My name is Bruno, I’m Spanish. I have lived in Japan for 7 years. Until April of the last year I lived in Tokyo, then I was transferred to Yamaguchi.

At first, I was sad because I like to live in big cities and I love Tokyo.

In a certain way, I was worried about whether I could get used to live in a rural area.

Even though personally I still prefer to live in a big city, Yamaguchi has many good points. Less stress, life is cheaper, beautiful beaches and landscapes, you can find all the necessary things, few traffic jams, and so on. But the most important point that it has is that children have more freedom than in big cities. I have two children under 10 years old. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, they were quite stressed because they couldn’t go to play in the parks. In Tokyo the parks are always crowded. In Yamaguchi there are many parks and areas where children can play and they are not crowded, so they can play freely now.

Yamaguchi is surrounded by mountains and there is a lot of nature, so the air here is not as polluted as in Tokyo.

My conclusion of living here almost a year is that although I love Tokyo and would like to return in the future, I’m glad I had come to Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi is a very good place, especially to raise children, or if you need a break, it is a good place to forget about the crowded places and the pace of life in a big city, to enjoy nature, to de-stress yourself.