This link has the information discussed in the above video: vagabondbuddha.com/cost-of-living-in-okinawa-japan/ Mark's Channel "Pursuing Impact": ru-vid.com/show-UCxKdoKgEGTi8Iis_A7CFU9w 𝗗𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗘-𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞→ 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 vagabondbuddha.com/fire-your-boss-travel-world/ 𝗗𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗽 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲☆★☆ vagabondbuddha.com/ 𝗗𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 $$$ 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝗯𝗯𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀e vagabondbuddha.com/courses/the-hobby-income-course/ What kinds of risks are you taking if you move overseas? vagabondbuddha.com/our-liability-disclaimer-the-risk-is-on-you/
I was stationed on Okinawa (as were around a million Marines over the years) in the 70's, at Camp Foster. My son and his family are stationed at Iwakuni right now, only he is a Sailor. My wife and I will visit our son's family in Japan next month.
Great Video Dan and timely for me. You see, i've been following your videos for awhile and I'm exploring the expat life in the Philippines. So I've monitored costs at the locations you have specified and I was also thinking about living/extended stays in Japan, both the mainland and Okinawa. The nice thing about being based in the Philippines, it would be easy travel to other Asian countries with Japan being at the top of my list. Keep those great videos coming (while enjoying your travels!!)
I’ve only been to Japan in the Tokyo airport. The main reason I haven’t seen Japan is because I’ve only experienced Asia during the winter. It is the same reason I’ve only visited south Vietnam as I went from Saigon to Da Nang and I noticed it getting colder so I changed my plans on going to Hanoi. I don’t go on vacation to experience cold weather as I had enough of that growing up.
You can buy a cheap Akiya house for under $15k Amortized over 15 years, that is $1000 a year or $100 a month. I lived in Japan for 14 years and bought two condos in Tokyo and speak the language so I know it well The bigger problem is getting a longterm visa or mortgage from a Japanese bank.
Okinawa is nice, but I married a Kansai girl, so it's Takarazuka for us, now both retired. Took more than 40 years of both of us working and careful financial plans to swing it.
Great content as usaul. One way ticket in hand for Thailand in February from always checking out your top places to retire list, Indonesia came in 2nd for me due to rising cost from expats. Never considered Okinawa, live near Tokyo for a 1.5 years, love it but very expensive. Never made a trip to Okinawa, but I will once I'm inThiland..It would make lots of sense for me being retired military and access to bases and part time job for SOFA (visa)status. Thanks for the new lead, enjoy the journey.
i just moved to okinawa from hawaii a couple months ago. I'm retired too. Prices to me seem really cheap especially with the exchange rate. I've been comparing prices to thailand by watching thailand expat videos and some things are more expensive in thailand, bangkok especially. That could be because the baht has held up better against the dollar than the yen. If peach doesn't restart flying from okinawa to bangkok, you can fly into taipei which is a 3 hr 55 minute flight and catch a peach from taipei to naha which is another 1 hour flight. I've subscribed to some of the military/sofa pages on facebook and they always have good stuff for sale at fire sale prices when they pcs out. Naha has a SE asia vibe to it but it's 26 degrees north latitude and jan/feb may be a bit too cold for me to handle so i may be taking vacations to escape the cold north wind i've been hearing about. One thing i'm still in shock is the airline ticket prices for interisland japan. Having lived in hawaii 16 years i was used to paying 60-100 bucks for a short 40 minute interisland flight. Peach just had a sale to tokyo from naha for 2000 yen, one way, which is about 14 bucks and thats a 2.5 hour flight!
Dan, maybe you are on your off time, I see you and Quiang in this particular seaside resort town in Thailand, hope you review airbnb and hotel prices and the night cheap and good food stalls just to the right of the big SCB bank building and behind the 7-11, hope you enjoy it here.
