Moving to Tokyo. Any advice?

[gkanai]

So I'm moving to Tokyo on April 1 for at least 1 year. My company's paying for my move so I'm making the most of that.

Does anyone have any advice for me in terms of stuff to bring over that one wouldn't necessarily be obvious? My main categories of stuff would be:

clothing
media (music/books/etc.)
some furniture (bed, collapsible shelving, collapsible table)
some cooking stuff (good pots/pans/etc.)

Not sure if it's worth bringing my nice mountain bike as I don't see myself using it much in Tokyo.

I'll be getting an Intl' Drivers License for use for at least that first 12 months.

TIA!

[gkanai]

Oh, also any recommendations (for/against) cell phones and mobile providers would be appreciated too.

gen

[gomichild]

As far as clothing goes that really depends on your size. Large clothing is available here but you have to seek out the shops to get it. As far as furniture and things go...well if your company is paying then maybe go fir it - although you won't know the size of your living space until you get here.

Most people put there stuff in storage at home and then scout around the sayonara (goodbye) sales for cheap things.

[plasticparadox]

well, as i'm sure you know, there are three major keitai companies in japan;

ntt docomo, j-phone, and au. i heard tu-ka was bought out by j-phone or something.

i personally have docomo, but i've heard about good experiences from au as well. j-phone is popular for it's camera phones and also because they got beckham-sama to appear in advertising. au's strong point is it's cdma 2000 network and also it's 'world passport' service. this means you can take your au keitai back home and show it off.

docomo is the most popular (and most expensive) choice. it's generally regarded to have the best reception and the coolest phones.

that being said, i've had times when my docomo phone hasn't had reception (usually on trains).

just to give you an idea of how expensive japanese keitais are, my last phone bill cleared 13,000 yen. i am what i believe to be an average user.

now that i look back, if i could do it over again, i would gone with au (the cheap one).

[Taro Toporific]

... to bring over ... some cooking stuff (good pots/pans/etc.)

Good news: Most any household good that you could want is available in Tokyo. Bring what you normally use and you can buy anything else you need.

Bad news: There are several of nasty surprises that await you in terms of cooking here.
1. Stoves don't include ovens (because there's ain't any stoves in Japan).
2. You will have to buy for yourself a tabletop gas range because they're not normally included in your rented apartment (no frig or light fixtures either).
3. Good cooking stuff such as proper french-style sauce pans will do NOT work properly in Japan because those damn tabletop ranges have a lowest heat setting won't go below highish simmer.

---Taro, Cordon Bleu dropout

[plasticparadox]

posting more on the subject of keitais:

i did alot of my own research before getting my keitai.

keitai is a relatively new type of mobile phone. the previous standard was called PHS. PHS was phased out a number of years ago, but is still available. here's the main differences:

keitais have the prefix 090, while PHS has the prefix 080. while keitais have clearer reception and is generally preferred for voice communication, PHS is optimized for packet transfer and is now marketed for data purposes.

that being said, i know people with PHS and they don't seem to have problems with their voice service. it's also cheaper than keitai. i don't have exact figures, but the savings are substantial.

it's also worth mentioning that keitai is supposedly more reliable in areas with weak reception.

[plasticparadox]

i think you're referring to doccimo. phs has been around for longer than that.

http://www.phsmou.org/hotnews/doccimo.html

[plasticparadox]

cellular isn't keitai.

the term cellular (or cell phone) refers to analog service.

keitai is generally seen as digital cdma, in my view.

[plasticparadox]

translators aren't accurate, especially not to that degree.

many people in north america call their digital mobiles 'cellphones', though technically they aren't.

of course an online translator would put the terms 'keitai' and 'cellphone' together.

[gkanai]

Thanks for all the comments. It is definitely helpful.

I'm signing up for a Vonage IP Phone service here in the US and hoping it will work in TOkyo (otherwise, I'll just return it and cancel it and get YahooBBphone or whatever.) So I hope I can leverage the 'net for cheap calls home to New York.

For a keitai, I do want to try a camera phone and a service that's pretty flexible so I can post images to my weblog. I'm leaning away from DoCoMo.

[gkanai]

Oh, another question. Is there a difference between Broadband services? Or all they all the same basically?

