This applies to people in Yokosuka, but people from other bases may find it useful as well:

1.  Buy a bike off base - You can rely on the bus or base taxis, but it is easier to get a bike to get yourself around.  We bought our bikes on base and ended up returning them because they were so cheap and fell apart after two days of riding them!    The pedal broke off of one of them, tire went flat, and both bikes started to rust after one day!  Save yourself the trouble and go buy a Japanese bike off base.  You can pick one up from Seiyu (top floor - on Blue Street) for under 9,000Y.  They don't rust nearly as bad as the bikes sold on base and they include a lock, bell, light, and a groovy basket.  Don't worry guys, you don't have to get one with a basket if you don't want to! 


2.  Go to the Housing Office as soon as you get here.  It's right next to the Navy Lodge.  Put yourself on the wait list for on base housing. 


3.  Go off base and visit the numerous housing offices along Rt. 16.  Take a look at what's available off base.  Let the agents work for you.  That's what they're there for!  They'll go out of their way to find you the perfect home!


4.  Buy a Suico / Pasmo card from the train station.  You will need at least 1500Y.  500Y is for the deposit.  The other 1000Y is used as your train fare whenever you use the train system in Japan.  It's a lot easier to get the card and not have to worry about buying a ticket every time you need to use the train.  You can add more money to the card at any of the ticket machines.  Here is the Keikyu Line map:

http://www.keikyu.co.jp/worldwide/pdf/rosen_1.pdf


5.  Make sure you have good walking shoes.  You'll be doing a lot of walking (especially if you don't have a bike) during your first couple of weeks in Japan.  You won't have a car to get you around until after you go through AOB/ICR (Area of Base - Intercultural Relations seminar - Lasts one week). 


6.  Don't be afraid to ask for help.  We all went through it (moving to Japan), so we know how stressful it can be.  If you need something, ask! 


7.  Have someone on one of these forums give you a tour of your local community (off base).  Many of us would be happy to show any of you newcomers around.....hit us up when you get here! 


8.  Do yourself a favor and open a Navy Fed account prior to moving to Japan (if you don't already have one).  There is a NFCU on base and a Community Bank which is associated with Bank of America (well, not really, but sort of!). 


9.  To keep your sanity, try to get out of the Navy Lodge (or off the boat) as much as possible.  There are many things to do on and off base (workout at the gym, take the kids to the park, take a stroll down Blue Street).


10.  Utilize the computers in the library.....they're great!  Forget the tiny, archaic computers in the Navy Lodge.  The computers in the library are brand new (as of last year - 2009). 


If anybody else can think of more "tips," please add them below!!!!

Thanks Yoko-Girl. This post has been pinned to the top.

I totally concur with buying a bike off base. I luv the basket!

lol I would rock the bike with the basket!!! I could put my beer and ice in there. That would be made of win.

Yeah, I loved my little Japanese bike when I first got here. It was a life saver. It was fun to just drive around off base and get lost! I always made it back though!

I'm with ya Prime. The basket is good for beer and chu-hi.

 Totally agree, great advice for the new arrivals.

Thanks for this posting!

can we not bring our own biikes?

You can bring your own, but the Japanese bikes are excellent. You also need to bring your receipt or customs declaration/shipping inventory when you register your bike on base or you can't register or have to pay some crazy fee or something. Not really sure what happens if you don't have that stuff, but my husband keeps mentioning we need to find all the paperwork for the kids bikes (which we sent via the post office) and I doubt we even still have the customs forms, and can't register the kids bikes so they can't ride on base.

The problem with bringing your own bikes is that you won't have them until your stuff gets here. You'll want some kind of cheap transportation prior to the arrival of your belongings (or you getting a car)

I ride the Keikyu busses and have been using their pass cards for years.  They're going away at the end of Feb and will not be used nor refunded ().  PASMO and tickets only. 

Here's the PASMO Guide site:

http://www.pasmo.co.jp/en/

Can the kids ride their battery powered scooters? Any idea what the rules are for such items.

Do you mean on or off base? Off base, it's 16.

On base, and I mean the little kind that my 8 year old daughter rides that you stand up on.

OH. This is me, looking sheepish.

On another note, I will definitely say, learn some of the language. And I don't just mean biiru mo ippon onegashimasu (one more beer please)! Learning basic phrases can really come in handy when you're not around fellow English speakers, and Tokyo is so close, you can have tons of great experiences. I speak intermediate Japanese, but even when I could only ask for directions and order food, it made my life so much easier!

