Hello all! We are getting ready to leave Japan to go back to the States - what a great ride it’s been! Thought I'd share some tips from our perspective (just the hubs and I, no pets and no kids) of living off base.

UTILITIES AND YOUR OFF BASE HOME
- You will likely pay three major utilities: Electric, Gas, and Water/Sewage (oh, and internet!)
- We have NEVER gone over our allotted COLA to pay for such things, so I wouldn't worry about that
- I don't know anyone who has claimed that Japanese cable as changed their life - you might want to save yourself the $50 and enjoy the free AFN satellite offerings. Personal choice, though!
- Most bills you will pay out in town at a convenience store - not hard, just another task to do. Many single guys and some families choose to use the "GI Bill Pay" service for a monthly fee so they don't have to deal with it.

LAUNDRY AND APPLIANCES
- Housing will supply appliances to your off base home such as a refrigerator, stove/oven, microwave, and a stackable laundry/dryer combo.
- The dryers do not work very well off base for some reason - not sure why. No exaggerations when I say that a load of laundry can take 3 hours to dry.
- There are laundry facilities on base at Atsugi and Zama - I would highly recommend using them for large loads like sheets and towels. Wish we would have been doing this much sooner. Otherwise, put out the drying rack and open some windows

HEATING AND COOLING YOUR OFF BASE HOME
- In general, off base homes are not insulated very well. Some new ones may have heated floors to help, but that is not the norm.
- My husband and I lived by our Kerosene heaters that base supplied. Some of friends' pay upwards of $300 a month in the winter to use their electric wall heaters. We pay about $100 in the coldest months for electric and $25 on kerosene. You get over the smell real quick when it starts pumping heat immediately!
- Consider an electric blanket to help warm up the bed before you turn in for the night. Stick your cold feet against your husband for added warmth if he's around

TRAINS
- Super easy and clean
- We really thought our Pasmo/Suica cards were the way to go. Its just a prepaid card that you load up as needed and keep in your wallet to tap at the gate in the station - it doesn't save/cost you any more than buying little tickets each time, but its just plain easier.
- It never hurts to Hyperdia your route in case you need to hustle! www.hyperdia.com

CARS
- I would NOT recommend shipping your car here. Few do and its a pain in the bum.
- You'll find plenty of cheap used cars to buy either on base (there are as many people leaving as going!) or at places near base that speak English and are used to the procedures. One of our cars was $400 and another was $2000. You know what, though? It doesn't seem to matter how much you pay, cause something will go wrong with it the moment your spouse goes on deployment
- No matter what time of year you buy the car, check to make sure the AC and heater works.

DRIVING
- Simpler than you may think
- The map that the base housing office gives you is key! Spans a nice large area and the roads are accurate - most gals I know have used it so much, its in pieces in their driver side door
- Some folks like the "Mapple" maps find in places like the 7-11s
- More and more people are using GPS systems - of course that would be easy, too!

Excellent post. Good advice.

Great post. I've found one key to keeping the dryer working well is to really get in and clean the lint out. Ours has a felt disk that I vacuum often. Drying time seems to be linked to how much lint is packed onto that felt bit.

Good advise. We have japanese washer and dryer from the base and other than being small, they work faster and better than my old washer and dryer in the States. Tirani, you are right, I also need to vacuum the filter often. In fact, my dryer will beep at me if I forget to do it.

This is a great post and I would have loved it years ago when hubby and I lived off base! It would have eased the anxiety of not knowing what to expect!

I lived off base before and you are right on the money!!!!!! I hope this will help others who are coming to Japan!

I've been living offbase since 1989 and bought a house in 2007. One thing my family does to save on money is we turn off/down the breaker when we leave for work/school. Since both my husband and I work and the kids are at school, no one is home during the day but my dog. She has her doggie door and beloved fluffy bed so she can careless about the electricity!! We turn off all the breakers but the one for the refrigerator. Also, at the top of our stairs, I put up a bed sheet and use is like a curtain. So when we have the ac or the heater on, we close the sheet "curtain" to keep the rest of the rooms upstairs either cold or warm with only one ac/heater unit on. No need to turn on all the units in each room!! As for Japanese dryers...I dry my cloths for 10 minutes and then hang them in the laundry room and turn on my dehumidfier I bought at NEX. It sucks up all the water from the cloths and works great! And in turn, use the water from the dehumidfier to wash the cloths!! Hope this helps!!

