Advices on moving to Sapporo for one year
I've just been awarded a one-year post-doc fellowship by the Japan Foundation to conduct research at Hokkaido University, starting at the end of this year or next year.
The stipend is gonna be 400k yen per month, and I'll be moving there as a single person. I have lived in Kobe and Kyoto, and have visited Sapporo and Hokkaido some years ago during wintertime, but I wanted to get some perspectives on daily life, before I decide to continue with the process.
Is 400k enough to live comfortably in Sapporo? My goal would be to be able to enjoy the city, go out occasionally also to other places (Otaru, Hakodate...), and still manage to save a bit of money by the end of the year. I already know Gyomu won't let me down, but what about the recent price hikes?
I'm planning to apply for a room in the university dormitory, but if I don’t get in or decide to look elsewhere, how is the rental market right now? I have JLPT N1, so I'm fine with the language, but I know the "no renting to gaijin" struggle is real in some parts of Japan. Is this a major issue also in Sapporo? How is the situation in general around Kita-Jūhachi-Jō?