LIFESTYLE TIPS
Here's a collection of tips and advice about life in Iwate.
Transportation 移動手段
Buses in the Winter
Planning your commute around the daily weather forecast is a good idea, as bus delays can occur. If it snows, you can expect buses to run up to 20 minutes late. Another useful tip is to arrive 10 minutes late for the previous bus, as they are likely running behind.
Buying a Bicycle
Outside of the winter months, biking to work or around town is a good alternative to public transit. There are a few laws around using your bicycle, such as having to register it with local authorities and using electronics. But in general, it is a cheaper and healthier alternative to driving!
Getting an IC Card
In order to avoid the hassle of dealing with coins every time you take public transit, we recommend getting an IC card as soon as possible. IC cards (Suica, PASMO, ICOCA, etc.) use NFC technology and are used in place of train tickets. Physical IC cards can be issued at train stations, and if you have an iPhone, you can easily add a mobile IC card to your wallet. In many areas, you can also use your IC card for other transportation services, such as local buses. Other uses include paying for goods at vending machines and most major stores, including convenience stores. Having an IC card becomes very convenient if you plan to travel to large cities like Tokyo, as most services accept IC cards as a form of payment. Charging your IC card can be done online, in convenience stores or at any train station.
Life at Home 家での暮らし
Dehumidifers and Humidifiers
Summer in Iwate is hot and humid, which provides the perfect environment for mold and mildew to grow in your home, especially on clothes, carpet, and tatami mats. Use a dehumidifer or individual dessicant packs to keep the humidity level down.
Winter in Iwate is dry and very cold and using a heater at home dries out the air even more, leading to catching colds, getting a sore throat, and dry skin. Use a humidifier to keep the humidity level from dropping too low.
It is also useful to have a hygrometer to monitor the humidity level. They are fairly inexpensive and can be purchased at 100-yen stores, drugstores, and online.
Buying Garbage Bins/Cans
Japan is fairly strict about separating trash, which may take some getting used to as you settle in. You will find yourself having to separate different types of plastic and different types of paper in order to figure out what's burnable or non-burnable, and recyclable or non-recyclable. To get used to sorting out your trash, instead of scrambling to sort it the day before throwing it out, it is a good idea to buy separate trash bags and bins. In the long run, it saves a lot of effort and time, especially if you find yourself in a place where you have to throw out different types of trash frequently. It may be helpful to print out the garbage collection calendar for your specific municipality, which should be available on their website.
Learning How to Use Your Salamander
The salamander is a specialized high heat broiler located in the center of your stove which can be used for cooking and finishing a variety of foods. For example, fish is super cheap in Japan and using this oven is a really quick and easy way to prepare a healthy meal with a short prep time. For example, you can get fillets of Mackerel for about 150 yen a piece, to make a hearty, healthy, home cooked meal for under 500 yen that only takes 15-20 minutes to prepare (not including the rice cook time).
Buying Good Bedding
This might sound obvious, but given how you will be spending about 1/3 of your day sleeping, getting either good bedding or a good futon is recommended. A well-made futon will set you back around 15,000~35,000 yen, but is totally worth it as you will be using it for your entire time here. If you buy a poorly made one for ~6000 yen or less, you will most likely use it for a few weeks then give up. Buying a good bed from a place like Nitori (around 12,000-30,000 yen) is also recommended if your place doesn't have one already.
Getting a Rice Cooker
For those who don't already have a rice cooker and regularly eat rice, getting one here in Japan is a must! Buying a decent rice cooker that can make 3 or more cups of rice at a time is extremely useful because you can cut down the amount of times you make rice per week. Learning the settings and timing your rice cooking so it’s ready when you get home is also another great way to save time. Using the rice cooker is as simple as washing the rice, adding water, and pressing a button to start. Zojirushi and Tiger are a couple reliable, well-known brands if you don't know where to start looking.
Adapting to Local Life 新たな生活に慣れる
Eating Local Produce
Everybody has food that they miss from home, but as you will quickly discover, getting food that you would normally eat back at home comes as a high premium here. There are places such as Amazon, Rakuten and iHerb which sell imported foreign ingredients, but they tend to be on the pricier side. The more you can learn to cook using local ingredients and simple Japanese recipes, the cheaper food will become!
Recommendations from Locals
When you meet and talk with new people, ask them about their favorite spots in the area or recommendations for places to travel/explore. One of the main barriers for foreigners is our lack of access to information. Naturally, even if you are proficient in Japanese, your ability to understand situations in Japanese is not the same as your ability to do so in your native language. You may not notice this challenge until you've lived here for a couple months, but actively asking for information is more effective than trying to figure it all out on your own.
Taking Up Hobbies
Doing hobbies mutually with other people weekly is not only a great way to meet people, but they give you something in common to bridge the cultural and language gap that will often make it difficult to make friends. Shared activities help break the ice with people you first meet and gives you something in common with everyone in the room. Hobbies themselves are also often enriching, and provide a way to keep learning and growing throughout your stay in Japan, so please give it a shot.