@KLM290: How much did your monthly utilities average out to be? Was this common for others you knew who also lived off base?

Wait Im confussed. We are putting in to go up to mainland japan, but right now we are in Okinawa. I have a washer and dryer from base here and they are american appliances! They give you you japanesse ones up there? or do you have a chioce? Or is it they give you what you have room for?

Rea, if you're gonna live offbase your American appliances won't fit. You'd be best to sell them there, but if you expect to move onbase quickly you can bring them.

Personally, I sprung for a fancy washer/dryer machine at a Japanese appliance store. Cost me $1000 but it's nice. There's no room for side-by-side models in japanes apartments, but this is one machine (not stacked). It goes right into the dry cycle after washing, though I interrupt the cycle to untangle the clothes before drying. It works great.

General question; I just found out my husband is to be stationed in Yokosuka and I have been trying to decide if it is worth the hassle to have my car shipped to Japan with us. I know the Naval will ship our car over for free but I'm just wondering if it is worth the hassle.

Although you CAN ship your car over, very few people do. It costs a LOT (a couple thousand dollars or more) to have any car from the U.S. brought up to Japanese emissions standards, you'll be driving on the left side of the road with a left-hand drive vehicle (not the safest) and most American cars are quite a bit wider than Japanese cars -- and the roads and parking is quite a bit narrower than in the U.S.!

For the same money (or a lot less, in many cases!) you can get a good used car here. We had a little "beater" for the first year, which cost us $700. When the transmission decided to quit, rather than fix it, we just bought another car. Our 2000 Toyota Vitz (candy apple red, like-new condition, a GREAT little car!) cost us $3,000 and we were able to sell it for the same amount when we left! It came with four brand new tires and two full years of JCI (Japanese Compulsory Insurance/Inspection). If we'd brought a car over, it would have cost us probably more than we spent on the Vitz, and of course, we'd never get that money back. AND we'd have had to get the JCI on it.

Anyone on the forums bring a car over? What was your experience? I don't know ANYONE who brought a car over...and we lived in Sasebo for four years!

Posted By acelynn1 on 09 Apr 2010 06:55 AM
General question; I just found out my husband is to be stationed in Yokosuka and I have been trying to decide if it is worth the hassle to have my car shipped to Japan with us. I know the Naval will ship our car over for free but I'm just wondering if it is worth the hassle.

They may ship it for free, but they don't pay for anything else (nor help you after it's shipped). It's thousands of dollars to modify your car to meet Japanese standards, like replacement of headlights, possibly exhaust, etc. For that much money you could get a VERY nice used car (it doesn't have to be one of the beaters on base), and you'll make most of your money back when you sell. They also sell new cars on base.

Anyway, search the threads, starting with the "Reporting to Japan" section. This question has been brought up many times and there is some very good information in them about the cost and mostly cons involved.

(My rec, have them put it in storage since that's completely free. I wanted to bring my car and I totally have no regrets since I changed my mind).

Great post. I've found one key to keeping the dryer working well is to really get in and clean the lint out. Ours has a felt disk that I vacuum often. Drying time seems to be linked to how much lint is packed onto that felt bit.

You can file this under crazy but true: If you take a couple of used dry sheets (bounce works great for this) and place them between the two plastic pieces of your lint filter, you don't have to vacuum the felt piece nearly as often.

Also you want to make sure that hose that drains the water from your dryer is clear. Since the Japanese dryers work by condensation you want all the moisture draining.

You can file this under crazy but true: If you take a couple of used dry sheets (bounce works great for this) and place them between the two plastic pieces of your lint filter, you don't have to vacuum the felt piece nearly as often.

Also you want to make sure that hose that drains the water from your dryer is clear. Since the Japanese dryers work by condensation you want all the moisture draining.

Thanks for the tip.

Thanks for all this great info!

I will be relocating to Japan shortly. Our apartment has a space for a washer and we are interested in a washer/dryer combo. Prior to this forum, I had only heard negative things about Japanese combo units. I had been told that they take upwards of three hours, don’t dry heavy things like towels or jeans, and leave everything as wrinkled as it would be if I were to hang dry it. Can anyone refer me to some brands or specific models that don’t have these problems?