And ditto on the NFCU account. Reminds me, I need to add more money to mine. >_>

OKay so I just found out my Husband is going to be stationed in Yokosuka and I am currently friggin out trying to think of what we should bring and what we should get rid of. It is more likley that he will have to report in in December so that gives me a little over 8 months and I have no idea what to expect! I could use a lot of advice.

Pack minimally, as the houses/apts are smaller than back in the US. Do you plan to live on base or off base/?

Come with an open mind!

Get off base and explore.

OKay so I just found out my Husband is going to be stationed in Yokosuka and I am currently friggin out trying to think of what we should bring and what we should get rid of. It is more likley that he will have to report in in December so that gives me a little over 8 months and I have no idea what to expect! I could use a lot of advice.

Just first read through the REPORTING TO JAPAN section located here: http://www.japanbases.com/home/foru...f/491.aspx Several things and questions you may have are in this section. Spent a few hours and read through these topics. If you still have any questions, please just let us know. We are here to help. Welcome and congrats on your new orders. Everything will work. We can help guide you the best way we can..

BRING ELECTRIC BLANKETS!!!! Lots of issues with the heat being turned off before the weather really warms up enough.

its not apropreate to sing "domo arigato mr roboto" as soon as you get off the plane. Even if you are really excited and it stuck in your head.

From my experience, here are things I wish I had, or saved money for:

1. TLA is a REEMBUSEMENT, and you should expect it to take around 10 days or more to get back to you. If you aren't able to save the $$ the NMCRS will help you, so don't sweat it! And resturants are MUCH more expensive here than back home, so take that into account also!

2. Forget what you THINK the weather will be like, and have a little bit of everything as far as clothing! I would def. reccomend going to Target/walmart and getting rain coats and things like that if you don't have them already! Its seems to rain at least 3 days out of the week or atleast that's been the trend since I've been here. My hubby INSISTED I not bring coats, sweaters or winter type items because "it's not gonna be cold"...we had sleet in Ikego last week!

3. BRING VONAGE or some other type of phone system!

4. Bring your wireless router for your laptops and things! It sucks being stuck to a cord after being able to experience wifi for so long, and this way you can also keep your vonage plugged in, b/c if you don't it will tell people it's out of service.

5. If you have kids- bring all the meds you have for them- cough meds, tylenol, motrin, ext... Planes are easy places to catch something, and allergies are KILLER here, even if you don't have them in the states, expect to have them here!!

6. Apparently you can do "express shipments of HHG" we didn't know about it, and really wish we had! We have so much crap we really need now that we got our house but are still in wait mode!

7. Again If you have kids- try to bring an extra suit case of toys and things to occupy them... There are alot of good playgrounds on base, but again it rains alot here, or it has rained alot since I got here at the end of March!

8. Oh, and the Nex "take it home today" program that they tell you can only be used for "certian large purchases", well they don't really enforce that once you get the temp card, so if you wanted to use it for a bike or ps3...hint hint! They will ask you what you want to buy when you go to customer service though, so keep that in mind!

9. But the biggest thing I can tell you is: If you THINK you might need it, then you probably will!

Rea=hahahaha! That was funny!
Chancie, you freakin' rock. Great additions to this list.

I was meeter/greeter for newcombers to our school for several years. The list thus far is VERY good! Here's a couple I've come up with:

1) Get a cellphone ASAP. I used to think that no one was important enough to have one (unless you are on-call/saving ppl's lives). Over here it makes it so much easier to contact agents, phone places, etc. I highly recommend it. There's the Softbank on base and there's AU off-base. Also dokomo off-base. I had (just cancelled it since I'm leaving in two months) AU and it worked very well. When I first got here AU was the best one/best coverage, but I'm sure the other ones have gotten better as well. GET A CELL PHONE!

2) Ask around. Talk to everyone when it comes to HOUSING. The more the merrier, and once Adam gets the housing thing setup on here, this website will be as important (NO, I am saying it right here right now...this website will be EVEN MORE important) as the actual HOUSING OFFICE on base. There are people on here who have lived here since Doolittle did his flyover in '42 (hahaha, just kidding!). The more input/advice you have, the better prepared you'll be in picking out a place to live.

3) I may make the original poster mad/angry/annoyed, but I would recommend getting COMMUNITY BANK over Navy Federal. I have never heard a single positive thing about anyone's experience at Navy Federal. Even the base commander has openly complained about the horrific customer service there. Community Bank is simple and easy and they have tellers as far as the eye can see.

4) Do not feed the flying monsters. Oh you/your children may want to, but do not. Yesterday I saw one of them grab a Nissan March automobile and smash it into the rocks by the heliport (there was a bag of Doritos or something inside, I presume). These birds are gigantic. They're not mean/angry, but if you feed them...well did you ever see Hitchcock's film? I rest my case.

