There is a slight chance that we may move to Yokosuka from Sasebo.  What differences should I expect?  I know the schools are going to similar but bigger, but how is it to get to shopping.  Right now I have a ten min walk to get to the shopping center and other shopping and eating opportunities, I am hoping it is the same there. How is the housing? Right now we are in a newly renovated tower apt.  How easy is it to get a car there, we have one but I think I would sell it and buy another one up there.  

Yokosuka is close to eating and shopping places. It is a pretty big base and the commissary has most of your needs and you can request something just in case they don't have what you need. Japanese shopping is easy too. As soon as you get out the gate there are 4-5 shopping malls close by and train station is close so no need to worry. With cars and towers hopefully someone else give you answers.

Re: Selling your car & buying a new one. You're free to do so, but why not drive up to Yoko? It's a great way to see some of the country. First stop, Iwakuni about 4.5 hours north of you. Stay at Kintai Inn, visit Miyajima, Hiroshima and Kintai Bridge. After that, take 2 days (or one LONG day) to drive to Mt Fuji, stay 2-3 nights on base at Camp Fuji, hang out at the Gotemba Outlet Mall, tour beautiful Hakone Lake, then it's only like 2 hours to Yoko from there. Navy will pay for your mileage & tolls, and you'll get proceed time so it's not even using up leave. It's it's like a (nearly) free vacation.

The reason I am looking at doing this is because in all likelihood I will be moving on my own as DH will be going to school in between.  Really at this point not sure what will happen but that is what I am planning for, that way if he can make it it is all good.  I would love to drive but I am not sure I want to do that with a 1996 car.  I really would love to see more of the country but do not want to drive that far by myself.  LOL I am a chicken.  I have only been in Japan for a couple of months.  This PCS is a good thing but definitely unexpected.  

Thank you so much.  I am looking forward to the area if all works out.

I have a friend who just moved from Yokosuka to Sasebo and the navy paid to ship their vehicle to Sasebo and they flew down there. So you can look into that option as well. Her hubby also had school in the states in between the two duty stations.

Ok I will think on that one. That is a good option

I think that the biggest difference between Sasebo and Yokosuka is the kind of place that it is. Think of the difference between Yokosuka and Sasebo as being similar to that between anywhere in Oklahoma and San Diego. Yokosuka is part of the Tokyo Metropolitian Area and almost literally has a convince store of some kind every other block. The population density is much higher here Compared to anywhere else in Japan. It's my second tour here and I love it, but if the small town feel of places like Sasebo is more your taste then you might want to try for the smaller bases Stateside instead.

sasebo is more country like and yokosuka is more city like.

We will be defiantly going to Yokosuka, just thrilled to be able stay in Japan. I can hardly wait to go, I have gotten my feet wet now ready to dive in and enjoy.

We just moved here from Sasebo a few months ago and had our car shipped...Just talk to the POV guy in the housing office to set that up. It's definitely nice not to have to add "finding a car" to your to-do list! I think it took a little less than a month to get here, and you'll have to get to Yokohama, about a 45 minute drive, to pick it up. It was pretty easy to do so (we rented a car for the day to get there)

I didn't realize how "country" Sasebo was until we got here. The train/subway system is a bit more extensive, and it's more urban here. There is shopping and restaurants right outside the gate! Yokohama and Tokyo are a short train ride away for even more options too. Of course there's plenty of country too, once you get away from the city. We lived in a cho in Sasebo, but chose to do housing this time around. It's pretty nice, and close to everything on base.

Definitely dive in and enjoy! I try to never take for granted that we have this opportunity to live here.

Thank you Mrs. P because that is exactly what I wanted to know. How long were you in Sasebo? We have only been here a few months. We live in new housing in Sasebo. We lucked out and got Main base, I am thinking about trying to live in a Cho there.

We were there for a little over 3 years. That stinks you're leaving so quickly before you've even settled in! We liked living in a cho, but it is kind of nice to have a more "american" accomodations now. Plus, the hubby can do his own laundry in the real washer and dryer I kid, I kid...A cho is definitely a nice way to immerse yourself, more-so than living on base.

