Moving to Okinawa
 

I will be moving to Okinawa soon. What type of work clothes are appropriate for civilian professional women on military bases? Should I bring my furniture or buy furniture locally? What things are "must haves" to bring. What would be appropropriate gifts for fellow employees?

I would imagine that since you will be working for the US military you would wear what you would in the US in a similar situation given the weather. As for furniture, are you not given a "baggage " allowance of weight of household goods you can bring? Might as well bring what you need unless your company or the military gives you furnishings in Okinawa. Do not need to bring gifts.

I would guess that your relocation package includes a generous allowance for shipping....bring whatever you can as the only inexpensive furniture you will find is cheap and of poor quality. There is, however, lovely high quality furniture at prices to match...similar to the rest of the world.

On the US military base, you will have access to the PX I would assume...in which case you wouldn't need to bring much in terms of home comforts.

Not sure about Okinawa, but there is Costco in Japan, which many love. If there isn't a retail near you, you can order on-line or by phone/fax for delivery in a couple of days from www.theflyingpig.com
A couple of other delivery places that are reliable are http://www.alishan-organic-center.com/en/tengu/ and www.fbcusa.com
fbcusa is very expensive for most things though, so check your local market, the Flying Pig and Tengu before ordering from FBC.

Work clothes...I would wear whatever you wear in the US. Keep in mind that Okinawa has tropical weather.

Gifts...if you enjoy giving gifts to new fellow employees, you could bring something local to your hometown. One thing that is quite expensive in Japan that people always seem to be happy to receive is maple syrup. Interesting chili sauces are also nice, as the selection here is mostly Tobasco and Thai sweet chili sauce.

Thank you for your help. If I do bring gifts, fortunately, I am now in an area that takes great pride in their various syrups and fruit jams. I am also located in an area where the dress is a lot more casual than I have ever seen. I was wondering if I should bring my suits with skirts. Even in warm climates, sometimes inside, the air conditioning can make the office environment quite cool.

I'm not familiar with US gov't offices in Japan, but the trend now in Japanese companies is to conserve energy, thus the aircon setting in summer is recommended to be 28 C and winter 20 C.

I wear skirts often in summer as I find them cooler. A suit would be useful I'd think.

Jams and syrups would make perfect gifts I think.