miraijin
ChibarakiAbout Chibaraki
“Chibaraki” is the affectionate name local people give to the areas either side of the Chiba and Ibaraki border, along the Joban train line. So many people commute from these environs to Tokyo, and for so long, people outside the area considered it only a bedroom community. But not so! There are many grass roots events, community-minded people of all ages making the small cities along the Joban Line vibrant and active. What’s more is the great open green spaces and cultural and historical treasures right outside the city centers. Within a 10 minute bike ride of Kashiwa’s City center, you find peaceful nature. A short walk from Matsudo Statoin, you can survey the scenery of the Edo Riverside from the veranda of a Taisho Period house, Tojo Tei. At Kitakogane Station, walk a mere 10 minutes to the serene Nichiren sect temple, Hondoji, and wander about the garden there which presents seasonal flowers.
The cities have a lot of things going on – popular music festivals, small live venues, modern and traditional art exhibits, museums and events to celebrate the ecology of the area, and traditional and not-so-traditional
Chibaraki Readers
Your comments are always welcome! If you have a question about the region, the culture, events or history, we’ll do our best to answer you here.
Contributors
Chibaraki Life welcomes our new correspondent, Miraijin, who covers the area around Tsukuba. Do you have an insight into life in your area? Write about it here!
Do you write in Japanese, Chinese or another language? We’d love to include the languages of our neighbours!
Post a comment below, providing your email (don’t worry, you email is visible only to us) and we’ll send you contact information.
Chibaraki Life 
Ahso, Chibaraki wakarimas. Now I get it.
I am excited that I will have an apartment in Kashiwa soon. I don’t have my key yet, but stopped by just to look around outside today. I was pleased to see that I will be able to use the various bins to recycle there. That was a relief. I really care deeply about this planet.
I found the Tokyo Freecycle site and was pleased to see that it is about re-use. I signed up and hope the moderator will accept me soon. I want to use Freecycle to help furnish the apartment.
Hi Paul, welcome to the neighbourhood!
I’m glad that there is enough momentum in the Tokyo foreign community to drive Tokyo Freecycle. If you click on the tags in the category cloud, you’ll see some other recycling resources in the area. Happy hunting!
Hey there neighbor!
My family and I live in Inzai (Kind of Chibaraki… I suppose). I stumbled upon you here. Very nice blog.
Mark Williams
Hi! I’ve put your blog link on the Joban Blogroll. Inzai is a bikeride away from here, so sure, it’s not far off Chibaraki.
Thank you for the visit and do come back!
I wil;l be moving to Kashima with my wife next year and am very concerned about possible jobs. Of what I’ve seen and heard, you need to stay away from ALT jobs because you get royally screwed and I’ve heard that private institutions are not much better.
I have been an ALT highschool teacher for five years and reading everyones horror stories makes me want to quit teaching and become a forklift driver like I did before I went to university.
Does anyone have any advise?
Thanks in advance.
Ants, I was a JET Program ALT 10 years ago. I considered it a kind of scholarship – the chance to learn about Japanese language, culture, and pedagogy (high school) while sharing my expertise as a TESOL teacher (adult learners). There are a dwindling number of private ALT hires and JET is contracting. So-called recruiter companies do all kinds of illegal practices and exploit loopholes in labour laws. As a spousal visa holder, you have a wide range of industries you can work in if you speak Japanese. For language jobs, check out http://www.eslcafe.com for their international job forum where you can get a sense of the job market. Good luck, whichever way you go.