>>I’d like to live “ closer “ to a big city like Fukuoka , but we were fortunate to get a very good deal on a house ( actually 2 : we have a small 2 room house adjacent to the main house where I play drums and store part of my collection ) here in my wife’s hometown so that is where we be . : )
Yeah, when I lived in Tanabe (south Wakayama) I had a 40jo apt for 60000 yen a month. It was almost bigger than my parents house in California, lol. The country is always cheap, I just couldn’t stand how dull it was when I was in my 20’s and single.
>>I like Kyoto , too . Our daughter graduated from Kyoto Sangyo Univ. in 2009 and she just loved the Kyoto area . My wife’s brother lives between Kyoto and Osaka in Takatsuki .
Kyoto Sangyo is in a really beautiful part of Kyoto. I used to teach in Takatsuki and owned a school in Ibaraki myself. I lived in Arashiyama though, and I really don’t think I’ll find a better place to live. Every season of the year it was paradise - you got sick of all the tourists though. I spent so many weekends hiking.
I hear you with regards to living in the countryside of Japan when one is in one’s 20’s . When I was younger I dug living in the Tokyo area . Plenty of work , clubs , music , restaurants , millions of gorgeous women , etc...like any large world city , but it was SAFE . And it still is . One can walk virtually anywhere in Tokyo and not have to worry . I wouldn’t even walk my hometown streets in CT late at night and the population is only around 25,000 !