Looking for advice: Good locations for low-expense dude with $40k in savings considering 1 or 2 years of language school
by Gottagoplease on Apr 4, 2026
Hi everyone, longtime lurker and sub searcher. I'm about to hit **$40k** in savings and am considering January intake (will hopefully be able to save more and aim for July instead but time will tell). I'm looking for city recommendations to narrow down my school search and start preparing for application season.
What I mean by low-expense is that I don't party, barely drink\*, at most eat out once a month and my preferred hobbies are things like reading, video games, language learning, biking, walking around looking at critters or plant life, and volunteering if I can find a good place. My most expensive hobby would probably be hiking/biking if I can get back to it and maybe video games, though I tend to play older or indie games on PC so it's still on the cheap side now that I have reliable enough PC.
No children, no pets, no student debt, fortunately. So, all in all, I think my financial needs are modest. I'd like to have money for my time there and money left over for returning and settling back in the US (about $8-10k, I guess?), in case a longer stay is not for me. Willing to work the allowed 28 hrs to supplement, but I don't want to need the job.
Am I asking for the moon? please advise 🙇♂️
\*it's been over a year now 😂
Comments
by Version-6 on Apr 4, 2026
Fukuoka is cheap and a great place, lots of great places to hike and travel within a short distance of the city.
If you head up north to Sendai, also a great place with super affordable living and lots of awesome scenery a stones throw away.
Depending on the neighbourhood you choose and how far you are from a train station, you can spend as little as ¥50000 a month on rent for a simple 1R/1K apartment that’s perfectly livable.
The most expensive part will be the school itself, but your figures seem reasonable if we’re talking USD.
by Perfect-Bathroom2339 on Apr 4, 2026
I've posted on similar post but Kyoto or Osaka would be a good bet. It's a solid base for getting to most other major cities or even towns in the countryside whilst having a lot of its own sites and activities.
Depending on the school and where you stay 40K should be plenty. I was in Japan on WHV with no job, 6 months of school, 12 months of share housing / hotels plus food and activities and it was around 21K USD. This was a balance of some typical tourism and living like I was a jobless local.
I don't know about a one person apartment, but there are plenty of good sharehouse options around Shiga, Hyogo and Osaka.
If you aren't going out a lot and spending like crazy it's not hard to get by.
by ellenchamps on Apr 4, 2026
hey I'm doing the WHV in January! can you share a bit more about your exp in house shares? which company did you use/any I should avoid?
did you have somewhere that received your insurance bills?
by pasteldirt on Apr 4, 2026
Pretty much every city in Japan has a language school, so I recommend checking all of the smaller cities which are cheaper, tend to have warmer locals who aren’t burnt out from overtourism, and are closer to good nature spots.
Cities like Fukuoka, Sapporo, Sendai, Kobe, Hiroshima, Nagasaki! Maybe even Nagoya because even though it’s a fairly large city it’s still quite cheap and has an amazing international community.
I wouldn’t bother looking at Tokyo or Osaka or Kyoto for language school tbh. It’s so easy to visit those cities and they’ll always be there, but you’ll forever cherish your experience in a smaller town.