[plasticparadox]

you need to be a bit more specific with the broadband question. if you're referring to the oft-argued cable vs. adsl issue, it depends on a number of things.

cable is shared, so it bogs when there's high usage in your area. if you want to get it installed, you need permission from whoever manages your apartment. also, your apartment building might need to be at least 3 floors high.

adsl is cheap, but you need an ntt phone line, which isn't. yahoo bb is about 3500 /mo. including dirt cheap long distance overseas. that's what i use, and it's speed depends on your location.

edit: and it sounds like your headed for j-phone. they definitely own the cameraphone market.

[ramchop]

some furniture (bed, collapsible shelving, collapsible table)

Western style furniture in a Japanese sized apartment can make your home look and feel really really small.

Sayonara sales are awesome, but get in quick. I scored a free fridge, oven, washing machine, coffee table, pots and pans, video, tv, cabinet, all in one go... only had to pay for the transport.

[bluepxl]

1. Stoves don't include ovens (because there's ain't any stoves in Japan).

then what on earth do you do for those things requring stove heat? i love baking things... how the heck do you bake lasangas and cookies and cakes and stuff??

[bluepxl]

translators aren't accurate, especially not to that degree.

many people in north america call their digital mobiles 'cellphones', though technically they aren't.

of course an online translator would put the terms 'keitai' and 'cellphone' together.

well, to be fair, that wasn't so much an online translator he was using (ie babelfish from altavista) as it was a dictionary. i know i know, it is translating from one language to another, but still is much more accurate than machine translation of entire sentences (again like babelfish). there is no doubt in my mind of accuracy of japanese-english dictionary services such as excite.[/quote]

[Taro Toporific]

1. Stoves don't include ovens (because there's ain't any stoves in Japan).

then what on earth do you do for those things requring stove heat? i love baking things... how the heck do you bake lasangas and cookies and cakes and stuff??

STARVE DUDE! Japanese don't bake.

Baking is rare upper-class thing here in Japan. Only the newest condo's offer as an option a semi-normal stove with oven.

But hey, you're gonna be an expat "God-on-the-Package" so your 1-million yen a month Homemat-style housing might actually include a SHeeeee-iTY 2- or 3-burner stove with a mini-oven guaranteed to burn everything.

Really motivated housewives (and hard-up F-gaijin like me) buy bi-sexual microwave ovens with a thermal/convection cooking option. Sad-sack gaijin make do with dog-doo toaster ovens...Thanksgiving turkey in a toaster oven, ARRRRRRGH!!!

[ramchop]

Sad-sack gaijin make do with dog-doo toaster ovens...Thanksgiving turkey in a toaster oven, ARRRRRRGH!!!

Hey, I managed to squeeze the Xmas turkey (=chicken) into the toaster oven and it turned out alright. The roast potatoes went a bit funny, but I prefer to blame my cooking talents rather than the oven.

Haven't tried baking hash cookies here yet, but there are reasons for that other than the toaster oven.

[Taro Toporific]

Sad-sack gaijin make do with dog-doo toaster ovens...Thanksgiving turkey in a toaster oven, ARRRRRRGH!!!

Hey, I managed to squeeze the Xmas turkey (=chicken) into the toaster oven and it turned out alright.

Hey, I often BACKPACK my own 25 kg oven to a holiday party 'cause I don't trust the hosts' cooking equipment (and make-do skills).
Remember: "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
- - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson


- - Taro, the holiday-guest-that-never-leaves and Cordon Bleu drop-out

[GomiGirl]

posting more on the subject of keitais:

i did alot of my own research before getting my keitai.

keitai is a relatively new type of mobile phone. the previous standard was called PHS. PHS was phased out a number of years ago, but is still available. here's the main differences:

keitais have the prefix 090, while PHS has the prefix 080. while keitais have clearer reception and is generally preferred for voice communication, PHS is optimized for packet transfer and is now marketed for data purposes.

keitai (short for keitai denwa) is used for any type of mobile phone handset.. PHS used to have the prefix 070 but most PDC phones have 090 prefixes.. now J-phone has started to use 080 numbers but I think that is because they were running out of 090 numbers..

