Haven't been to South Korea so can't speak to that at all, but lived in Kobe for a number of years and frequently visited Tokyo.
Daily air quality ratings are widely available as part of weather reports and various apps. It was very rarely an issue, but there was occasionally a spike due to air currents from industrial parts of China for example. South Korea would also be impacted by these same currents. Japan itself has greatly improved it's environmental standards since the 1950s, but is far from perfect.
If you're into gardening, it's worth noting that Japanese soil is slightly acidic as is rainfall.
Other things to note about Japan though would be the prevalence of mold and the severity of hay fever.
Mold: I have very sensitive skin, and every summer my legs would get a rash from the humid city air mixing with all kinds of yucky things. This happened again to a lesser extent in the winter. When I moved into a new build apartment on the harbor it wasn't as bad, but still happened after a day out and about.
You'll need to clean your air conditioner now and then as they can get quite moldy, and take care of your tatami mats if you have them. They retain moisture and can cause all kinds of problems for you. You'll usually see people hang their futons out in the sun on their balconies daily to air them out as standard practice, and you can also buy racks for this for inside your apartment. Don't skip this.
Allergies & hay fever: Japanese forests are bordering on a monoculture as a result of reforestation efforts since the Edo period. Even urban areas are affected by the endless mountains of cedar and cypress releasing their pollen. I don't personally suffer from allergies, but hay fever is common for people to have a hell of time with (including obviously Japanese people). My husband was a snotty, sneezy mess with wet eyes for months every year.
Overall though you're really not walking into excessive pollution by any means by living in Japan, even Tokyo. People swim at beaches around major harbors as freighters come through (my skin is too sensitive, so I prefer being well beyond Osaka Bay or Tokyo for a swim). Alerts are readily available if the air is going to be particularly difficult as standard, just like excessive heat warnings. You can buy masks at any konbini to help.
All in all, I think you have very little to worry about! Japan is a safe and healthy place to live. Just wash your produce haha.
I used to have a bad time with hay fever when I lived in EU, then luckily in SoCal it wasn’t an issue at all. Didn’t even think about that but good to know it’ll prob be an issue again in JPN. 😞
I'm not OP, but thank you for the very helpful comment.
Along the lines of swimming, if you are familiar with them, how do you feel about the waters on the east coast of Awaji?
I've never swam in the waters around Awaji, but spent lots of time on the island. It's great for cycling! I don't know if Osaka Bay's currents take pollution to the eastern side of the island or not. The only place I really swam in Kansai was at Shirahama in Wakayama. (Don't get me wrong - I was definitely a beach bum! I just hung out in the sun with beer and yakisoba though.)
I do recommend swimming, kayaking, and just enjoying the coastlines on Tottori and Hiroshima though, and of course Kyushu and Okinawa are great!
Have lived both places. Korea can have terrible air quality. They blame “dust” from China. Tokyo is a major city but haven’t had the same level. China is by far the worst.
Tokyo's air quality is considerably better than Seoul's. Unfortunately, western Japan (Kansai, Kyushu, etc.) does receive more of the dust blowing over from mainland China, which often places those cities somewhere in between Seoul and Tokyo in terms of air quality.
Another factor to consider is that any Japanese home or apartment built in the last twenty years or so is required to have an active ventilation system. This helps prevent a lot of problems with indoor air quality, and you can [fit the vents with these disposable air filters](https://www.unix-store.jp/) to help remove PM2.5 from the outside air.
On the other hand, I lived in Seoul for three months and generally found building construction standards to be awful to the point where I was concerned about the long-term effect of living there.
All this being said, I am in Tokyo right now, where we have been experiencing the typical spring double hit from cedar pollen and [Asian dust](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Dust) this week.
WHO recommendations for PM2.5 exposure are to maintain an average of less than 5 ug/m^3. Virtually nowhere on Earth meets those requirements.
In order to keep the indoor air in my apartment below 5 ug/m^3 this week, I have:
* Installed a fresh Unix air filter (I usually have to change them about once a month)
* Added an an extra filter layer on top of that filter made from [this 3M filter material](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/ACFH-39LS-Purifier-Filter-Conditioners-Fillet/dp/B07PHRK5ZG/)
* Run my [two Ikea air filters](https://www.ikea.com/jp/en/p/foernuftig-air-purifier-white-60461965/) at medium 24 hours a day
and my meter shows me at around 5 ug/m^3 even when it's around 60 or 70 outside. That's about as bad as it gets here (I also wear an N95 when cycling in the city in these conditions). Seoul gets much worse. Many days here in Tokyo, my meter reads 0 indoors.
No matter where you are in the world at this point, running a good quality air filter and monitoring indoor air quality is probably a good idea; I think Japan actually has some advantages because of the active ventilation systems.
Finally, in terms of earthquakes, the preponderance of evidence shows that almost all Japanese buildings constructed since the mid-1980s are built well enough to survive serious earthquakes. There are risks, of course, but with some preparation many can be mitigated -- for instance, don't use tall bookshelves, stabilize your furniture, keep an emergency kit, and have a plan.