Thank you Robert Kolleck! We will write our usual report about Jomtien including food accommodations and things to do. Stay tuned. Your interactions help our channel grow! Have a great day. :-) Dan
Sorry Dan this is not true on a couple of factors. 1. Okinawa people do not consider themselves part of Japan and speak their own dialect. 2. White beach is very expensive. I lived in Japan from 1985 to 92 both in Sasebo and Misawa on and off base. The exchange rate was 246 yen to usd now its 144 yen to usd. I could elaborate more but I won’t. Please forgive my negative commitment. God bless
Thanks for your thoughts on this. Which part do you think is incorrect? I believe he is sharing the costs of living there. How does the local language spoken affect your desire to retire there? Just curious. Thanks, Dan
@@VagabondAwake Dan I would not have a problem visiting there again, what was not mentioned was that he I am sure buys all his food clothing etc on base.
@@VagabondAwake I have no problem with the dialect. It’s different because Japan does not consider Okinawans Japanese, Okinawa was a separate kingdom until 1879 when Japan conquered them. Okinawa was part of the U.S. after WWII although they were annexed back into Japan in 1951 very deep resentment towards each other.
That is so cheap for a first world country! Although food seems rather expensive there. I’m sure it would cost a lot more to live in Tokyo or the major cities!
Retired here in Yokosuka but honestly I’m ready to make my love back to the states because of the b.S is citizenship based taxation system. And I didn’t know until recently that the Japanese human actually tax our military retirement pension. I love it here and my son is here and it depresses me so badly. Any advice on what I should do?
Hi @ExpatinTokyo, I do a report every year on the top 15 places in the entire world to retire cheap in paradise, Here is my most recent report and video on that topic: vagabondbuddha.com/best-places-in-entire-world-to-retire-early-cheap-in-2023/ Subscribe so you will know when our update comes out. Thanks for watching and commenting, Dan
Japan does not have any "retirement visa" option for expats. I've researched this and verified it with the Japanese embassy in Washington DC. The only way an expat can "retire" (as in not working) in Japan is to marry a Japanese national.
I would've never imagined the cost. I think I'm a bit sloppy, and lacking of manners for Japan? I don't think they would welcome a hooligan motorcyclist either.
Dan, wondering how you keep your things safe while traveling ? When you leave your Airbnb to go to dinner or beach, what do you do with your laptop, passport, cash, etc ??? Thx !
you can get your license in a month from scratch. you need to join a school and pay around 200000 yen . Alternatively you can appear for a direct test with the DOT if you are confident enough.
Marc Larsson, Here is how we find cheap apartments all over the world now. Watch the video and read the text to get all of our tips: vagabondbuddha.com/how-i-find-perfect-apartments-traveling-the-world/ Thanks, Dan
Greetings Wild Bill! I’m going to Thailand for probably about 5 months then I’ll come back here to Okinawa to enjoy the springtime. The rent is cheap, so I’m keeping this apartment in Okinawa too. Will be splitting my time between Thailand and Okinawa. Have a great day!
I've been to Okinawa and it is a v nice place but I doubt there are decent sub $300 apartments there unless you have US military or other special connections.. feels a bit bait and switch and our man is vague and a tad evasive
I don't recommend moving anywhere in the world until you have visited first personally to verify what it will cost you to live there based upon your lifestyle and needs. It just might be that he is comfortable in a place that you would not feel is "decent" enough. No offense intended. :-)
Dan, I'm in Tokyo. My rent is 75,000 yen (around $520) a month and has never gone up since I first got here, 2003. Rents can't go up, by law, or rather it's difficult for landlords to raise rents. It's nothing like the US. I eat at Denny's type restaurants for around $10 and no tipping needed. I don't have a car since the public transport is so efficient and cheap (personally I'm around $60/monthly on the trains) and can get from one end of Tokyo to the other for around $2.00. My salary is decent -- except now yen is low compared to the USD. Water drinkable out of the tap, granted I use a filter. Air is incredibly clean compared to probably every major city in the US and world. Crime low. The thing is, it's just not what I would call a fun place to live.
