Best cities for retirement in Japan

Hello everyone,

An increasing amount of people want to spend their retirement abroad. Would you consider giving a few tips to those looking into Japan for their retirement?

What are the most attractive cities for retirees in Japan?

Why are these the best cities in Japan for retirement (quality of life, cost of living, climate, health, security, etc.)?

Are there any specific areas in Japan where there are special retirement schemes or retirement-friendly residential areas?

Are there any activities suitable for retirees in Japan?

Do you have any tips on where to start looking or how to choose a suitable city for one's retirement in Japan?

If you have, yourself, chosen to spend your retirement abroad, please tell us what city you have chosen and why?

Please share your experience.

Bhavna

In Japan, there is not status of residence for retirees.

Even if you have enough asset to support your living in Japan, you still need to find source of income.

So, you will find your employer or you will start your business in Japan.
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Hello Everyone,

Japan in general is a country where the cost of living is expensive, obviously there are cities where it is cheaper, for instance Fukuoka. According to my understanding, it is the prefecture with the cheapest wages, which makes the cost of living cheaper.

First, what should be done is to calculate the expenses per month for cost of living.
It would be good to visit the city first to make an estimate.

Fukuoka is a very pleasant and comfortable city in the sense that it has a lot of variety of traditional foods, festivals, places to visit, good infrastructure to move around. Bullet train, airport to connect to either Narita or any other airport. The climate is very pleasant, because it is in the south, winter is certainly cold, but not such as being in Tokyo or northern cities.
There are many schemes for retired people, but it depends on where you want to live.

in terms of quality of life, security, health etc., there will be no problem anywhere in Japan since it is a country that generally in very good.

Totally agree with Akiyama's comments. In fact, everywhere in Japan you will find senior citizens working, whether is is selling in markets or supermarkets or really anywhere. And also since Japanese is relatively expensive in it's cost of living compared to other countries in Asia, you can find many Japanese (those who can afford it) move to less expensive countries like Malaysia or Thailand which are much more ideal for retirement.

Cities like Fukuoka are definitely less expensive for living than many of the big cities. For myself, I favour cities like Mishima or Numazu as they are within driving distance to Tokyo and Yokohama, and, also those in the Kansai region but more out of the city. For example, there are lots of nice places between Kobe and Himeji.

Japan is actually high on my list of potential places to retire to once my children grow up and go to university.

One more thing, many Japanese are always conscious that THE big earthquake and tsunami might happen soon. Many think it will happen in 2019 in Tokyo, so I would probably want to live well above sea level.