My Experience Moving in Japan (Part 1)

It's old news now, but just a month after arriving in Japan with the JET Program I decided to move.

When I first arrived, I moved into my predecessor's old apartment. There were years of personal belongings accumulated, including an entire bench press setup, an ancient A4-sized Wacom Intuos tablet, a half-dozen musty futons, an entire shelf of dusty liquor bottles, kitchen appliances that probably hadn't been cleaned since their purchase...

Even though I lived in that apartment for a month, I was always finding new stuff that required cleaning.

The apartment itself was very nice and spacious, however. It had a lovely ocean-side view and in the morning, the sun would shine through the large sliding door in my bedroom. A cool breeze would come off the water. It was a 2LDK with one western and one tatami room, relatively spacious kitchen and separate bath and toilet. It was on a main street and close to work, so I always biked. It also had two chain supermarkets and inexpensive restaurants within walking distance. Not a bad deal at 60,000 yen a month (a little less than $600 USD).

View from my first apartment in Tanabe

The most charming part of my apartment ended up being the reason why I moved out: it was way way too close to the water.

Just an hour after landing at Kansai International Airport, in the whirlwind of meeting my new co-workers, predecessor, and supervisor I was informed of the Nankai Earthquake. It was never mentioned to me before my arrival, and my pre-arrival research didn't turn up any information about it. I was told that the region I would soon be working and living in was expected to have a mega earthquake -- one that only occurs every 90 to 200 years -- in the near future.

The lovely ocean at dusk, taken outside my apartment

The last time it happened was about 68 years ago now, so technically it shouldn't be due any time soon... but research shows that it will occur sooner rather than later. The resulting earthquakes are a magnitude of 8 or higher and produce a massive tsunami. Yikes.

My supervisor told me very bluntly that if such a massive earthquake occurred while I was at my apartment that the resultant tsunami would move so quickly that I could not reach a safe elevation before it made landfall. In other words, if this earthquake occurs, I will almost surely die.

The highest elevation in my old neighborhood was only about 4 meters (~13 feet) which would require me to travel over 20 minutes by foot to reach a decent elevation. Moreover, the district where my old apartment was located is separated from Central Tanabe by bridges that span Aizu River -- bridges that would probably not be standing after a strong earthquake.

Houses along the Aizu River

In the end, I decided to move so I could have the peace of mind knowing that I was safely inland. I was not only supported, but rather encouraged by my co-workers to make the move. I don't think I would have been able to go about the entire process without them. The move coincided with my boyfriend's arrival in Japan, so we found a larger apartment that could accommodate both of our belongings and vehicles (it's surprisingly hard to find places that provide parking for 2 cars included in the rent).

Anyways, I spent a little too much time rambling about earthquakes this evening (oops...)! In my next post I will be sure to write more about the process of searching, applying, and moving house!