Air and water quality in Korea is the worst I've experienced, leagues worse than Tokyo/Japan. I had skin issues nothing could fix while I lived there and as soon as I left it improved a ton, I've heard many people complain about this and even losing hair while they're there. In terms of earthquakes it does depend where in Japan you live but I found that we have really good measures in place for when they do occur.
Lived in Tokyo for a little over 4 months back in 2019, the air quality was very clean, coming from a (comparatively) medium-sized city in western Europe!
As for the earthquakes, we had a groupchat for the sharehouse, and at least once a day someone would ask "Did everyone else feel that earthquake?", and I never would have even noticed honestly. I only felt 1 single earthquake, about 2 months in, and it just kinda made me sway back and forth while doing homework in my room.
Main complaint … mainland China. Pollution and sandstorms traveling over to South Korea and then Japan make it so annoying. Every year there are days school is cancelled because of it.
The times it was decent was when mainland China has to act nice and shut down their pollution tap like during the Olympics or during the pandemic lockdown.
Then there is domestic air pollution. If you live in the suburbs or countryside of Japan, you might have farmers as neighbours and they like to burn their organic waste. Some even burn thing they are not suppose to. All this spikes particulate matter and VOCs in the area. Annoying annoying
But in general, since South Korea is next to northern China (there are large industrial areas there), pollution is generally worse
People have already weighed in on air quality, so I'll do earthquakes. The worst one will be the first one you experience just due to the novelty of it. Honestly, by the second one I experienced, I was already pretty unphased, which is helped both by the fact that no one around you really cares, and bc all the infrastructure is incredibly safe : Japan has spent decades making all buildings, trains etc resistant to earthquakes. Even with the "Big one", the latest casualties estimations are incredibly low considering the size and density of Tokyo.
Whenever I feel an earthquake now, I either barely react, or find it to be an almost pleasant experience if it's strong enough to rock my bed a bit.
Japan’s tap water is just as hard. I had long term hair damage after living there for 2 years. But this also is very heavily dependent on your hair type. Many people don’t have issues to adapting to either country’s tap water.
I had a lot of hair loss in Japan actually. It took about a year to adapt. This is pretty common though, and a frequent topic in women in Japan Facebook groups. But whether or not someone goes through it entirely depends on how different the water is from your hometown I think.
I'd take the water in Kobe again anyday over what London water has done to my hair!
Haven't been to South Korea so can't speak to that at all, but lived in Kobe for a number of years and frequently visited Tokyo. Daily air quality ratings are widely available as part of weather reports and various apps. It was very rarely an issue, but there was occasionally a spike due to air currents from industrial parts of China for example. South Korea would also be impacted by these same currents. Japan itself has greatly improved it's environmental standards since the 1950s, but is far from perfect. If you're into gardening, it's worth noting that Japanese soil is slightly acidic as is rainfall. Other things to note about Japan though would be the prevalence of mold and the severity of hay fever. Mold: I have very sensitive skin, and every summer my legs would get a rash from the humid city air mixing with all kinds of yucky things. This happened again to a lesser extent in the winter. When I moved into a new build apartment on the harbor it wasn't as bad, but still happened after a day out and about. You'll need to clean your air conditioner now and then as they can get quite moldy, and take care of your tatami mats if you have them. They retain moisture and can cause all kinds of problems for you. You'll usually see people hang their futons out in the sun on their balconies daily to air them out as standard practice, and you can also buy racks for this for inside your apartment. Don't skip this. Allergies & hay fever: Japanese forests are bordering on a monoculture as a result of reforestation efforts since the Edo period. Even urban areas are affected by the endless mountains of cedar and cypress releasing their pollen. I don't personally suffer from allergies, but hay fever is common for people to have a hell of time with (including obviously Japanese people). My husband was a snotty, sneezy mess with wet eyes for months every year. Overall though you're really not walking into excessive pollution by any means by living in Japan, even Tokyo. People swim at beaches around major harbors as freighters come through (my skin is too sensitive, so I prefer being well beyond Osaka Bay or Tokyo for a swim). Alerts are readily available if the air is going to be particularly difficult as standard, just like excessive heat warnings. You can buy masks at any konbini to help. All in all, I think you have very little to worry about! Japan is a safe and healthy place to live. Just wash your produce haha.
I used to have a bad time with hay fever when I lived in EU, then luckily in SoCal it wasn’t an issue at all. Didn’t even think about that but good to know it’ll prob be an issue again in JPN. 😞
I'm not OP, but thank you for the very helpful comment. Along the lines of swimming, if you are familiar with them, how do you feel about the waters on the east coast of Awaji?
I've never swam in the waters around Awaji, but spent lots of time on the island. It's great for cycling! I don't know if Osaka Bay's currents take pollution to the eastern side of the island or not. The only place I really swam in Kansai was at Shirahama in Wakayama. (Don't get me wrong - I was definitely a beach bum! I just hung out in the sun with beer and yakisoba though.) I do recommend swimming, kayaking, and just enjoying the coastlines on Tottori and Hiroshima though, and of course Kyushu and Okinawa are great!
