Different types of expats

[easylife]

I don't think any post I've seen by that guy makes any sense.

[japanfan]

Originally Posted by synthia

Rent the movie Mr. Baseball and enjoy watching Tom Selleck making all the mistakes you will make. Pay special attention to the 'luxury' apartment. Prepare for major housing adjustments. Apartments have one bath, are small, and don't have closets. Japanese housewives cook on a two-burner gas cooktop. Air-conditioning is not the norm. If you want western-level housing, ask to see pictures of what you will be getting.

That housing might seem bad compared to western-level living, but it still provides all the needs. I prefer simple living than excess.

[Kassi®]

well im one of those expats who paid for my own airfare, organised my own accom and have now found a job. whoooop! all good so far! only been here 3 weeks. right near Inokashira Koen, quite luvly! apart from the cockroaches in the kitchen (i call the big one bitey) i am happy in my guesthouse. a change from the norm is always good!

[synthia]

Welcome, Kassi! I was one of the on-my-own types, too. Where is Inokashira Koen?

[larabell]

I think synthia's view of expats is overly simplified (to put it nicely). The range of benefits expats get from their companies varies wildly. I know of quite a few assignees living here (myself included) who would never have been able to come if the package included accomodations in Roppongi. Sure, there are some execs who come over with padded expense accounts but they are in the minority. It is far more common for a company to place the assignee in accomodations which are roughly the equivalent of what they were accustomed to in their home country which, for most of non-exec working grunts, means a reasonably sized concrete apartment not too far from their workplace. And, of course, there are quite a few expats who come on their own without company support. I doubt all of them teach English -- although I suspect that's the majority.

As far as what to negotiate... if your office is in or near Tokyo, try to get at least $3K per month for accomodations. That will *not* put you in Roppongi but it *will* get you a nice security apartment large enough that you don't feel like you're living in a closet with air conditioning. If you're lucky enough to work outside of the Tokyo area, you can get by with a lot less (like $1500 or so for a nice 2-br place).

Depending on the company and how badly they want you over here, you could try for:
a) cost-of-living allowance
b) company-paid Japanese lessons
c) company-paid tax preparation service (you will have to file in Japan too)

Make sure the assignment includes repatriation in the event you're canned, too.

BTW, I'm currently living in a 3-BR security building with plenty of closets, a large shower room, and a fully equipped kitchen in a nice neighborhood only 10 minutes from Shinjuku for about $2K/month. If I were living alone, I could get by with a 1-BR in the same area for less than $1K. Unless you're planning on not working at all, you do *not* have to live like Mr. Baseball in Japan.

[april]

Originally Posted by synthia

Welcome, Kassi! I was one of the on-my-own types, too. Where is Inokashira Koen?

It's in Kichijoji on the Chuo line, out from Shinjuku (Tokyo).

[synthia]

To me, what you describe as 'not Roppongi' sounds incredibly plush. Mr. Baseball was plush. In Tokyo I shared a three-bedroom apartment with three others, and also lived in a gaijin house for a while. But most of the time I lived at the Kimi Ryokan, sharing a room, and of course with shared showers, toilets, etc. Air-conditioning? The idea of a $3000 housing allowance? Teachers got, and still get, 250,000 yen per month, no housing allowance, and you usually had to come up with the non-refundable key money on your own (an exchange rate of around 120 yen to the dollar). We lived on about 2/3 of what you think is a minimum housing allowance. It's especially interesting since Japan has experienced deflation since then, and the cost of living is now lower.

While there may be a middle tier of expats, from my point of view there wasn't much difference between the middle and the upper, because they were all incredibly luxurious.

Equivalent housing to home is a luxury.

Whether you are in Roppongi or not, if you come over on an expat package you live in a different world than the ESL teacher.

[april]

Yes I agree. There is no way I can have equivalent housing here in Tokyo. But actually, I really like my tiny apartment better, it is easy to clean, heat and cool, and every bit of space is utilised, whereas homes back home have an awful lot of wasted space. I would love to have some kind of garden though.

Aside from housing, an acquaintance of mine came out with her husband on an expat package, and she recently had a baby. This is a topic I am very interested in as the idea of having a baby here in Tokyo is very overwhelming for me; trying to deal with the system and find all the ins and outs of which hospitals, paperwork, procedures etc. But when I asked what it was like for her, she remarked on how easy it was and very straight forward. After I questioned her further, it turns out everything was taken care of already by the HR department. Lucky!

[synthia]

Perhaps that is the major difference between the two types. Those with an expat package and a good salary have company that does everything it can to make things easy. The others usually have to find their own housing, make their own key deposits, and deal with things pretty much on their own, and having less money per month than our corporate package person, larabelle, thinks is a reasonable housing allowance just adds to it.

[cherieliu123]

Hi Thanks for your valuable information.

Cherie Liu