Tokyo is the capital of Japan and one of the most dynamic cities in the world, combining traditional culture with cutting-edge modernity. It is a massive metropolis with excellent public transport, countless restaurants, and endless opportunities for sightseeing and cultural experiences. The city is famous for its safety, cleanliness, and efficiency, which makes daily life very comfortable even for foreigners. Despite being a large city, Tokyo has many quiet parks and riverside areas that offer a break from the busy atmosphere. Overall, living in Tokyo provides a great balance between modern convenience and exposure to Japanese culture and lifestyle.

My office was located in Shibuya, one of the most vibrant and recognizable districts in Tokyo. Shibuya is known for its famous scramble crossing, bright billboards, and busy streets full of people, shops, and restaurants. It’s a major commercial and business hub, home to many Japanese and international companies, especially in transportation, media, and technology. Working in Shibuya meant being surrounded by energy and modern city life every day. The area is also very convenient, with excellent public transportation connections to all parts of Tokyo. Despite the busy atmosphere, the area feels safe and well-organized, with a strong sense of community. It was inspiring to work in such a central and iconic part of Tokyo.

The dormitory was located between Kaminoge (8 minutes by foot) and Futako-Tamagawa (15 minutes by foot) train stations, in the Setagaya ward of Tokyo. It usually took me only around 40 minutes to get to the office in Shibuya, which is very nice given the size of Tokyo. The area is more residential and peaceful compared to the city center, offering a nice balance between convenience and calm surroundings. Futako-Tamagawa is known for its beautiful riverside parks along the Tama River, where people often go jogging, cycling, or picnicking. It also has a large shopping complex called Futako-Tamagawa Rise, with shops, restaurants, and a cinema. The neighborhood was clean, safe, and pleasant for walking around, especially in the evenings. Overall, living in Kaminoge gave me the experience of daily life in a typical Tokyo neighborhood, away from the main tourist areas.

During my stay in Japan, I had the chance to explore many beautiful places both inside and outside Tokyo. I took day trips to Kawagoe, Kamakura, Mount Takao, Okutama, and Yokohama, each offering a different view of Japanese culture and nature. The company also invited me on a business trip to Sapporo in Hokkaido, which was an amazing opportunity to see another part of the country. In Tokyo, I visited several famous districts such as Shinjuku, Harajuku, Akihabara, Azabudai Hills, and the Tokyo Skytree, experiencing the city’s unique mix of tradition and modernity. And I must say it just kept on surprising me to see how many faces Tokyo really has. After my internship was done I took the Shinkansen out west to Kyoto to stay an extra week and explore yet another iconic part of Japan, although I must say it felt a lot more crowded than Tokyo. From Kyoto I took day trips to Nara and Osaka.

Kawagoe for Edo period architecture
Kamakura for beach and layed back atmosphere
Mount Takao for possible view of tiny Mount Fuji and lots of dragon flies
Okutama for wasabi ice cream, pristine nature scenery
Yokohama for iconic night panorama
Shinjuku for the adrenaline and getting lost
Harajuku for a hipster and relaxed vibe
Shibuya for a youthful, butsling and energetic area
Akihabara for anime lovers and arcade games
Azabudai Hills for sustainable district of the future
Tsukuji fish market for extra fresh seafood
Kyoto for historic streets and tradition

Tokyu Railways is one of Japan’s major private railway companies, operating several train lines that connect central Tokyo with its surrounding areas in the south west. The biggest station is Shibuya and the main line connects it with Yokohama, a modern city port famous for night skyline and Chinatown. The company is part of the larger Tokyu Group, which is also involved in real estate, retail, and urban development.

I was impressed by the company’s organized structure, supportive work culture, and the kindness of my colleagues. The staff were always willing to explain and guide me, which helped me learn about both the technical and cultural aspects of working in Japan. Almost every week there would be a company dinner taking place in an izakaya, which was paid for in my case and was a very nice opportunity to get to know my colegues better in a different setting and talk about less work related topics.