5) Fun in numbers. This is unlike any culture you have ever, ever seen before--at least that's the case for many people (and I spent most of my life in Europe). If you want to have fun over here, I strongly and highly recommend you and some friends [hey! friends you make on Japanbases YEAH!] go out and eat. Go out and visit places. Never say "oh I'll do it sometime." Blink and it is three years later. When you have others who want to go sing off-key at some karaoke bar (note: I think if you close your eyes when you sing you sing better--at least that's what American Idol has taught me), or if you have friends who want to check out that grilling-at-your-table thing, or friends who want to check out a sushi-conveyor-belt place, GO WITH THEM. Because once you do it, you will absolutely, positively love it.

6) Stay away from Rappongi. Not so much because it's dangerous/people bug you every step you take, but because it is where the uglies hang out. The ugly Americans. The ugly Aussies. The ugly whatevercountry. Ask around and you will find fun and happy places to go at night.

Great additional tips Chancie and Lego John!.........and no Lego John, you didn't make me  "mad/angry/annoyed" about your comment on NFCU.  For the most part, I agree w/ you.  I don't do any of my business inside NF, so I don't have to deal w/ all the crap that other people complain about when it comes to their customer service.  I do, however, find that their CD / money market, and loan rates are much better than other banks or credit unions, so it's always good to have any account set up w/ them.  All that stuff can be done online and you won't have to set foot inside the credit union.  I would never use NF as my primary bank though because of all their customer service issues.  I also find it convenient that I can use both NF and Community Bank's ATM machines throughout the base.  If you don't have an account set up w/ one or the other, then you'll end up paying high ATM fees to use their ATM machines when you need to get cash out.

Anyway, great post guys!  Oh, Chancie.....I don't think restaurants off base are any more expensive than back in the states.  In fact, I think a lot of them are cheaper because we don't have to pay a tip.  Not to mention, in VA Beach, restaurant tax was 10.5% , so it made it quite expensive to eat out where I was from.  Now, if you're talking about on base, then yes, some of the restaurants charge an inflated rate, especially the fast food restaurants.

Posted By Lego John on 26 Apr 2010 12:39 PM

I would recommend getting COMMUNITY BANK over Navy Federal. I have never heard a single positive thing about anyone's experience at Navy Federal. Even the base commander has openly complained about the horrific customer service there. 

Since this is not specifically a Yokosuka topic, I will point out not all NFCU branches suck like yours does.  Here in Iwakuni they are friendly and efficient.  The worst line I've had to wait in on payday was like 3 people. 

Sorry ThaiGuy! I didn't mean to make a blanket statement like that! It's just that my friend here has had some hellatious horror stories from that place, and I remember CPT Weed talking to all the teachers last fall at the big meeting...he didn't like the long wait there either!

Here's one more:

7) SUSHI! Before I came to Yokosuka I hated fish. Raw fish? Fuggidaboutit. I thought people who eat raw squishy stuff were certifiably insane. Just plain nasty (even at my brother's wedding, the night before he took all the groomsmen out to a sushi place and I refused to eat it). Guess what? IT IS VERY YUMMY. Oh sure, that roe baby egg stuff (the stuff that looks like vitamin pills) looks scary and I've never eaten it, but the shrimp, tuna, salmon, cooked eel stuff is simply delicious. This goes back to one of my points I made. If you are completely grossed out by the idea of eating sushi, that's okay.

But go out with some friends from Japanbases when you get here. In a group setting you're more apt to try something new and (what you previously thought) crazy. And if you just try it, you will really like it! My favorite place is the sushi-go-round place across from the old Red Lobster rest. It's fun. You just take plates from the conveyor belt and everytime you've finished your plate, you drop it in the slot. And every five plates that go in and the game machine above you turns on and you get a chance to win a pointless but cool little toy. What a concept!

And here's the best part: go psycho with it. Eat all you want. There is no guilt. It's good healthy food.

I'm done rambling. Bottom line: if you hate sushi, I USED to be you. I loathed the idea of it. Then I tried it (with friends!) and sushi is going to be one of the big things I am going to miss sorely when I leave in two months. Bye bye happy fishies

Lego John,
  It's about time some one noticed my awesome-ness Thanks!

Yoko-girl,
  Yes, I was refering to the on base resturants, and I've found that alot of the American resturants even in town are pretty high too!  It cost my family $78 to eat at TGIF!!!! 