Edward, congratulations on relocating to Japan! As for dryers, Japanese dryers don't work the same way American dryers work. I don't think they make any dryers for home use that will easily dry very heavy things, or dry things quickly.

Our dryer did surprisingly well, as long as I kept the loads relatively small and cleaned the lint filter every time. I would hang heavy things in a room with a dehumidifier, and use the dryer to "fluff" the clothes when they were almost dry. Electricity isn't cheap, so using a clothes line really is a good idea when possible!

Most Japanese will hang their laundry up to dry. We are fortunate because we can get a dryer through the nice housing people, but these dryer are nowhere near what you are used to in the States. The good news is that if you live on base housing, you get supplied with American-style appliances, including a dryer like you are used to having. Hanging your laundry up does have a few perks. First, your clothes will last longer. Dryers tend to shrink, fade, and damage the material in your clothes over time. your clothes will also not be as wrinkled since you are hanging them up.

I just go to the base once a week to do laundry. A little costly, but not using the "utilities" at the house. Japanese houses have a different "wattage" than U.S. appliances so that is why it takes longer in the dryer. All my laundry is done in 2 hrs. and I time it so that the commissary opens when I finish and make it my "weekly" trip to the base.

Edward Redding  -    Japanese driers for the most part (unless you get a gas drier) work differently then US driers.  Here they essentially operate by condensation/evaporation vs forced air.  Unlike US driers that have a larger vent for air/lint, Japanese driers only have a small tube for moisture that runs into the washer (or if you have a combo unit drains the same way the washer does). 




Combine that with the fact that Japan is a high humidity country, it takes quite a while to suck the moisture out of something. How long the process takes really depends on how heavy the material that you put into the drier is.

You could try looking for a place that already has a gas drier or you could ask if the owner is willing to have one installed (you have to be able to vent it to the outside).

Like most here I beak my loads up so they don't take as long and take my large stuff to base.

Posted By Edward Redding on 11-11-2011 11:59 PM

I will be relocating to Japan shortly. Our apartment has a space for a washer and we are interested in a washer/dryer combo. Prior to this forum, I had only heard negative things about Japanese combo units. I had been told that they take upwards of three hours, don’t dry heavy things like towels or jeans, and leave everything as wrinkled as it would be if I were to hang dry it. Can anyone refer me to some brands or specific models that don’t have these problems?

Edward, I have a Toshiba TW-200VF.  This is not a stacked unit; it is a large-capacity washer/dryer in a single unit.  It shifts directly from washing to drying; you don't have to do anything. The unit is 2-years old so probably you won't find this exact model anymore.  It cost $1000 back then, but even with the worsening exchange rate it seems like these things are getting cheaper.

Yes, the cycles are long: 2+ hours.  This doesn't bother us since my wife works at home, she can get 2 loads done no problem.  It dries towels & jeans just fine; just don't overfill the machine.  Please note: Your bathroom will have a floor pad designed to place your washer; it has a little rim around the edge to contain any overflow since these things drain to the floor.  The large capacity machines will not always fit in the allotted space, so you must measure this floor pad area carefully then measure your machine to make sure it will fit.  Mine was extremely tight but it just made it.

I will say that shirts often come out more wrinkled than we'd like, but it helps if you are there to immediately remove them when the dry cycle is done.  It's been a long time since I lived in the States, but my recollection is I had this problem in the States too.  It's as much a function of the shirt material as it is the dryer. 

Posted By Amy on 02-06-2011 11:22 AM

Also you want to make sure that hose that drains the water from your dryer is clear. Since the Japanese dryers work by condensation you want all the moisture draining.

Amy, thanks for that tip about cleaning out the drain hose. I'd never thought about it.  We clean the lint filter after each load, but the drain hose had 2 years of yukkk built up. I just flushed it out and it was pretty nasty. 

:o)

http://www.neverland.to/kanji/gate.html

My husband and I just found out that he will be stationed at Yokosuka, and will be reporting there soon.  I have no idea about living on or off base regarding the distance and cost benefits of either.  My heart says we should live off base to get more of the full experience of living abroad.  But then I hear about traffic and the cost of tolls...  Any advice or explanations would be great.  Also, where are the schools?  We have two children who will be in 6th and 8th grades in the fall.  Can kids attend Japanese schools?  I think that would be a disaster, but my husband was curious.

Thanks!