@@joseamor9319 Shinjuku is a nice area. BTW: That's west side where the rents are more expensive. I'm on the east side, east of Ueno towards kita-senju. Rents there are cheap, but life there is ........ boring.
@@jonb3189 Jon, didn't you see that Japan lost over half a million people last year, and is projected to go to as low as 80,000,000 within 30 years? . Also within 30 years, the govt. is projecting 40% of the population will be over age 65, and only 51% will be "producing age" (15 - 64). . Since modern society is based on younger people supporting older people, you can easily see that there will be major problems in the near future.
I've been to japan too, went to different prefecture, the cities are expensive but the rural and suburbs of cities are also affordable, beautiful clean and food is very healthy and delicious. I am actually planning to visit the area in Sapporo , hokkaido, . i am considering staying in Japan for maybe 2-5 years before my full retirement.
hokkaido in the summer and okinawa in the winter would be a nice setup if you don't mind all the red tape of getting into rentals in japan. Also, you would probably need a drivers license in hokkaido. Its a BIG island and things are pretty spread out once you get out of sapporo. If you're fortunate enough to live in a usa state that has a reciprocal agreement with japan, you can get a drivers license with just a little paperwork and eye test. Otherwise you would need to go to an expensive driving school
there are many countries in the world that have great quality health care at a reasonable cost. the reason American health care is due to politicians, lobbyists, and attorneys.
@@fruitloops3718 Yes, I've heard that the U.S. does not rank very well for quality vs cost. But I'm interested in finding affordable medical insurance either in country, or multi-country, for places like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia (etc.). If people retire (so retirement age) move outside of the U.S., how much will it cost them to afford good medical coverage?
Great question bee hive, I have one report where I explain what I do about health care and another where I show you how I search for health insurance. What I do about health care: vagabondbuddha.com/two-biggest-risks-of-retiring-early-overseas/ Report where I search for health insurance: vagabondbuddha.com/best-health-insurance-for-ex-pats-in-philippines/ By the way, once you search for health care you will start seeing more offers for health insurance and travelers insurance when you are online. Health insurance is one of the most dynamic or changing industries in the travel world because so many people around the world are deciding to live or retire outside their home country. So do a search every year before you renew to make sure you have the best available for your personal circumstances because new ones come out every few months. Thanks for asking so I could answer this for many people! Dan
@@VagabondAwake Thank you! I'm sure a lot of us who follow you (I do) would like to see you do a video on health care providers (clinics & hospitals) in the different countries you go to. How many speak English? Quality? Cost? Do they take insurance? How personable are they (great opportunity to interview the doctors).
I was stationed in Okinawa, Japan for 5 years of the 22 years in the Army. Torri Station has a beach inside the base. It’s 90 degrees all year round and I had a tan the whole time I was there.
Another interesting conversation. I use to own a sports bar too and it was a 7 year marathon. I don’t think I want that amount of responsibility again, however that was in my home state of Oregon.
Permanent resident here through marriage, Without that you need a employment visa, I believe, never planned to move here, just a vague dream for years.
Much of Okinawa is occupied by the USA military. I don't think the locals are "friendly" to the occupiers. And that sexist comment about cheaply going over to Thailand for "company" is just as disgusting. I know Japan and hope to make it to Okinawa someday; hopefully by then the pernicious effects of such colonialism will have waned by then and I can find my way and be treated there as a normal person. Or instead of my US citizenship/passport, I should use my Spanish one. It's a pity. Military privileges! Military force!
If you're not military you won't be treated as such. You could even join the protest movement if you wanted to. That said I did see nice collaborations between officers and locals around environmental conservation including beach cleans and sea turtle rescue in Okinawa.
Kc Kim, I will let Mark decide if he wants to answer this question. I don't have that data. Here is how we find cheap apartments all over the world now. Watch the video and read the text to get all of our tips: vagabondbuddha.com/how-i-find-perfect-apartments-traveling-the-world/ Thanks, Dan