Oh yeah, one more thing about the car. Once you pick it up from Yokohama, you have to register it with LTO, which is also in Yokohama. We didn't know this, came back here, only to find out we had to go back out there. The VRO didn't tell us this. We ended up going through an LTO runner, someone who will take your car out there and do it for you, but you pay them to do it. Definitely get that info about registering it from VRO when you get here. They are right next to Navy Lodge, so is the car rental.

We are seriously thinking about selling the car here and then getting one when we need one there. I would like to try to do without but I am not sure I will be happy without a car.

Yokosuka is very accessible. We got buses that runs around the base if your not a big fan of walking and 2 train stations are close by the gate. It is not that bad and you can get better and cheap cars once your here. Its also a good way to explore the base and around yokosuka while you still don't have a car.

Where is the High School located? Here it is located on Main Base. I am wondering if that is the same there?

The highschool is located on main base, as are the middle school, and one of our complex elementary schools.

Seeing how nobodys mentioned it yet.. Welcome to Yokosuka Fish! Glad to have you and yours here and hope you enjoy your stay.

Thanks we are really excited, can you tell.

What is the main base housing like

I live offbase so I'm sure others will fill you in better than I can. On the main base it's mostly tower style apartments and townhomes. Everything is a fairly easy walk on base. Plus there is the clockwise and counterclockwise buses that run their circuits on the base if you don't want to walk or the weather is not suitable for walking. If you don't want to wait for the bus there is the base and off base cabs available as well. Pretty handy when you have a few kids and the groceries to take back home.

Dave could you tell me more about your off base experience. I have many friends here in Sasebo that have made that choice and I am sometimes jealous of them. Are houses available? would we be able to fit a king size bed. We were told here that would not work but found out after moving into a tower that it would. I have two highschool students so I my first need is convienance for them to get to and from school

Sorry I hit send somehow. But I am really interested in getting as much out of my experience as I can

Fish, I will offer just one thought since I came to Japan to run the youth group & was pretty connected to the teen population (I've since moved on to different work). Teens living off base are often pretty unhappy about it. They feel isolated from their peers, and have to get home early, missing out on social activities evenings & weekends. You might view this as a positive, but they probably won't.

Of course, they can always take the train in, but that's a hassle. And there are plenty of discussions here about teens on the Yokosuka home-to-work bus, which has problems of its own.

Your kids might be different, but I saw these issues pretty consistently with the teen population living off base here in Iwakuni.

Yeah ThaiGuy, that was some of my concern. Here the kids seem very content to be off base. The ones that I know of. But I was just wondering.

Also how is medical compared to Sasebo. I am finding out that the pharmacy carries less of the common regular scripts than i have every other base. Specifically premerin.

Yokosuka has a full Naval hospital; Sasebo is a branch clinic of Yokosuka. So you will find much more comprehensive medical services available. The pharmacy will likely be better stocked than what you are used to.

Sorry Fish, I didn't see your post earlier. My son is a Junior at the HS here and he's "okay", with it. It's partly due to issues he had back stateside and the coping with a much smaller school than he was used to. His graduating class back in Texas was larger than the whole school population here (that would include teachers and staff). If he wants to stay late he takes the train home, no biggie. Well with the exception of getting to the house from the station (209 steps to be exact). He rides the bus in otherwise, until he gets his license then.. We'll see. He's asking for a motorcycle but I'm thinking scooter. Luckily for him he's already 18 and can drive off base.

As for the kingsize bed, you'll have to look around. We took almost 3 months to find our place. I needed rooms big enough for the 3 to 4 of us (my daughter will visit during the Summers), my son, daughter and I are slightly above average in the height department here so room to fit beds was a neccesity. The school bus stop was another concern as well as the number of parking spots I could get. I say take your time and look around first, summer is coming up and that is a big PCS shift, so houses will be opening up. However... The new people will be here to look at those same houses and will be grabbing them just as quickly. If all else fails I hear Ikego is nice.

Good luck!

