One way ticket to Japan.....OK???

[Guest]

UG, you coming on a tourist visa? work? If you have a job here I don't think you'll get many hassles but on a tourist visa...

Immigration is always selective. Your dapper, elegant appearance should get you through.

 

My advice is buy a return ticket from BKK-JPN (NRT or KIX) open for a year. That way you've always got a free ride to Thailand and you'll save some serious coin. Just looking at an emergency escape now for Sunday -- 169,000 yen direct with ANA, 72,000 yen with Bangladesh Air

[..]

"Just looking at an emergency escape now for Sunday -- 169,000 yen direct with ANA, 72,000 yen with Bangladesh Air "

 

Yeow. Dunno if it helps, but a couple of weeks ago I got an email from Northwurst advertising B13,500 BKK-NRT-BKK through end of September I think (deleted it and I do not remember).

 

Cheers,

SD

[Guest]

Thanks but the trouble for me there is the oneway ticket to LOS. From here it's only about 13 yen cheaper!

 

That NW deal sounds sweet out of BKK but from here it would be double during the great summer vacation period.

[Guest]

A big thanks for all the help guys.......I will be entering Japan without a visa to do a language course and then look for work. My Irish passport gives me 3 months in Japan as a tourist but every agent here in Dublin says that I can only get a 2 month return not 12 months.......it's such a load of bollocks.....I think that I'll wait and get a return ticket when I get to BKK just to be sure to be sure, hahahah.

 

Loking forward to a session in Tokyo some day after the 10 October.

 

UG

[USVirgin]

KLM, SAS, Air France and Alitalia have 3 month fares from Dublin to Tokyo. Everyone has 12 month fares, but I guess they'd be quite a bit more expensive than the 2 month.

 

Buying that return ticket in BKK might be the best way to go. As I understand it, market prices in Japan are much higher than those in Thailand, or about anywhere else. In any case, having to shop for a one-way ticket out of Japan is the last thing you want to do. Good luck.

[UAL875]

"Loking forward to a session in Tokyo some day after the 10 October."

 

Can't help you with the one-way ticket question chief as I have a big fat Visa in my passport allowing me unlimited entry in and out of the Land of the Rising Sun and Vending Machine. But more importantly, where are you basing yourself when you arrive? ...Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe my memory is all but gone these days. Anyway forget having the meeting at the Slobgobblin in Tokyo - I was just in Osaka today. Fuck me, it was cuties galore. Ridiculous really. I had forgotten how hot the Kansai chicks are... I need to get the discount shinkansen tickets lined up for an October group roadtrip down that ways...because when the chips are down, we ride the bullet train.

[Guest]

Hiya

 

Not sure about that yet, my language course in Kanazawa ends up with two days sightseeing in Tokyo so will probably stay on there for a while to look for work......but rents in Osaka are cheaper....and that is crucial until I find work.... c u in Tokyo.

 

Uniformguy

[think_too_mut]

I don't know how you can find an apartment without being employed. I can't believe anyone would even talk to you.

 

IMO, you will end up sharing with someone or in monthly accommodation that is more expensive than apartment.

 

IMO, in your position, there will be no significant difference between accommodation cost in Osaka and Tokyo.

 

Make connections with other people on the course, you will all be in the same boat.

 

Agencies will ask your employer to produce a memo stating your position. Once you've done that, then you pay:

 

1 month rent to the agency for finding you the apartment

2 months rent to the landlord "key money"

The above 3 months worth of rent is non-refundable, it's money going up in smoke.

2-3 months deposit (you may see 1 month back)

1 month rent in advance.

 

After that, it is hard to change apartments as you will have to burn the above money again.

 

So, once you have found work, only then you find an apartment close to it. If the rent is 70K Y (that's what English teachers pay, about 700US$ per month), you will need 7 times that just to move in into an empty concrete shell and sleep on the floor. Most likelly 1 room, 22-28 sqm.

 

While unemployed, you can count on 600-1200US$ per month in a "Hotel for Foreigners" accommodation - a small room (12sqm or so).

 

See here, very central, Shinjuku is the busiest train station in the world:

http://www.sakura-house.com/

[the_numbers]

Nihon advice:

 

Uni-guy.

 

Hey there mate. A few notes.

 

First off, I have experience with Nihon and one-way tickets. No problem.

 

The only headache is the airline itself, and most airlines if they are worried about their liability as a carrier will just make you sign a statement that you are aware, and will pay for a ticket if you are refused entry. i.e. making you NOT their problem.

 

Getting a flat will be a nightmare. However, its quite easy IMHO to find a place with JUST a broker fee or JUST Key Money.

 

I think you'd be a fool now in Tokyo to pay a broker a month's rent and two month's key money... I don't know any Japanese friends or foreigners who've done this in the last four years. I know agencies do this, but those are not the best places to go shopping. I think even tokyo apartments website does not pull this anymore.

 

You might be a pinch though still once you find your dreambox because they will want someone to sign for you. That is: if you get a proper flat and not some errant gaijin house of sorts Also this would have to be an older fella/lass with cash - not a tart from Roppongi.

 

Still with me? 70K is low for any central area close to the train. Dunno?! Maybe if you're teaching and the school is setting you up. I think this is your plan, right?

 

The best I've seen recently for staying in a small albeit relatively new room in Megoru-ku, Naka Meguro, or Ebisu is easily 85,000Y and that's if you're lucky and know where to look.

 

I do agree Osaka will not save you much in the long run..

 

gan-bate-imasu

 

the_numbers

[think_too_mut]

>Getting a flat will be a nightmare. However, its quite easy IMHO to find a place with JUST a broker fee or JUST Key Money.

I think you'd be a fool now in Tokyo to pay a broker a month's rent and two month's key money... I don't know any Japanese friends or foreigners who've done this in the last four years. I know agencies do this, but those are not the best places to go shopping. I think even tokyo apartments website does not pull this anymore.

 

Just adding my experience. Took me 4.5 months to find an apartment. During that time I lived next door to the office, very central, comparable to Times Square in NY.

 

First, I looked into those who do not require key money and agency fee. Many were just one month deposit.

 

Then it starts: the places like that are usually the ones nobody wanted to rent for years. Or overpriced, or on a busy intersection, always something missing.

Web sites, especially ones that offer easy entry advertise exactly those places.

 

Now I am in a 44sqm condo, 3 minutes walk to the office, no trains. Full key money and all but the place is a proper one. 178K Yen, about 1700US$ per month.

 

If you don't mind hacking the trains and with a bit of luck, you can do it better than me.