Studying in Utsonomiya from September

Hi,

My name is Peter, Im 30 year old British student studying Japanese Language and TESOL at UCLAN in Preston. From September I'll be spending an academic year at Utsonomiya University as part of my course. I've been to Japan twice before but must admit I know very little about Utsonomiya.

Is there anyone out there who could help me out with some basic information?

For example, I've been allocated £7,200 for my stay, which (at the moment) is about 100,000 yen. Is this enough to live for a year in Japan? My accomodation will cost around 7000 yen a month, I'm told.

Can anyone tell me anything interesting about the area? Or are there any students at the university (native or gaijin) who can tell me anything about their experiences there?

I'm also interested in all aspects of the city itself. Does it have any historical importance? What's the nightlife like? Is it a nice place to live?

As I am training to be an English teacher, what are the chances of me getting paid part-time work teaching English during my stay?

Any information would be appreciated!

Thanks very much!

I think you got some numbers mixed up - 7,200 sterling should be about 1,000,000 (one million) yen. And maybe the rent is 70,000 yen a month?? That for a year would already take away 840,000 from your one million yen.

It's not going to be enough. You would want double of that, and three times of that if you plan to travel to Tokyo and enjoy yourself once in a while.

I lived in Utsunomiya for a while. It's a very car driven city. Rather boring in my opinion. The night life is mediocre but I wasn't ever interested in that. Most people just go to izakaya and hang out with friends.

Utsunomiya is known for jazz and gyoza. I wouldn't say that their gyoza's are the best but the residents of that city are known for the most consumption of gyoza in Japan.

I would say it's rather a suburban area.