Thanks Dave, Are you getting more from your experience of living in town? Here in Sasebo, my friends who are living in town seem to have the more experience. By that I mean they can communicate out in town, love doing stuff and seem to get around a lot better. I want to get the most of our time here. Right now we are on main base so I have the happy compromise of living near town but the ease of american living. We do not move until Nov-Dec time frame. Huuby gets commissioned Nov 1 and goes to school Nov 13 so I am guessing that we will move when he gets back.

Hello Fish,
If you are interested in looking at some pictures of onbase housing, please search by "Yokosuka housing" or click below.
You can see some pictures to get idea of how it look like.

http://www.japanbases.com/community...3-838.aspx

just a note of personal experience - my husband and I live in a two bedroom house in town.....we are lucky in that we live in a Japanese house that has some Western influence in design....all hard wood floors, no tatami mats, lot's of big windows and sliding doors, BIG master bedroom, roomy kitchen, it "feels" like a house in the US.....We like being in a house rather than an apartment so we like that as well - OH and a big driveway.....

We really like living in town....we live in Uraga which is about a 20minute drive with decent traffic, and if we walk/train it's about 40 minutes to base. If we had small children, I'd probably prefer to live on base but it's just us so being in town is great. It definitely pushes us to do more in town - even groceries and trying new restaurants. Taking the train makes you more comfortable as well....we have some friends that live on base and say they just get in the routine of NOT leaving base....all in all I'd recommend venturing out in town if you can find a house you like and the situation works for you - best of luck!!

good info here.

Ditto what Ashley said! It's a great way of putting it. If you live on base, you just get in the habit of doing things on base. Some people cite the comfort & convenience of living on base. I would say that a little bit of discomfort & inconvenience is a GOOD thing. For one, you get the true cultural experience living off base. And for another, it makes you appreciate even more the things Americans take for granted. We are truly spoiled as a nation expecting our 1800+ sq ft home with forced air heat, 2 car garage, disposal, dishwasher, large fridge, walk-in closet, oversized washer/dryer, etc. etc. Try giving all that up for a couple of years, and you will just appreciate it more later.

We live off base & I love it, especially considering I didn't really want to move to Japan to begin with. We have a 2 bedroom traditional style Japanese home w/a Tatami room. The Tatami room is cool, but I'd prefer to have a regular room instead. We've already dented the mat & will most likely have to replace it when we leave Japan. All of the other floors are hardwood, except the bathroom is tiled. We have 4 sliding glass doors total in the house and it's wonderful! Our kitchen is a tad small, and there is not a lot of cupboard space. We've had to buy a few stands from Livin to put our microwave & oven on since the house didn't come with an oven.

As for the bed, we have a queen size. Our staircase is slim, so it was difficult to get it up it, but my husband just took the bedroom door off it's hinges to get the bed in. It worked perfectly! At this point, my biggest worry is messing up the Tatami room & having to replace it all.

As for the benefits of living off base, we live fairly close to the base. We actually live just one stop up from the train station closest to base, so if I take the train, it cuts off about 10 minutes of walking. We have a car though, so now it's a lot easier to get around. Total, if I walked to base without the train or car, it takes me about 20-30 minutes depending on how fast I decide to walk. My husband is much taller than I, so it takes him just 20 minutes, thanks to his long legs. Car wise, it takes me 10-15 minutes on average to get to base w/average traffic. I've been able to definitely experience the culture since living off base. It makes it easier to just walk to the mall or to a restaurant and just enjoy it. I often think, if I lived on base, I most likely would not have had the experience I've had thus far. There's so much offered on base that most don't think to go off base.

Also, we have one parking spot, so if you need more than one, make sure you look around specifically for that. We also have to park around the block from our house. We don't have a driveway, but its like a small parking lot. Our car and one other are the only ones I ever see it in.

Hope this helps.

I MISS MY DISHWASHER! Lol It is true you will miss the small comforts but Japanese has some great comforts too!
(Vending machines with delicious Japanese drinks EVERYWHERE)

Good note Rachael about the car and parking - if you look into buying a car- smaller is better.....parking spaces are tight everywhere in Japan, roads can be narrow....different mentality than the SUV culture of the states. Even some houses that have parking....it's not as big as you may think....these are all good things to think about.