Chancie......TGIF is very expensive, but there are a lot of restaurants off base that cost half as much as what you would pay at TGIF.  My husband and I normally don't spend any more than 1600Y for the two of us - you'll pay a lot more back in the states once you factor in tip and tax - unless it's fast food.  I love how I can go into a restaurant off base and my food is ready to eat in less than 5 minutes!  They are so efficient here in Japan.  The food is fast, cheap, and oh so delicious!  Now, if you're craving a good steak, expect to pay more off base.

Yoko-girl,

Yea, the only reason we went there was b/c I wanted a steak and baked potato...unfortuantly the steak was more than I wanted to spend, and no baked potatoes, Same thing at Chili's, no baked potatoes. So here I am trying to figure out what the heck Japan has against baked potatoes.,.then I went to the commisary and completely understood...at $10 for a 3 lb bag I wouldn't be baking those suckers either... I think gold is cheaper! Sure you can find them off base, but I haven't been able to yet and I'm sure they aren't the big baking size potato. So maybe that should be the next on my list...


10. If you like potatoes, get a second job or learn to grow them yourself!

Yeah, a good baked potato is hard to come by off base here!  My husband had one w/ his meal last week and he said it was the driest, baked potato he ever ate!  It even looked dry.  

I don't see big potatoes off base all that often.  You can find the tiny ones e/where, but not the big, jumbo American size ones.  It's a good thing I'm a rice eater rather than a potato eater!  Hahaha! 

Oh Oh cellphones and I just figured this one out. Okay so everyone told us that SoftBank was the cheapest so thats what we went with. You get the $10.00 amonth plan and have to pay for the phone. AU has a similar plan. But it's $19.99 amonth but you dont pay for the phone. You get the phone for free. So SoftBank and a $200.00 to $300.00 phone and the $10.00 plan is = to AU $20.00 plan. The bounus is AU has much better serivce. I feel kinda stupid that I didnt tell my husband to shut up and just let me look.

I've heard a lot of complaints about the signal on base being weak w/ AU (on Yokosuka Base), so we went w/ Docomo. Our signal is pretty good no matter where we go. It costs us roughly $15 per phone, and that includes the insurance in case one of our phones gets lost, stolen, or breaks. We got 2 free phones when we signed a 2 year contract. We don't get that many free minutes to call other people though. We get free minutes between our two phones, so it really isn't necessary that we have that many free minutes on our plan anyways. Anyway, it's a good deal for families out there. We picked up our phones on Blue Street at the Docomo Store.

I have Docomo also. My plan is a little bit more expensive than yours Yoko-Girl.
I talk a lot. Always getting called, and having to call people back.
I also have a blackberry with unlimited internet, so that bumps the price up.

I think my total each mo, is around $160. But remember, I dont care how long I talk, and I just use it for anytime I need to call someone, and if I have to spend an hour, I spend an hour.

Coverage is very good onbase. I have never had any dead spots, unless your in the NEX, or some dead spots in the commissary.

Adam....we could get 10 of our phones for the price of your one! Hahaha.......we don't have all the bells and whistles on our phone that you probably have. I've been very satisfied w/ the service so far. Last time I lived in Japan, I also had Docomo and never had any problems.

I just received these questions by email:

My first question would be if we should stay on base housing first until we become familiar with the area or are there areas that anyone can recommened that have low to no crime rates. My second concern is that are all the cars for sale on this website? I am a woman who likes to be ahead of the game and I would like to have a deal made right when I get out there. So if it means to get in contact with a seller before hand that would be great. I guess these are my major concerns for now.

should stay on base housing first until we become familiar with the area

I dont know what you mean by this. Once you move onbase, its very very difficult to move out of you onbase home and move off-base. Usually its the other way around. People that live offbase first, tend to move onbase, but if you do, you have to pay out of pocket expenses to move your belongings. The military will not move you for free.

recommened that have low to no crime rates.

All of Japan has LOW CRIME rates. Its not dangerous here at all!
There are minor issues onbase with theft and things like that, but nothing major.

are all the cars for sale on this website?

Yes they are for sale. Our members and a few dealers have decided this was a good avenue to advertise their vehicles for sale.
You can check here for the latest cars for sale:
http://www.japanbases.com/home/vehicles.aspx

I am a woman who likes to be ahead of the game and I would like to have a deal made right when I get out there.

I would say to hold off on making any decisions until you get out here to Japan. There is no need to rush. Make sure you inspect the vehicle you pay. We call the onbase vehicle section the LEMON LOT for a reason. People have been burned by purchasing a car that only lasted a few weeks/month after purchasing, so before you just start jumping the gun, please do your research.

