How’s Life in Japan? — Part 1
Hi everyone! 👋 It’s been a while since my last update. I hope you are all doing well! It has officially been a year since I moved to Japan, and I am happy to report that I have survived and thoroughly enjoyed my first cycle of all four seasons! 🥳
Over the past year, I’ve received a few questions about life in Japan. Most of them come from friends back home who work in the same field as me: IT. As an Indonesian single woman working in tech — who moved here without knowing a single word of the language — I’ve decided to share my raw journey.
⚠️ Disclaimer: This article is entirely based on my personal thoughts, observations, and experiences.
Why Japan?
Since the very beginning of my career, I’ve had a burning dream to live abroad. I tried and failed a few times between 2020 and 2022, but I picked up the search again in 2025. My criteria were simple. I wanted a place where I could live comfortably — meaning great air quality, a perfect harmony between untouched nature and modern city life — with good earnings, all while remaining relatively close to my hometown of Pematangsiantar in North Sumatera.
Initially, I looked into Southeast Asian hubs like Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. However, due to high local graduate unemployment rates, getting a visa sponsorship there as a foreigner became incredibly difficult. That is when I turned my eyes toward East Asia.
My personal checklist for Japan:
- Breathtaking geography
Apart from the clean air, I fell in love with Japan’s scenery the moment I first visited. Did you know that about 73% of Japan’s landmass is completely mountainous? 😲 Living in a place where you can easily access both the sea and mountains, right next to modern skyscrapers, is an absolute dream. - A government that works
Even though taxes and social insurance deductions are noticeably high here, you can clearly see where your money goes (not the country named Konoha hehe). The infrastructure is flawless, the public transportation is perfectly on time, and the universal healthcare system gives you immense peace of mind. - The beauty of respectful distance
People often complain about extreme individualism in developed countries, but I actually see a beautiful side to it here. In Japan, people mind their own business, yet they remain deeply respectful. While it might be intimidating to strike up a random conversation with locals, the small gestures speak volumes. You’ll see them nod politely when passing you in a hallway or patiently hold open doors to let others pass first.
Let’s Talk Money: What is the Real Cost of Living?
When you look at the official numbers, the average monthly cost of living in the Kanto region is approximately ¥197,900 for a single person. Let's break that down realistically into the three main categories: housing, meals, and commuting.
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| REALISTIC KANTO MONTHLY BUDGET (SINGLE) |
+------------------------------+------------------------------+
| Rent (Sharehouse / Studio) | ¥60,000 - ¥85,000 |
| Food & Groceries | ¥30,000 - ¥45,000 |
| Utilities & Connectivity | ¥10,000 - ¥15,000 |
| Commuting / Transport | ¥5,000 - ¥10,000 |
| Social, Shopping & Misc * | ¥40,000 - ¥50,000 |
+------------------------------+------------------------------+
| ESTIMATED TOTAL | ¥145,000 - ¥205,000 |
+------------------------------+------------------------------+
* Includes cafe hopping, badminton/sports, clothing, and health.1. Housing (The Biggest Expense) 🏠
Rent will easily consume at least 30% of your salary. Tokyo Prefecture is by far the most expensive area, and prices skyrocket the closer you get to a train station. In Japan, a 15-minute walk to the station is actually considered "close"! 😱
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For housing, you generally have two main choices:
- Sharehouses ("Nge-kost"): A good budget option for single expats. You can find a nice room in a shared house for ¥60,000 to ¥80,000 in central Tokyo or Kanagawa.
- Apartments: A private studio or a "1K" apartment (where the kitchen is separated from the bedroom) averaging around 20–21 square meters will start at ¥70,000. Keep in mind that initial move-in fees (deposit, key money, agency fees) usually total 4 to 5 times the monthly rent.
2. Food & Groceries 🍽️🍎🥦🥤
If you cook at home, grocery shopping at budget supermarkets like OK Store or Life can save you a massive amount of money compared to convenience stores (konbini), which are roughly 30% to 50% more expensive for standard items.
If you prefer ready-to-eat meals, a pre-packaged bento box or a pork katsu curry bento from a mid-tier supermarket costs around ¥430, while a premium konbini bento sits closer to ¥650. For dining out on a budget, Japan’s famous fast-food chains (Sukiya, Yoshinoya, Matsuya) offer filling set meals starting at just ¥650. Sit-down takeout or casual restaurants generally average around ¥1,000 per meal.
3. Commuting 🚃
City buses generally charge a flat rate of around ¥200 to ¥250 per trip. For trains, pricing depends entirely on the distance. For example, my daily commute from Miyamae Ward's Miyazakidai Station (home) to Futakotamagawa Station (office) costs ¥180 per single trip for a 5.5 km ride. There’s also a commuter pass—mine costs ¥6,780 per month—and most employers in Japan reimburse this cost entirely.
How is the Work Culture in Tech?
Working in a Japanese IT company has been a great experience. While a few companies offer 100% remote work, the vast majority of tech firms utilize a hybrid policy requiring you to head into the office 2 to 3 times a week.
Engineering teams are incredibly diverse and full of international expats. For many pure software engineering roles, speaking Japanese is not a strict requirement. However, having basic language skills is still highly valued to communicate smoothly with cross-functional teams like product management or sales.
The traditional stereotype of Japanese companies forcing brutal overtime or mandatory after-work drinking sessions (Nomikai) is rapidly fading, especially in modern tech environments. Work hours are generally well-respected, and while team dinners happen, they are rarely forced upon you anymore.
⚠️ However, if you are planning to relocate, you need to move fast. The Japanese government has recently tightened immigration rules. Under the updated Japan Visa Regulations, certain smaller companies or customer-facing roles under the standard Engineer/Humanities work visa now require proof of CEFR B2-equivalent Japanese language proficiency (such as JLPT N2) to be approved. The immigration bureau is also implementing much stricter digital tracking over tax and social pension contributions.
Building a Social Life From Scratch
Because I arrived with zero Japanese skills 😅, my immediate path to making friends was finding English-speaking groups. Platforms like Meetup became my savior for finding local badminton and basketball communities.
Funnily enough, my very first badminton group was organized by fellow Indonesians! After playing together a few times, they introduced me to other multinational groups, and my social circle blossomed from there. There is nothing quite like laughing and sweating it out on a court to break the language barrier 😙
Aside from sports, social life here heavily revolves around trying new cafes and restaurants. Food culture is massive here; people will happily line up for an hour just to try a newly released dessert. Everything from cakes to seasonal snacks is incredibly delicious—and honestly, even the basic bakery bread inside a Japanese convenience store tastes way better than what I used to get back home! 😭
What’s Next?
Moving to Japan was a massive leap of faith, but one year in, I can confidently say it has been worth every hurdle.
Stay tuned for Part 2! I will dive into how I landed my IT job in Japan directly from Indonesia, along with a dedicated Q&A section. 🚀
