Looking for a small town in Japan to move to

Hello .. ok, this might seem very particular but ..

I am hoping to move to Japan in about 4 years time once I have enough money saved.
I am going to try and buy a house outright so I will own it.
No renting, etc.

What I wanted to ask was more about locations.

I am looking for a small town, possibly west coast, near a Sake brewery, so, lots of open countryside around it, rice fields, etc .. and which has a Shinto Temple.

If anyone could give me some names of towns like I describe I would be very grateful.
:)

Before thinking about where you want to live in Japan you should focus on how to get a residency permit/visa.

Bying a house or a flat does not give you a residency permit.

PS: When you go to live in another country in which you are not a citizen it is called emigrating NOT "moving", you have deal will with something called immigration bureau, visa, residency permit, visa renewal...
You move inside your country. You emigrate to another country.

You move inside your country. You emigrate to another country.

huh? lol
I have never heard of that definition. Please show me proof.
It's common to say "moving abroad."

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/abroad

https://www.gov.uk/moving-or-retiring-abroad

How much do you plan to save before coming?

I am going to try and buy a house outright so I will own it.
No renting, etc.

What I wanted to ask was more about locations.

I am looking for a small town, possibly west coast, near a Sake brewery, so, lots of open countryside around it, rice fields, etc .. and which has a Shinto Temple.


I'm just wondering whether you have ever actually visited Japan already and if so, what makes the west coast particularly attractive? Why do you need to live near a sake brewery?

If you haven't actually visited Japan, it may be wise to come over to see what it's like before making the decision to start a new life here.

BTW, (with only a very few exceptions) Temples are Buddhist and Shrines are Shinto. Is it Shinto that's important to you or being near a temple? Ultimately it won't matter though as there are temples and shrines everywhere so wherever you are, there will be a temple or a shrine somewhere nearby.

However, as Gaby mentions, the bigger issue is how you plan to get a residency permit so that should be the focus.

Japan doesn't really have a "west coast" unless you mean the west coast of Kyushu.

Ok, to answer a few of your questions first ..

"Before thinking about where you want to live in Japan you should focus on how to get a residency permit/visa."

This has already been looked into. Thank you.


"PS: When you go to live in another country in which you are not a citizen it is called emigrating NOT "moving", you have deal will with something called immigration bureau, visa, residency permit, visa renewal..."

Yes, I already understand all of this.
It has nothing to do with my original question about locations in Japan.
I am really looking for someone who has travelled to the quieter countryside regions of Japan, with a particular interest in the smaller towns of Japan.


"How much do you plan to save before coming?"

A lot :)
Trust me. A lot.


"I'm just wondering whether you have ever actually visited Japan already and if so, what makes the west coast particularly attractive? Why do you need to live near a sake brewery?"

Yes, 4 times altogether .. Tokyo and Kyoto, of course, but also places in the north, Hokkaido region, Sapporo, etc .. and places in the south, Fukuoka, etc.
But, the last time we went to Japan was nearly 20 years ago now.

The reason for the west coast is there is less likelihood of tsunami damage at some point in the future .. and the reason for the Sake brewery is because I want to get to know Sake on a professional level. :)



"BTW, (with only a very few exceptions) Temples are Buddhist and Shrines are Shinto. Is it Shinto that's important to you or being near a temple? Ultimately it won't matter though as there are temples and shrines everywhere so wherever you are, there will be a temple or a shrine somewhere nearby.

That's good to know .. it is Shinto that's important as I'd like to eventually dedicate some of my life to the study of Shinto.



"However, as Gaby mentions, the bigger issue is how you plan to get a residency permit so that should be the focus."

Yep, don't worry, that's a top of the list priority, I intend to live the rest of my life in Japan so permanent residency is already being looked into.



I really just wanted some ideas about small towns as I want to live quietly in a small place, get to know my neighbours properly, live the rest of my life there .. essentially to retire, but not become inactive as I will need a place which is big enough for an Art Studio.

Thanks for all your replies so far.

The sake brewery is going to be your most limiting factor, since there probably aren't too many in a rural setting like you describe. I would start with trying to locate those. And I would contact them to see if they would welcome your involvement before I go and buy a house nearby. If the brewery is an critical factor, that's probably going to dictate everything else.

