New to the forum, a brief introduction

[Flairball]

Hello,

Joined this forum recently, and no doubt I will have a bunch of questions posted through before long. This seems like a very informative forum.

I am an American with a Japanese wife. We currently live in the US, but my wife has expressed that she’d like us to move to Japan. After spending my adult life in public safety, I am filing for retirement from the fire department next March with my expected departure from service around June 1st., at 58 years of age. Fortunately I have a decent defined pension, and expect to be receiving a bit north of ¥1,000,000 a month. That’s a rough calculation, and until I meet with the retirement board next year I won’t know the actual figure. My wife assures me that will be plenty to survive on. Is she correct?

Currently, my concerns are with finding housing, because our situation may be a bit different that others. We will have two dogs making the move with us. My wife has looked in to what this will require and tells me it won’t be very difficult. Has anyone brought a dog to Japan with them? What was the experience like? Any surprises? Not bringing them is not an option.

We plan to move to the Hiroshima area, ideally a somewhat rural area that allows easy access to the city. We have a robust support network in that area, but I have some concerns about finding a house. We plan on buying, but both think getting a mortgage will be difficult, so may consider renting so we don’t have to immediately spend much of the money from the sale of our current house. Does anyone have any experience renting as a dog owner?

In case it matters, the dogs are field bred English Springer Spaniels, and are the product of a line we have been breeding. The older dog is well trained, has earned a couple titles, and I expect him to earn another title (possibly two) before the year is over.The pup will probably not title before we move, but is well on his way to being exceptionally well trained, too. It’s a hobby of mine, so they get a lot of training and are expected to be well mannered at all times.

Also, I have spent a lot of time in Japan, having worked on a side project that had me in the Tokyo area for several weeks at a time once or twice a year for 10 years. So, while I’m sure moving there will reveal a few surprises, I have a decent idea as to what to expect.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks in advance for any info you all may have and share.

[RetireJapan]

Welcome! A million yen a month in Japan is a very decent income, and as long as you are expecting to live a normal-ish life will likely be more than enough.

Depending on where you end up living, you may find renting or buying a home very reasonable compared to the US. Non-tiny dogs will make it more difficult to rent, but not impossible especially in more rural environments.