Doccimo are a PHS/PDC combo phone.

BTW more than 60 million internet connected mobile phones in Japan.. that is not including PHS users.

PHS phones are now doing quite well in the data market competing against PC cards for wireless data/surfing on a laptop. I know somebody who uses a PHS phone to hook up his iMAC from home as he doesn't have a home phone connected. Everybody thought that PHS phones would die and quick and quiet death until some bright spark changed their marketing tactics and encouraged some cable manufacturers to make some suitable USB and serial connectors..

P.S. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not use automatic/machine translators.. they are nasty and will hurt your communication more then helping it.. There are some great E-J dictionaries around - even some that you can access from your mobile phone..

[kamome]

translators aren't accurate, especially not to that degree.

many people in north america call their digital mobiles 'cellphones', though technically they aren't.

of course an online translator would put the terms 'keitai' and 'cellphone' together.

well, to be fair, that wasn't so much an online translator he was using (ie babelfish from altavista) as it was a dictionary. i know i know, it is translating from one language to another, but still is much more accurate than machine translation of entire sentences (again like babelfish). there is no doubt in my mind of accuracy of japanese-english dictionary services such as excite.

[/quote]

Blue is correct. The online dictionaries are completely reliable for translations of single words.

Also, most of the people on this board are fairly proficient, if not fluent, in Japanese, and that includes Ultra. So to nitpick on such a basic thing as the meaning of the word "keitai denwa" is a waste of time for a newbie like you, plasticparadox.

[plasticparadox]

oy vay.. getting too technical for me.

on the subject of ovens:

you can actually buy combination microwave/oven deals from most denki shops. i'm not sure how good they are at baking.

don't even try the fish oven in your gas stove.. we tried baking cookies, it wasn't good.

[plasticparadox]

Also, most of the people on this board are fairly proficient, if not fluent, in Japanese, and that includes Ultra. So to nitpick on such a basic thing as the meaning of the word "keitai denwa" is a waste of time for a newbie like you, plasticparadox.

you don't have to be an ass about it. is that how you talk to people in your everyday conversation?

[Taro Toporific]

on the subject of ovens:
you can actually buy combination microwave/oven deals from most denki shops. i'm not sure how good they are at baking.

I own one. There're piss-poor at baking, since the bi-sexual microwave/ovens have neither any insulation nor the proper thermal mass (thus making things such as souffle almost impossible).

don't even try the fish oven in your gas stove.. we tried baking cookies, it wasn't good.

Fish cookies! That's better than unagi pie!

[GomiGirl]

This is from my friend as I don't cook!!!

You can buy table mounted ovens.. larger than a toaster oven but look similar. They have a timer and a temperature setting dials.. Roasts, cakes, cookies are no problem. You do need to keep your eyes on them as the heating is not uniform like in a fan-forced oven. So cakes you will need to turn around to ensure they rise evenly.

But christmas turkey with all the trimmings was no problem. Same with lasagne.. Happy baking..

[Big Booger]

screw the cooking.. just hit the konbeni after work.. no worries

[gkanai]

Thanks again for the comments on broadband. It seems as if ADSL on an NTT line is the way I want to go. And a J-phone cellphone too.

I'm not much of a baker so while I appreciate the discussion, I'm not too worried about that.

[bluepxl]

ya i love havin people over and backing tight things for them... i don't know how i would do without

[jasper]

What's all this about ovens/stoves:

For many years used one of those two burner propane stove tops with the fish grilly thing - survived. Then got one of those covenction/micro thingys - missing the occasional roast something - wasn't impressed. Now switched to place with natural gas and have a stove top, grill thing and gas oven - reasonable enough size to cook a turkey (maybe not a huge one). All bought in Japan, not too expensive, and I don't live in some upscale condo.

Though I admit I'm no great cook anyway You can get all you need to cook here - far as I can see. (would love to find a reasonably priced dishwasher of a size suitable for, well, not washing dishes everyday )

Jasper

[gomichild]

Most of my mates do their roasting in BBQ's...

[GomiGirl]

Most of my mates do their roasting in BBQ's...

I was surprised to hear from my mates on the weekend that they are not allowed to BBQ on the balcony of their apartment...