Your doing the right thing buy researching before you come out to Japan. That is the reason why this site was developed. My recommendation is to continue to read, PUT IN HOURS AND HOURS of your day and just read through the REPORTING TO JAPAN section: http://www.japanbases.com/home/foru...f/491.aspx

From there, once you feel comfortable, switch over and read through the forum posts within the base your reporting to. That will definitely get you ahead of the game understanding what others had to go through before you, and what you will experience once you arrive.

Good luck with everything. Please just post your follow up questions to these forums. I like to respond to questions through the forums, so people having the same questions in the future can reference answers provided.

I agree with everything Adam said. If you really want to get to know Japan, choose to live off base first. I have the greatest admiration for people who do this even when they don't need to. There is virtually no crime here, so don't even worry about that. The most crime you will encounter is on and around the bases.

And the people are just easier to deal with. I avoid going on base for anything unless I absolutely have to. Sure there's a language barrier, but Japanese people are way more accommodating and friendly.

I am expecting orders by the end of this month with arrival mid-October. As a single O5, what should I expect in way of housing? Trying to plan ahead....have read over a lot of the forums...didn't see any questions re BOQ or other type housing. Thanx.

And pack scissors in your suitcase. I can't tell how useful they've been.

Three things:

1. In Sasebo, I never had any problems with Navy Federal -- they were GREAT! Granted, I did the majority of my banking online, but the few times I had to go into the branch office, they were wonderful.

2. In the US, I paid for almost everything with a credit card. I assumed the same would hold true in Japan, but that is not the case. You need cash for the majority of restaurants (at least in Sasebo!) and for convenience stores like 7-11. You can use Visa and MasterCard at large department stores and a FEW large grocery stores, but you do need to get into the habit of carrying Japanese cash at all times. Never assume you can use a credit card at a restaurant -- look for the Visa sticker on the door.

3. The crime in Japan is very, very low. I actually felt I had to be more careful on base than off base (which is sad!)

Carolie, I agree that Japan is a "cash country", but LAWSON convenience stores are one of the exception. They have been accepting credit card since 1991 if I remember correctly. Also, 7 eleven shops just started to accept credit card recently (I realized that this year. Maybe since this Apr.)

and no such thing as "cash back" when you use your debit card (off base). You can get cash back on base at most locations.

I try to use my credit card every chance I get. Shortly after arriving in Japan, I aquired a Capital One credit card with no foriegn transaction fee. ( I think Capital One is the only credit card that doesn't have the fee). I always ask before using it "credit cardo, ok?" just in case I can save a few points on the transaction rate by using my card.

Never hurts to ask.

zama guy, is there an annual fee on your Capital One card?  Also, which card is it? I just looked at their website & they have like a gazillion different cards. Thanks

I have the VentureSM Rewards Credit Card. I've had it maybe a little over two years and have over 89,000 miles. One mile is like one cent and you can use the miles anywhere. For example, you can use the miles on a deal that you find on sidestep.com. So, I may have enough miles already to get me home to Hawaii, if I find a deal on-line. Not bad for one fee of $59 (first year was free and comes with 10,000 miles ($100)) We use the CC for everything and the miles build up fast, but pay it off every month. It's nice to know when using it outside the gate, you're getting the true yen/dollar exchange rate. At 2 cents to change a dollar, the break even point for the annual fee is $2950 exchanged to yen in one year.

Off Capital One stite:

Get double miles on every purchase, every day
Redeem your miles for any travel expense and book your travel any way you choose
Fly free on any airline, any time, with no blackout dates
For new accounts, the first year’s annual fee is on us plus earn 10,000 bonus miles
No foreign transaction fees

Rewards: 2 miles per dollar on every purchase

One-time bonus of 10,000 miles once you spend $1,000 in the first 3 months
Purchase APR: 13.9% variable APR
Transfer
Information: 13.9% variable APR
No Transfer Fee
Annual Fee: $59 (waived for the first year)

If you don't want to pay an annual fee, this Capital One card would work for you.

The VentureOne card offers bigger rewards and more flexibility—without the annual fee. Plus, there’s no limit to the miles you can earn and your miles won’t expire.

Earn 1.25 miles per dollar on every purchase
Fly free on any airline, any time, with no blackout dates
Use your miles for flights, hotel rooms, car rentals, gift cards and more
Save money with no annual fee
No foreign transaction fees

It looks like they waive the annual fee the first year only. But looks good otherwise...

I think only the VentureSM Rewards Credit Card has the fee (Waived the first year). The Venture One Credit Card looks like it has no Annual fee, but half the miles.