I'd also like to appreciate and mention the amount of things provided for free, which were super helpful at keeping the budget low. I was provided breakfast and dinner 7 days of week. I had a blanket and pillow ready in my room even with extra bed linen. They also gave me a PASMO card with a 500 JPY credit and train tickets to use to get to work and back home. The company also gave me budget money for lunch on the work days so basically the only things I had to pay from my own was lunch at the weekend and train whenever I was of work travelling for personal reasons.

Over the summer I was a part of the Facility Engineering & Construction and within this devision I switched among sections of Civil Engineering, Facility Management, and Construction. In each section they explained their work and projects and business models. One of the many great things was that they didn't only show me a presentation but usually would take me to the site to see it for myself, which was trully amazing and was about half of what I did. I found myself very lucky for the unique opportunity to go to some really special places, like the heliport on top of the Kabukicho tower in Shinjuku, building site of the Shinkansen station in Sapporo, or the building site of the new station under the Tokyo Skytree. The other half of my intership I would work on a topic, that I would research and then present to tho whole division, which could be around a hundered people, but don't let that scare you. They are very interested in what you have to say and all the questions will eventually lead to you talking about your culture or about your favourite japanese food and it will turn to be a great experience. It really helped me get comfortable talking to a crowd of people and elevate my soft skills.

I was assigned 3 supervisors, which were taking turns but at least one would always be by my side happy to assist me with anything I could possibly need. They were super nice and incredibly helpful especially in guiding me with my final presentation.

I was given a total of 200 000 JPY in cash the first day I got to Tokyo. That included 2 month salaries (80 000 JPY/month) and 40 000 JPY meant to be used for work days lunch. In addition to that I recieved 200 train tickets to use for work. Having said all that was provided to me, the salary was basically pocket money for me and was more than sufficient.

Let me first say that nobody expects you to speak ANY Japanese. If you do, even just super basics like "arigato" or "konnichiwa", they will be so surprised and crazy excited. My supervisors could communicate well in English. Other employees and workers at other places like restaurants usually couldn't speak any English or just very little. It was totally fine getting around using translators, in my case google translator, especially the photo translation was super helpful when in the supermarket or trying to figure out a restaurant menu. When in touristy areas, English was spoken more and usually there would be English menus in restaurants.

My accommodation was provided for free directly by Tokyu Railways in a company dormitory located close to Kaminoge station. The dorm was shared by around forty other young employees who had recently joined the company as trainees, which made it a lively and social environment. I had my own single room with a bed, desk, private Wifi, airconditioning! and closet, and I received a personal key so I could come and go freely without concerns about security. The dormitory facilities were excellent — there were shared washing machines, dryers, and even an iron available for use at any time. The bathrooms were shared, and there was also a traditional Japanese-style communal bath, which was an interesting cultural experience.

Bed linen, pillows, and blankets were provided, so I did not have to arrange anything myself. Both breakfast and dinner were included, served in the dormitory canteen, and the food was of very good quality and taste. Breakfast was buffet-style with rice, miso soup, salad, and several options of cooked dishes like fish, meat, tamagoyaki, or croquettes. For dinner, we usually had one or two kinds of salads, a main dish, rice, soup, and sometimes dessert. I was very impressed that the canteen staff kindly accommodated my vegetarian diet, ensuring I always had suitable and delicious options.

The day I arrived I was picked up at Ueno station by an IAESTE student, who then helped me with my suitcase and took me to Kaminoge station where he handed me over to a HR person from Tokyu Railways.

Local IAESTE students organized 4 events while I was there, all of which I joined. Events would usually start in the morning and would consist of sightseeing walk, cultural experience and then would end with an optional dinner. First event was held in Asakusa and included an Amezaiku workshop. Another trip was to Kawagoe where we each painted our own Daruma. The third trip was to Kamakura where we made Wagashi. Last event I participated in was the international potluck where each one of us prepared a dish from their home country.

