1. InterNations worldwide
2. »
3. Guides
4. »
5. Japan Expats
6. »
7. Japan Guide
8. »
9. Moving to Japan

Japan at a Glance

Japan’s Main Regions

Japan's countryside stands in stark contrast to its heavily urbanised metropolitan areas.

Where to Go

Most expats hardly ever end up in rural Japan. Instead of your living under blossoming cherry trees, moving to Japan will rather lead you into a heavily urbanized and densely populated environment.

Japan’s coastal cities have undergone a rapid process of urbanization, commercialization, and industrialization. This is mostly due to the lack of habitable space in the mountainous areas and the demand for arable land.

When you move to Japan, your own career or your partner’s job probably means settling in the Tokyo / Yokohama conglomeration, the Kansai region (Ōsaka – Kobe – Kyōto – Nara) or the Nagoya area. Among Japan’s 47 prefectures, these places on the main island are major destinations for expatriates.

The Greater Tokyo Area

As the country’s official capital city since 1868, Tokyo is, of course, the location for diplomats and journalists. The center of the Greater Tokyo Area (with over 13 million inhabitants in Tokyo proper!), this mega-city is not only Japan’s largest urban area.

It is also the world’s largest metropolitan economy and one of the globe’s three leading financial centers. It is home to the Tokyo Stock Exchange and to nearly 10% of all Fortune 500 companies as well as countless investment banks and insurance providers.

While Tokyo offers job opportunities for expats in finance, commerce, high tech and the heavy industries, it is one of the most expensive cities in the world. According to the Mercer Cost of Living reports in 2010 and 2011, Tokyo is the second-most expensive global city worldwide. However, Tokyo is also considered to be the most livable megalopolis. If you have the salary to afford your creature comforts, life in Tokyo can be quite enjoyable.

Yokohama

Yokohama, located south of Tokyo on the Tokyo Bay, has more or less merged with its slightly bigger neighbor into one giant metropolitan area. Just like its big sister, Yokohama belies its humble origins as a small fishing village.

Yokohama is the major commercial hub of the Greater Tokyo Area and a prominent port city. While shipping is still an important business, the city has also become a center for the bio-tech, pharmaceutical, IT and semiconductor industries. No wonder that it houses a foreign population of at least 77,000 residents.

The Kansai Region

Tokyo has been the financial and political brain of Japan ever since it became the seat of power under the Tokugawa shogunate. The Kansai region (also called Keihanshin), on the other hand, considers itself both Japan’s commercial “stomach” and its cultural “heart”.

The Kansai area is of great interest to expatriates for economic, academic, and cultural reasons. It includes the former merchant town of Ôsaka (third-largest city and home to headquarters of leading enterprises), the cosmopolitan port of Kōbe, and the heritage of Kyōto. Almost 20% of Japan’s population live in this region, and in 2011, it generated a 19% of the nation’s GDP as well. 

As an expatriate in the Kansai region, you might be working in the medical, chemical, or pharmaceutical industries, the electronics industry, robotics, IT or the energy sector. Kyōto figures prominently with its tourism industry as well as its film & TV productions. Kyōto and Ôsaka are home to research institutes and universities as well.

Nagoya and Chūkyō

Compared with Greater Tokyo or Keihanshin (Kansai region), the Nagoya region might seem small and almost cozy. However, Nagoya itself is still Japan’s third-largest city and the center of the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area.

Originally a planned town constructed around the first Tokugawa shogun’s beautiful 17^th-century castle, it is now a bustling port city (among Japan’s top five trading portals) and a hub for Japan’s manufacturing sector. Aerospace engineering and automotive business are represented among Nagoya’s various manufacturing industries.