Tsukuba-shi

When Dustin and I explain to people where we're about to go and what we're about to do, the most common question we get is, "Where will you be living in Japan?"  The truth is, though, that simply saying the prefecture and city name of our new hometown has little real-life impact.  Let's be honest.  When you ask a Japanese person where in Japan they are from and they respond with something like Yamaguchi or Kanagawa, can you actually picture where that is?  Most Americans probably can't.  

In the same turn, most Japanese people won't know where Tennessee is, much less Mt. Juliet.  However, we might have some luck explaining that we're from Nashville.  Famous city name recognition is much easier to get by with.  (Most everyone in the world knows where New York and Hong Kong are.  At the least, they recognize the name and can make some kind of connection.)  Like many of the Japanese people I've met, when faced with the question of where in Japan I will be living, I resort to saying something like, "Near Tokyo."

But this is a terrible generalization.

Tsukuba city is located in the prefecture of Ibaraki. (Think of prefectures as states or provinces.) The Tokyo prefecture is one prefecture down and to the left of Ibaraki. The capital of Ibaraki is Mito. The prefecture is mountainous in the northernmost part, but otherwise flat and covered with many lakes.

There are 32 cities in the Ibaraki prefecture.  One of these cities will be our home in just a couple weeks.

Tsukuba.

Tuskuba is the location of Tsukuba Science City - a planned city developed in the 60s for scientific research. It is the home of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (a.k.a. Japanese NASA), as well as Tsukuba University.  The Tsukuba Express can take us directly from our train station to the station in Akihabara - an area of Tokyo - within 45 minutes.  This is perfect for Dustin and I, being the geeks that we are.

If you don't know much about Akihabara, you were probably more popular in high school than we were.  Also referred to as "Electric Town," Akihabara is commonly considered the geek capital of the world.  From maid cafes to personal robotics stores, it is the ever-beating heart of the planet for all things dealing with video games, anime, comics, and technology.  Obviously, we will be making frequent trips.

Tsukuba itself is a pretty high-tech town.  Because of all the scientific research taking place in the city, we will be surrounded by some of the smartest people in the world and will get to see some of the most up-to-date technology out there. Want to see the first models of those crazy A.I. robots that will eventually take over our planet? Come visit us!

Amazingly, though, as technologically savvy as Tsukuba is, it is also a beautiful - if not even somewhat rural - city.  Set below the majestic Mt. Tsukuba, there are many opportunities for hiking and biking through the attractive scenery.  While living in Tsukuba, we should be able to happily enjoy a mixture of both country and city life.  Also, there is a higher-than-average number of foreigners living in Tsukuba. What this means to us is that Western products that we are used to having in America will be more readily available than in other Japanese cities.  This should make for a much easier transition.  

Overall, I think Tsukuba is going to be the perfect place to start our new lives.

Star Light, Star Bright...

I guess, sometimes, dreams can come true.

When my fiancée Dustin and I traveled to Japan during Christmas break of my sophomore year, we really thought we knew what to expect.  We had both been fans of Japanese culture and media for many years.  One of my best friends from college, Eri - who we would be traveling and staying with - had prepared me with many late night conversations in our dorm rooms at Martin Methodist College in the tiny, country town of Pulaski, Tennessee.

And in truth, the whole trip was pretty much what we had foreseen:  Eri's hometown of Numazu, Shizuoka was set beautifully between Mt. Fuji and the ocean shore.  Christmas was a time of pretty lights, television specials and Kentucky Fried Chicken.  New Year's was exciting and festive.  We loved the food - all of it.  The temples in Kyoto were gorgeous and majestic beyond compare.  There was anime on TV and J-pop on the radio.  Tokyo was almost too much to handle.

   

Really, there was only one major thing that took us by surprise.  By the time our trip was over, Dustin and I realized that we could honestly be very happy and comfortable living in Japan.

Already having a friend who had moved to Japan a few months earlier to teach English, the idea became solidified in my mind.  I began asking questions and doing research.  My interest in Japan became more serious.  Before long, Dustin and I both began to realize that Japan was on our minds constantly.  The idea of going back - of staying much longer - began to haunt us like a craving.  I hesitate to say it, but it was almost like being homesick.  In a couple years time, I graduated with an English degree and took a job as a tutor while Dustin finished his own education.  We had decided what we wanted and we were determined to make it happen.

And now everything we dreamed of is finally coming to pass.

I'm not saying it was easy.  Though I had been doing research and compiling a list of potential schools for a couple years, it took us about four or five months of hard job searching - the kind where you think about it all the time because you're working on it everyday - to finally find suitable positions.  But with enough persistence and dedication, it finally happened.  Pretty soon, our craving will be satisfied.

Dustin and I will both be working as English instructors in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.  Though the date is not yet set, it's looking like we'll be leaving around late August or early September.

In later posts, I will go into greater detail about the job and Tsukuba, what sparked my fascination with Japan long ago, and the process of obtaining a job like this over the internet, as we managed to do.

For as long as I've been interested in moving to Japan, I've been very attentive to the blogs of people who have already done so.  Part of my dream was to one day have my own blog about such an adventure.  Especially during this stage of our journey - when determining what to expect and prepare for - such chronicles are priceless guides, and I am greatly indebted to those people who have charted the steps of their own transitions.  Many of those guides, however, are outdated, since the English teacher boom in Japan has come and gone.

My desire for this blog is to pick up where others have left off.  I plan to use it to keep in touch with friends and family, to (hopefully) entertain, and to help out others who might be wishing on their own stars for a similar dream to come true.