I'm leaving in exactly one week. I've gotten some additional info about my probable situation in Nippon. Regarding housing, there are 3 options: living in an apartment in a rural town far away from Tokyo, living in a guesthouse near Tokyo, or basically trying to find my own place. The second option seems most appealing. A guesthouse is where you live with several other people sharing bathrooms, living rooms, and a kitchen, but with private bedrooms. This is similar to what I had at the co-op my last year as an undergrad. It provides an instant social network of people going through similar things, though hopefully with different perspectives. Although popular among gaijin, nihon-jin also sometimes live there.
Also, I've usually found that I hate big cities: I don't like the bustle of Amsterdam or Paris, and especially after living a block North of the Ann Frank Huis in Amsterdam for a year, I really can't stand getting asked where things are by tourists, having my path blocked by lost, confused, or high tourists, etc. So living directly in Tokyo would most likely not be all that great for me.
Apparently, they've gotten more positions in Tokyo itself this year than previously, and not so many around it. Also, they have many positions in the Northeast, or Tohoku region of Japan. While pretty, I've read that it has a harsher climate (lots of snow and rough terrain) and is quite rural. I would basically be the only gaijin for miles around if I lived there.
I've started a partial list of things to see while I'm over there, but I lost the original copy, so I'm recreating it here.
- See Miyamoto village in Harima province: the birth place of famous ronin Miyamoto Musashi.
- Climb Fujii-san (in Japanese, you would normally say something-yama, for Mt. Something, but Mt. Fujii is an exception.)
- See Ice/Snow Sculpture Festival in Sapporo.
- Visit Hiroshima and neighboring island.
- Watch Cherry blossoms fall in Spring.
- Visit Golden Pavillion.
