Moving to Tokyo

[Pinktulips]

Thank you all for your opinions.....have been following the thread religiously...am certain the varied opinions have been helpful not only to me but many others readers of the forum probably in same scenario....believe everyone have right to their opinion on an open topic of discussion...

For now my update is that hubby is presently in Japan...will update his opinion & findings upon his return...

Enjoy the winters...am certainly missing the crisp & cool weather here in Singapore

[nupat]

Hi Pinktulips,

My wife and I are actually in the same position (with 6 month old) so this thread has been extremely helpful.

I'm wondering if you ended up moving to Tokyo and if you have any suggestions/recommendations/change in thoughts?

[Pinktulips]

Hi Nupat,

I can understand your situation. It was a very difficult decision for us too. I suggest trying every source to get info to make a proper decision.

We actually decided not to move to Tokyo at present. I met a couple of families with toddlers who moved to Singapore fearing radiation effect. Also, read similar topic on parenting forums where people shared their experience of being affected/ carrying radiation.

Also, Singapore papers have been reporting on the effects of radiation or radiation found at new places, etc. for us presently this looked like the better decision. In the absence of knowledge of Japanese language, you would not know which food is coming from where & per various baby books baby's brain etc is still developing. An infant can be affected by radiation exposure man times more than an adult.

At the same time I know of people who have been living for years in Japan with young children (not infants) who refuse to leave Japan as its second home to them & they love their life there. Guess its individual decision.

I feel sad to write this since we really wanted to move to Japan. Beautiful country beautiful people. We hope shall be an opportunity in futur when baby is grown up.

Wish you make the best decision for your family.

[nupat]

Hi Pinktulips,

Sorry for the long delay and thank you for your candid feedback. We've also decided to relocate to Singapore instead of Tokyo. I do think we can have a safe environment for our infant in Tokyo/Japan, but like you said with the language barrier and unfamiliarity with the culture I think it will add more stress and difficulties. I think it would be a different story if we were completely fluent in Japanese and already had a network of family and friends.

There's always an expected amount of challenges from the culture shock of moving to a new country (part of why some of us want the expat experience), but I think trying to do that as well learning all the new responsibilities (and worries) of being a new parent may not be the best decision for our sanity.

I think Singapore will be the best choice right now - especially at this stage of being a new family - but hope to eventually live in Japan when the baby gets older... at least to toddler age.

Hope you are enjoying Singapore!