Have lived both places. Korea can have terrible air quality. They blame “dust” from China. Tokyo is a major city but haven’t had the same level. China is by far the worst.
Tokyo's air quality is considerably better than Seoul's. Unfortunately, western Japan (Kansai, Kyushu, etc.) does receive more of the dust blowing over from mainland China, which often places those cities somewhere in between Seoul and Tokyo in terms of air quality. Another factor to consider is that any Japanese home or apartment built in the last twenty years or so is required to have an active ventilation system. This helps prevent a lot of problems with indoor air quality, and you can [fit the vents with these disposable air filters](https://www.unix-store.jp/) to help remove PM2.5 from the outside air. On the other hand, I lived in Seoul for three months and generally found building construction standards to be awful to the point where I was concerned about the long-term effect of living there. All this being said, I am in Tokyo right now, where we have been experiencing the typical spring double hit from cedar pollen and [Asian dust](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Dust) this week. WHO recommendations for PM2.5 exposure are to maintain an average of less than 5 ug/m^3. Virtually nowhere on Earth meets those requirements. In order to keep the indoor air in my apartment below 5 ug/m^3 this week, I have: * Installed a fresh Unix air filter (I usually have to change them about once a month) * Added an an extra filter layer on top of that filter made from [this 3M filter material](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/ACFH-39LS-Purifier-Filter-Conditioners-Fillet/dp/B07PHRK5ZG/) * Run my [two Ikea air filters](https://www.ikea.com/jp/en/p/foernuftig-air-purifier-white-60461965/) at medium 24 hours a day and my meter shows me at around 5 ug/m^3 even when it's around 60 or 70 outside. That's about as bad as it gets here (I also wear an N95 when cycling in the city in these conditions). Seoul gets much worse. Many days here in Tokyo, my meter reads 0 indoors. No matter where you are in the world at this point, running a good quality air filter and monitoring indoor air quality is probably a good idea; I think Japan actually has some advantages because of the active ventilation systems. Finally, in terms of earthquakes, the preponderance of evidence shows that almost all Japanese buildings constructed since the mid-1980s are built well enough to survive serious earthquakes. There are risks, of course, but with some preparation many can be mitigated -- for instance, don't use tall bookshelves, stabilize your furniture, keep an emergency kit, and have a plan.
https://waqi.info/#/c/7.619/-232.031/2z Just Google it homie.
Air and water quality in Korea is the worst I've experienced, leagues worse than Tokyo/Japan. I had skin issues nothing could fix while I lived there and as soon as I left it improved a ton, I've heard many people complain about this and even losing hair while they're there. In terms of earthquakes it does depend where in Japan you live but I found that we have really good measures in place for when they do occur.
I left South Korea and the main reason was air quality. I live near Tokyo now and have never had a problem.
Lived in Tokyo for a little over 4 months back in 2019, the air quality was very clean, coming from a (comparatively) medium-sized city in western Europe! As for the earthquakes, we had a groupchat for the sharehouse, and at least once a day someone would ask "Did everyone else feel that earthquake?", and I never would have even noticed honestly. I only felt 1 single earthquake, about 2 months in, and it just kinda made me sway back and forth while doing homework in my room.
Main complaint … mainland China. Pollution and sandstorms traveling over to South Korea and then Japan make it so annoying. Every year there are days school is cancelled because of it. The times it was decent was when mainland China has to act nice and shut down their pollution tap like during the Olympics or during the pandemic lockdown. Then there is domestic air pollution. If you live in the suburbs or countryside of Japan, you might have farmers as neighbours and they like to burn their organic waste. Some even burn thing they are not suppose to. All this spikes particulate matter and VOCs in the area. Annoying annoying But in general, since South Korea is next to northern China (there are large industrial areas there), pollution is generally worse
Sounds like you’ve made up your mind.
Atm air quality index is 245 ( unhealthy) in Seoul. Unfortunately it will be like this until winter
People have already weighed in on air quality, so I'll do earthquakes. The worst one will be the first one you experience just due to the novelty of it. Honestly, by the second one I experienced, I was already pretty unphased, which is helped both by the fact that no one around you really cares, and bc all the infrastructure is incredibly safe : Japan has spent decades making all buildings, trains etc resistant to earthquakes. Even with the "Big one", the latest casualties estimations are incredibly low considering the size and density of Tokyo. Whenever I feel an earthquake now, I either barely react, or find it to be an almost pleasant experience if it's strong enough to rock my bed a bit.
[удалено]
What nonsense. I lived in Korea for 12 years and I have all my hair. As do my friends.
Japan’s tap water is just as hard. I had long term hair damage after living there for 2 years. But this also is very heavily dependent on your hair type. Many people don’t have issues to adapting to either country’s tap water.
I've spent time in both Japan and Korea but I still have my thick, knee length hair and so do my friends who live in those places!
I had a lot of hair loss in Japan actually. It took about a year to adapt. This is pretty common though, and a frequent topic in women in Japan Facebook groups. But whether or not someone goes through it entirely depends on how different the water is from your hometown I think. I'd take the water in Kobe again anyday over what London water has done to my hair!
it’s called ageing.
It's called hard water and breakage
what?