Posted By RCaruso on 03-08-2012 12:12 AM
My husband and I just found out that he will be stationed at Yokosuka, and will be reporting there soon.  I have no idea about living on or off base regarding the distance and cost benefits of either.  My heart says we should live off base to get more of the full experience of living abroad.  But then I hear about traffic and the cost of tolls...  Any advice or explanations would be great.  Also, where are the schools?  We have two children who will be in 6th and 8th grades in the fall.  Can kids attend Japanese schools?  I think that would be a disaster, but my husband was curious.

Thanks!

You can easily live close enough to the base that you wouldn't use the tollroad.  I'm just guessing, but I would say the majority of those who live off base pay no tolls to come to work.  As far as school, if you live in Yokosuka city then there are school buses to bring your kids to school on base.  When you get to Yoko, you can get a map of the bus routes & focus your search on places within walking distance of a school bus stop. 

Japanese school? Pretty extreme esp at their age.  I don't recall any discussions here of kids at that age with no Japanese language skills going to school off base.  Does anyone have experience with that?

You will find different camps on whether it is better to live off base or on. It really depends on the individual and how much of an immersion experience they want. We have lived in Ikego which is a Navy housing development about a 25 minute drive from the base and we have loved it. It is far enough away from the base to provide a different experience and it is right next to a train station and closer to Yokohama and Tokyo. Whenever we want that cultural experience, we hop on the train and get it. I have also taught English to Japanese nationals and a benefit has been learning their culture from their perspective. For schools if you want more immersion, you might want to think about an international school where they teach in English but there are kids of many cultures attending. Japanese schools teach in Japanese and unless your kids know Japanese, it will be a huge learning curve for them.

GREAT tip! I'm a recycle nut (thrift-driven,) and this is a great tip for me as I can't hang my clothes outside due to my allergies.

Thanks for the great idea that I'm going to try when we move into our rental home next week

I would just like to put my two sense in about the laundry. I live off base and hang my clothes out to dry. I didn't want to initially, I waited on our dryer and it took 2hrs. I had my washer and dryer replaced twice, the first time was because the washer flooded *old washer and apparently when one of the set is replaced they both are- and the second time it flooded again because the tube was not put down the drain and correctly covered. So again replaced the washer and dryer, but the point is I've had THREE different dryers and they have all taken roughly 2hrs to get even a small load dry. So I hang my clothes out and I LOVE IT! The washer doesn't take long at all maybe 30-45mins pretty average and then I hang them out on hot days it only takes a little while to dry. It drastically dropped our electric bill and I really was against it initially, because our clothes are hanging out for all to see, but it's so regular here.

I shipped two cars over...I've been here a long time. It is a PITA but if it is expensive or rare and the cost of registering it... $3000+ doesn't bother you, bring it. The steering wheel on the left is not that big of a deal... Might even be easier to drive, the only hassle is some of the parking decks and the ticket dispensers. But most upscale places have dispensers on both sides and ETC makes the toll roads hassle free. I own cars with the steering on left and right. Other than some disorientation when switching, I prefer the left hand drive. Easier to dodge the mopeds, easier to judge the opposite front corner, and no mindless centering from the wrong side when driving.

When you look for houses off base, look for floor heating and an outlet for a gas fan heater (LPG). Heats great without the smell.

As for drying clothes, hanging them to dry is so much better... Almost no ironing and the clothes last longer. Also look for dryers built into the bathtub area. The newer homes will have a heater / dehumidifier built into the tub area that will dry clothes during rainy days... We just hang them on the "shower rails".

We will be arriving in Japan around December of this year, if we choose to live off base, can our son still attend on base schools?

Yes, there is bus service to the base schools. When you get to the housing office, they can tell you where the bus stops are for the areas you are looking in.

Thank you! We just got our orders today and have to report there nlt Jan 9. Very nervous and not sure if we should live on base or off base, seeing that we wont have a car.

Most people with older kids seem to prefer to live on base for the social aspect but you will be fine either way. The trains and buses are great!

You can buy a used car very cheaply over here. We paid $4000 total for two cars.

K thanks, we do plan on buying a used car. Our son is 5 so on base would probably be best then.

I have a soon to be 2, almost 4, and 6 year old (boys). They love living on base with all of the playgrounds, pools, and other kids around. There is a meetup group for the base as well- www.meetup.com/YokoMW and also a Facebook group- http://www.facebook.com/groups/113249468787010/