places to live in Nihon?

I intend to go and live in Japan in the end of july 1994. It's a kind of exchnage programm from the japanese government -like teaching German to Japanese and bring other cultural things from your own culture thereto.
As I've never been in Japan before, I'm kind of struggling with the place where I should go in Japan. As I come from cold Germany, I'd love to go to Kyushu, respective Kita-Kyushu or Fukuoka.
But I'm not sure if this is the best choice. It would be nice if someone could tell me something about these places...
what is i.e. with Kobe? as far as I heard it must be a nice place as well...

see, I'm really confused. It's also quite important how it works with transportation in cities without a subway, as I won't have a car at once.

thnx...Gabi

hi all...

thnx...Gabi

If I had to choose a place to live in Japan, that would be Fukuoka. Of course
this is a matter of taste. Here you have a brief description of the city:

Fukuoka is a medium/big city (1.5million), very modern (archtecture) and well
planned, with wide avenues, lots of parks, monuments, amusement places.
Tenjin is the center of night life, where you find from jazz bars to
mexican restaurants. Subway does exist, but, if you have a vehicle you can
reach any place in less than 30 minutes (different from Tokyo, where your
car is less than useless). Three years ago (when I just arrived)
there was virtually no foreigners, but nowaday is full of them, being dificult
to get english teacher jobs. It is growing fast, but in a organized way.
Many rivers cross the city, providing a very nice view from the bridges.

What else? Well, It would be easier if I knew what interests you...

Feel free to inquire...

Merry Christmas

Dirceu

Actually, Kita-Kyushu and Fukuoka could be pretty cold in winter.
However, it's a nice area where you can enjoy both traditional and
contemporary Japanese culture without being overwhelmed by the
stressful population density. They have good seafood, too.

Yes, it's a good place, too. Kobe is famous as a place where I was born. 8-)

In the cities that you mentioned, there are very convenient public
transportation systems, such as trains and buses. It's not difficult
to familiarize yourself with the system (although you might have to
embarrass yourself once or twice 8-)).

>thnx...Gabi

Good luck.

--Michiaki