Each event had a majority of Japanese students with only 3-7 of us being international.

I was the only international person in the dormitory and in the whole company so the only way to meet other foreign students was to participate in IAESTE events. I became friends with one girl from Belgium and we would hang out even outside organized events. We would go play arcade games in Akihabara, go to the movies or explore the shrines and visit festivals. I was actually happy to be surrounded only by Japanese people, because it hepled me understand their culture better and I could improve my Japanese faster.

The company held an annual softball tournament where each section had their own team and even I would play. This took part on a regular Monday so everybody was off the work which was super nice. Besides that there was a spinning gym in Jiyugaoka that had a super cheap month membership (just 1100 JPY for unlimited number of classes) that I tried and ended up being super fun, cycling in the dark just having a party. Of course there were also free options like jogging, which could be done by the Tama river or at the Komazawa Olympic park.

As for cultural events there were plenty of festivals each weekend. I definitelly recommend participating in Bon Odori, lantern festivals and seeing lots of Hanabi (Japanese for fireworks). Those are on another level. I went to three hanabi festivals over the summer and one of them was 1 hour and 30 minutes long!

Despite being limited to vegetarian options, I still tried a lot of local dishes. And I must say that all of them were my favourite so here are some that I can remember. From the sweets it was anmitsu, ichigo daifuku, taiyaki, dango, mochi, wagashi, anpan, malonpan, dorayaki, yokan, well, pretty much anything made with the sweet red bean paste known as azuki or anko. From the savoury dishes it would be my all time favourite korokke, kitsune udon, Japanese curry, tamagoyaki, yakisoba, edamame and gyoza.

The food is generally cheap if you eat at a restaurant (600-1000 JPY for vegetarian). If you try to buy fruit at the supermarket thought, that is another story. I was really craving fresh fruit once so I want to the supermarket and bought an apple for 350 JPY.

A great thing is bento, which is freshly made each day and a lot of locals rely on it everyday. You can find that in any supermarket and even "konbini", a convenience store open 24/7 and can be found at almost every corner. And don't let it fool you, even konbinis have fresh snacks every day that are good quality and are very popular among the locals.

I personally did not communicate much due to a fairly big time diffenence but if was deffinitely possible via WhatsApp, FaceTime or anything internet based. I had WiFi available at the dorm, but in the office it was limited to company devices only. I also bought a data eSIM with 50 GB per month so I wouldn't worry about finding my way with google maps, figuring out the train rides or looking for fun things to do nearby.

Go to as many festivals and temporary events as you can. Get out there, you're in Tokyo for a limited amount of time so get the most out of it, you can relax when you gat back home. When you're at the dormitory don't be locked in your room, go to talk to others, hang out with them in the common room, plan activities with them. For the best brown sugar bubble tea with freshly made tapioka I recommend Xing Fu Tang in Harajuku. For the best ramen and a whole experience I recommend Ichiran ramen chain of restaurants, trully the best ramen I've had. Another one might sound funny but go to the movies and try their soy sauce popcorn, it will really surprise you.

And as for clothes, I bought everything for the office in Japan, the fashion is very diffetent and people tend not to show too much skin, or actually mostly none at all, that is why it's best to shop there, the clothes and materials are designed to help you survive the heat. Shopping for clothes and shoes have unique designs compared to what we have in Europe and it is also a lot cheaper.

Another suitcase for everything you'll buy. But seriously, I'd say travel light. Everything you'll forget you can buy cheaper in Japan and have a cool souvenir. Although an umbrella is a must! I bought mine in Japan.

Unique opportunity to work in an international environment which is very fascinating and so different from one you would experience in any of the Western countries. I loved getting to know the Japanese culture and really enjoyed the amount of respect people have for each other, really inspiring. Of course all the great Japanese food is a bonus.

Everything went really smooth from my acceptance, my airport pick-up, to registering to events. There was a WhatsApp group where event information would be posted and participation forms would be sent.