Name: 日本的生活品質。我家在東京的經歷 (Japanese Quality of Life: My Family's Experience in Tokyo)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T09:50:18.000Z
Duration: 21 min 30 s
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程度副詞

How's life in Japan? What I think they're really asking is what is the quality of life like. I live in Tokyo the biggest

metropolitan area in the world. It's got to be a hectic life, right?

The easiest answer I can give is: I bought a house.

There's a lot that factors into quality of life: health, family, education environment, social belonging,

recreation and leisure time and a bunch of financial stuff that influences the cost and standard of living.

I will focus on the financials in a follow-up video.

But let me address it briefly at the start of this one:

Working professionals can afford to buy a home and have all their primary needs taken care of. An extravagant lifestyle? No.

But they have the ability to make ends meet while living within an hour's commute to the center of the mega city that is Tokyo.

Let me paint the picture of what a Japanese middle-class lifestyle looks like.

We have a roof over our heads, in fact, we own it. Well, the bank does. Press a button

We always have food on the table, clean water,

electricity, gas, heat, air conditioning, internet, smartphones

No oven... dishwasher, our dedicated drying machine though kids go to a free public school

Where lunches are made in-house, although we do pay for that, like two dollars a meal.

After school, the kids partake in extracurricular activities such as art classes and sports. We have health care

We're required to pay for it, but it's universal so we can't be denied access and the quality is good.

Did I mention kids are free from visits to the family doctor dentist and optometrist two prescriptions?

But the benefits are so little within Tokyo that I feel it'd be a luxury expense,

especially since the kids walk to school and my wife has her commuter pass paid for by her company, which in general is what most

it's mostly free or cheap activities that we do like going to parks, visiting family and friends, catching up festival

Or going to super CentOS, which are nice public bathhouses that cost under $10 a head

The biggest non-essential costs we have are eating out and paying for public transport to get to places.

Although I love traveling my family isn't as keen as me so we don't often get out of the city.

As a single person the cost wouldn't be too bad.

But as a family expenses really do add up. Especially when hotel rates are based on the number of occupants versus the number of rooms

So does that paint a bit of a picture about our lifestyle? Now let's get into some overarching themes.

Family is such a huge factor for me. Not only my immediate family, but siblings and parents, too

This must sound funny since my Canadian family is an ocean away.

But my Japanese family are all within a short walk.

So you win some you lose some. Why our Japanese family over our Canadian one?

Well that has to do with the cost and availability of housing, not our affection for our loved ones, at least

That's what it publicly say. In the area around Vancouver even when our family wanted to be located near each other

to rent or purchased in the same neighborhood.

Only those that got in before the craziness that is the Vancouver housing market were able to

While Vancouver's not considered a large city by international standards,

living in a place suitable for a family within an hour's commute of the downtown core

was not possible for me and many working professionals.

In Japan, housing can come in all shapes and sizes.

Since zoning laws allow you to build on very small pieces of land; as an example,

I now own a detached home that for all intents and purposes takes up all the land.

I don't have a yard beyond the few feet of concrete on the side.

That's a trade-off that I was able to make. I chose no yard

Versus living another 30 minutes away where I could have had one and a more spacious house to boot but

I wanted not only to be closer to the center of Tokyo but more importantly close to family.

Unlike years ago in Japan. We don't live in a

If our parents do require care as they get older as opposed to the free childminding that they currently provide us.

We live so close that we can walk there in minutes.

So we're close, but not living on top of each other close.

The services available to family members from my niece who recently graduated from the day care system,

grandparents who may one day go to adult daycare are all located within a few minutes walk.

Groceries, health clinics, parks, recreation centers and quite importantly, a train station are all equally close

Tokyo being a walkable city is a big deal that lends itself to a healthier lifestyle.

So there are many aspects to health beyond access to doctors and hospitals, but let's discuss those things.

Whenever I want to see our family doctor, we walk or bike to the clinic and can be seen within an hour.

But if we choose the right time of day, it's more like 15 minutes.

The cost is so little that I never think if it's worthwhile to spend the money to see the doctor.

I calculate is whether a visit is not only worth my time, but the time of the doctor.

A pharmacy is usually located beside the clinic

which means you can pick up the prescription quite quickly

Prescriptions are also mostly covered under the health insurance system

the national governments control ensure that medications are affordable.

If I want to see a specialist, but the dermatologist for my eczema are an ENT for my tinnitus

I can drop in just as I did with my family doctor. no referral our appointment

necessary and oh yeah, they're also located within walking distance

Subjectively I find it comparable to Canada some things are better some are worse

But overall I trust that the doctors are qualified that I can get access when I need to and that I'll be taken care of

Whether I have money or not even with Japan's universal health care coverage

you are required to pay 30% of costs there are monthly limits that mean you won't end up having to pay beyond your means and

Thus won't be going bankrupt due to some unforeseen or chronic. Health issues you're also free to choose any hospital nationwide

Now I've been talking about physical health, what about mental health that I can't personally comment on since I've never utilized the services

Hearing stories from other people gives me the impression that Western countries are more progressive in this

This kind of leads into stigmas and social belonging

There's this idea in Japan that you don't want to stand out which means you don't want to admit

You have mental health issues or that you lost your job or many of the other life?

Situations that you may have to deal with I think in the West we're more open to talking about our personal problems in Japan

It's just not something that's often done

What I've observed is that people are generally

Understanding and sympathetic to those who are struggling in life?

Whether it be financially physically mentally are otherwise

Like any other developed country the Japanese deal with a host of issues

From your kid who isn't doing well in school to an uncle who's in a wheelchair to that cousin who has a learning difference

these things are talked about but usually quietly a

Lot of commentary you might hear about Japan makes the society seem rigid and stuck in the past

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日本的生活品質。我家在東京的經歷 (Japanese Quality of Life: My Family's Experience in Tokyo)

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