

helimachoptor

Great read Hibby!

hibby

Thanks guys. I just had my final exam yesterday for a course that was making me very busy, so I will have more time for blogging now.

JapanZone

Nice blog, Hibby. I haven't spent much time in Osaka so it's nice to get a glimpse of an Irishman's life there. I started my own Japan website many years ago (before the word blog even existed!) so I'm always interested in other people's efforts.

Someone already clued you in to the INJ and I'd definitely recommend that you make use of it. I was in Tokyo for 16 years and never really made any effort to get involved - ironically it was only earlier this year that I found out that a classmate from college was one of the original founders of INJ! - but after I moved to Nagoya 6 years ago I got more involved in various networks. In Tokyo there was a fair amount of...I suppose you could call it snobbery, or at least a focus on how much money you made and how many nights a week you'd spend in Paddy Foleys in Roppongi!

Here in Nagoya the Irish community is small and, as a result, fairly close knit. I've been helping organise the St Paddy's Day parade, which we've made into quite a big event here despite the small numbers. Osaka has one too and it's fun and worthwhile to get involved.

Having said all that, I'm moving back with the wife and kids to live in Dublin in less than a month's time. Not the best time to be moving to Ireland (or Europe in general) perhaps but there's never a perfect time. After so many years here I'll want to keep in touch as much as I can and reading blogs like yours will be one way to do so.

Beruthiel

Hibby,
I notice from your blog that you live in Sakai.
I presume you know the area a bit at this stage, ie - have you been to Kyoto yet?
How about Nara?

Would you say if you've seen Kyoto, that Nara is more of the same, or a must see as well?

I'll be over in Kyoto and Tokyo during November.

funky penguin

Beruthiel, hibby will definitely be able to answer this better, but I'll give you my 2c in case it helps!

Kyoto is amazing. It's such a beautiful city! However.....if you have the time, try and get to Nara! Just visiting Kiyomizu temple and seeing/feeding the deer is a really nice experience (theough the smell is a little off putting! :pac:)

Dont be at yourself

Kyoto is amazing. The highlight of any trip to Japan.

Nara isn't quite more of the same (it's much, much smaller), but it's a nice day trip. I think Funky Penguin is actually thinking about Todaiji rather than Kiyomizudera (which is in Kyoto). It's the temple with the massive statue of Buddah. Lovely place, and you can try to crawl through Buddah's nostril for good luck!

If you do pop down to Nara for the day, make sure you stop off at Fushimi Inari on the way back to Kyoto. Walking around this place in the dark is a great experience. Spooky, but cool.

funky penguin

Woops! You're 100% correct! ごめんね！

hibby

Beruthiel wrote: »

Hibby,
I notice from your blog that you live in Sakai.
I presume you know the area a bit at this stage, ie - have you been to Kyoto yet?
How about Nara?

Would you say if you've seen Kyoto, that Nara is more of the same, or a must see as well?

I'll be over in Kyoto and Tokyo during November.

I strongly recommend a visit to Nara. For me, it's much more enjoyable and less hectic than Kyoto. If you're like me, you may even prefer Nara.

So I would say yes, it is a must-see; it's not just more of the same. It's a very different experience.

One thing that left me with a very positive feeling about Nara. I was there with my wife, my dad and my stepmother some years ago. We somehow ended up at this place where volunteers provide a Japanese cultural experience for tourists. My wife and stepmother got all done up in kimonos and my dad and I were dressed up as bushi. Then we ducked into a little tea house to experience the tea ceremony; just the four of us and the guide.

The amazing thing is, it was all free of charge!

I'm not sure how to find out about it but it's definitely a good thing to do.

Dara

Jimoslimos

Oh Nara is lovely, damm deer are a bit pushy though!

Beruthiel

hibby wrote: »

We somehow ended up at this place where volunteers provide a Japanese cultural experience for tourists.

Nice one hibby!
I just found this site.
I find it difficult to believe that they actually give up their time like this for free.
In reality, are you expected to give some sort of token or money?
My suspicious nature is asking, what's the catch?

hibby

I found the one I was talking about. http://kimono-dress.blogspot.jp/ It seems we got lucky because it's just once a month (second Tuesday), and we happened to be there on that day. I can't even remember how we found out it was on.

So, it's called "Join Japan Nara", 2nd floor of Nara City Tourism Centre on Sanjo Street, 2nd Tuesday of every month.

Beruthiel wrote: »

Nice one hibby!
I just found this site.
I find it difficult to believe that they actually give up their time like this for free.
In reality, are you expected to give some sort of token or money?
My suspicious nature is asking, what's the catch?

I honestly don't know. It seems so generous of them to give up their time, you feel like you should give something in return, maybe a gift from Ireland or something. But I don't see any indication that that's expected.

Beruthiel

Well, I've decided to get in contact with this chap.
I had a mooch around his facebook to see if he was legit and came across this fella.
His page says he works at Osaka Gas and I thought of you. You work there too, no?
You might even know him!

hibby

Beruthiel wrote: »

Well, I've decided to get in contact with this chap.
I had a mooch around his facebook to see if he was legit and came across this fella.
His page says he works at Osaka Gas and I thought of you. You work there too, no?
You might even know him!

That's gas! (bad pun intended)

No, I haven't met him but he looks like an interesting guy. He's studying in Norway.

Did you see your guide's status:
"Just finished the longest hours guiding, cruising home with thoughtful gifts."?

It looks like maybe gifts are, if not expected, certainly appreciated by the volunteer guides.

Beruthiel

hibby wrote: »

Did you see your guide's status:
"Just finished the longest hours guiding, cruising home with thoughtful gifts."?

It looks like maybe gifts are, if not expected, certainly appreciated by the volunteer guides.

Ya. Saw that.
So, if he becomes our guide I'll bring something from Ireland over for him.

opinion guy

Dont be at yourself wrote: »

Kyoto is amazing. The highlight of any trip to Japan.

Agreed! I far prefered it to Tokyo.
although I never made it ias far as Nara

Sindri

I love your dogs.

Are they miniature American Eskimo dogs?

hibby

Thank you! The two dogs are Japanese Spitzes (nihon spitz), which is I think the same breed as American Eskimo, or at least very similar.

They are great companions, very loyal and affectionate and have endless stamina. They especially love running up mountains. They like cold weather and snow; the Japanese summer is a bit of a trial for them.

One of them has been with us since he was a puppy; the other one is a rescue dog, that we adopted from a shelter 2 years ago. There's a lot of jealousy or rivalry between them!

Sindri

Thank god they're all right any way. They look a bit of a handful.

Beruthiel

Love the pic of your dogs watching you eat while in the ryokan hibby.
btw - you should have a link to your blog in your sig.
Makes it easier for the rest of us to stalk you.

hibby

Great idea, Beruthiel, thanks!

Tar.Aldarion

Really enjoyed the blog, thanks

Would love to visit japan, dunno how easy a vegetarian with no Japanese would find it there though.

hibby

I believe it would be very hard for a vegetarian to get by here. It's hard to understand, because I think Japan has its own (religious) vegetarian tradition, and has a huge amount of non-meat foods (such as tofu). But if you go to a restaurant, they don't have vegetarian options. Even food that doesn't explicitly have meat in it is likely to be made with meat or fish broth or other non-vegetarian ingredients.

I remember trying to assemble a vegetarian meal by ordering side-dishes that supposedly didn't contain meat. One dish contained fish-flakes and another contained tiny pieces of ham.