Check out the Niigata prefecture, or more precisely Joetsu, not Joetsu-shi obviously, but more towards the rural areas. Been there before, beautiful places, I know someone who works at a sake brewery during the winter.

"The sake brewery is going to be your most limiting factor, since there probably aren't too many in a rural setting like you describe. I would start with trying to locate those. And I would contact them to see if they would welcome your involvement before I go and buy a house nearby. If the brewery is an critical factor, that's probably going to dictate everything else."

Yeh, the brewery isn't a major factor, really .. but, I thought there might be a few in smaller locales .. a bit like micro-breweries here in the UK. Family run businesses and so on.
But, yes, I will thoroughly check out and locate breweries as part of my search profile.
Thank you!

_________________________________


"Check out the Niigata prefecture, or more precisely Joetsu, not Joetsu-shi obviously, but more towards the rural areas. Been there before, beautiful places, I know someone who works at a sake brewery during the winter."

Excellent, thank you.
That gives me a starting point, something I can reference for other locations if this doesn't exactly fit my list of preferences. :)

I stand corrected. My apologies.
Western caucasians = moving abroad
Colored people = emigrating

Western caucasians = exptatriates
Colored people = immigrants

to come back to the original question: tottori should be quite nice. for a city of that size it is has one of the cheapest ground and house prices in japan.

it has plenty of onsen near and in town, the sea with even nice beach and dunes there. from culinary perspective it is also very good and it is not very touristic either.

Hmmm, ok, the west coast might not get tsunami, but they do get typhoons and lots of snow (which has crippled some of the coast and resulted in at least one death this week.)

Personally I liked some of the northern parts when I visited (travelling from Akita south). One of the spots that appealed was Sakata when we passed through.

Do you speak Japanese well?

"I stand corrected. My apologies.
Western caucasians = moving abroad
Colored people = emigrating"



You may think in these racially divisive terms .. I do not.

I used the term 'move' purely as an English colloquial term.
If you do not understand English in this kind of detail, I really do understand that .. but, please do not try to impose your racial interpretations onto others when they do not exist.


____________________________________________


"to come back to the original question: tottori should be quite nice. for a city of that size it is has one of the cheapest ground and house prices in japan.
it has plenty of onsen near and in town, the sea with even nice beach and dunes there. from culinary perspective it is also very good and it is not very touristic either."



That sounds perfect, thank you :)
Onsen is something else I wouldn't mind having quite close.

I don't want to live in a very mountainous area, I know there are many mountains in Japan .. but, having hot springs close by would be a definite plus on my list of preferences :)


__________________________________________



"Do you speak Japanese well?"


Very poorly.
Part of the idea of moving to Japan is to submerge myself into the local cultural life to such a degree that Japan becomes my first spoken language after a few years or so :)

"Hmmm, ok, the west coast might not get tsunami, but they do get typhoons and lots of snow (which has crippled some of the coast and resulted in at least one death this week.)
Personally I liked some of the northern parts when I visited (travelling from Akita south). One of the spots that appealed was Sakata when we passed through."



Thank you for this information.
Yes, I understand that any region or area isn't going to be completely immune to environmental problems, considering the geolocation of Japan .. but, one or two deaths per year due to typhoons is a lot more acceptable than the hundreds of thousands of potential deaths whenever some deep sea quake happens.

So, west coast it is :)

I also really loved the northern parts of Japan, and I think I'd really love to spend a few long, hard winters in some remote area of Hokkaido, just for the fun of it!

I will take a very close look at Sakata.
The names of places gives me some idea of where and what to look at.

It's curious that there is not very much information online regarding the more secluded, rural areas of Japan .. but, then I suppose Tokyo does take a lot of the attention.

Thank you!

" and it is not very touristic either"



Yes, not being very 'touristy' is something I really would prefer.

How nice , dreams come true , good luck

Nechi, Niigata, near Itoigawa. Shrines and temples are everywhere in Japan, so they aren't hard to find, but Nechi is home to a famous sake brewery (see here: http://www.japan-guide.com/tour/2015/e/south/day31.html), is close enough to a bigger city and a Shinkansen station, but is definitely small town. You'll be dealing with snow of course.

"How nice , dreams come true , good luck!"

Thank you!

Yes, small town life in Japan is something I've thought about for years now.
Just me, some local friends I make while I live there, my Art Studio, enjoying the beautiful place and people that is Japan.
:D