ALSO - if you get here and need a car right away - the NEX car exchange is fairly priced (about $70/per day with insurance I think) so if you really need one - contact them.....also if you buy furniture on base and need to get it off base ask the furniture guys about a truck rental....we got one from base for very cheap to get our bed/frame back to our house.

It really depends on the kind of people you are, Fish. You will love living off base if you can see the beauty of it, but you will love on base as well. I talk from experience. We lived off base then moved on base. We have small children of course and needed to be close to the hospital for emergency situations--believe me, the normally 20 minute drive to base was horribly long when you have a passed out 13 month old in the back seat needing emergency care. (She passed out in route, otherwise if she was bleeding and something like that, I might have tried my hand at dealing with Japanese emergency crews despite the language barrier and possible insurance issues as long as they saved my child), but that's just my own experience. I hesitate from sharing or participate on JB much because it seems I get knocked down often for expressing my own experience or asking serious questions I occasionally have, but really I just want to share as much as others. I think my ideas can help others too. I hope you take an opportunity to check out the base housing as well as some off base. To tell you the truth, I miss some of the aspects of our old modern Japanese home, but have greater peace of mind now that we are in a town home on the main base. I hope my two cents help you and anyone else that might read my own living experience.

I'm getting the same 'type' of experience that I did when I lived out in town in Italy. I spend most of my time with people speaking English so, my Japanese skills... well let's just say they are lacking. I'll be working on that when I get back to a normal dayshift routine and not the graveyard one I've been working on lately.

The neighborhood we live in is very quiet and family oriented. The local Seiyu down the street is a decent size and is great for those things we just ran out of and not warranting a run to the commissary. The main highway (RT 16) is just a few blocks away with shopping and restaurants lining it and our Oppama train stop as well.

Thank you all this was exactly what I was looking for. It gives me and hubs a lot to think about between now and Nov-Dec.

Thank you all this was exactly what I was looking for. It gives me and hubs a lot to think about between now and Nov-Dec.

Now I have a new question. We were looking at furniture last night here on base and decided to wait until we get up there. But what I am wondering is there an IKEA up there? And how big is the base furniture shop? What we are looking for are the cabinates and bookcases that we left at home and a shoe rack for the front door. I realize the selection that is there today will be different by the time we get there.

There is an Ikea in Yokohama that is easy to get to, we also have a Homes (think Japanese home depot w/ furniture) not far from the base and a little further out (but not as far as Ikea) is D2, which also sells home goods. I'm not all that impressed with the furniture store on base personally, but another advantage of living in this area is that there are several bases in easy driving distance. Camp Zama and Yokota AB both have furniture stores.

You can find the different driving/train directions on the CFAY official web page:

http://www.cnic.navy.mil/Yokosuka/F.../index.htm

The IKEA store is about 30% more than it is in the states. The dollar is also doing really bad against the yes now, so you also have to factor that in.

Ok I have seen what they have down here and am deciding to wait until we get up north

I am really getting excited about moving up there. I have a new question. Is there a chance to try Kimonos on in Yoko. Our MWR trips have a Kimono experiance that I want to do but I am waiting until I lose a few more pounds like a lot. So I can feel proud of my looks.

They do something at the community center where you'll learn about kimonos and the big bow you wear behind it and so on and get to wear them and take pictures we also have a lot of bazaars were you can buy a kimono. The prices depend on the kind you like but atleast you get to have one for yourself to keep especially when you leave Japan. I personally haven't attended it so don't know all the stuff that goes withkimonos but they do.you'll have plenty of chance and choices once your here. Some of the castles and temples also have costume for rent like the odawara castle for a cheap price if your only interested for pictures.

I may opt to do one down here then. But I am not sure. I have so much I want to do here. I love living in Japan and am so excited that I get to stay in Japan.

Today's pondering's I am wondering if there is a FaceBook spouses group for Yokosuka. We have one her for the Spouses of Sassebo. We share information and goings on etc. Like today we talked about the centipedes and how to kill them.

There is Yokosuka Military Spouses and also Ikego Moms and Spouses on facebook.