Hello from Vancouver. This is a very beautiful, very dangerous city. Kofu this is not. I have an apartment for the first of next month. Great spot. I am in the process of transfering my documents over to British Columbia, the province I now call home. The last time I lived here the city seemed huge to me compared to Ottawa, my home town. After hanging out in greater Tokyo for the last few years on and off Vancouver now seems like a wee suburb. A dangerous one, but a suburb.
A lot of people who teach in Japan seem really torn about what they should be doing; stay or go. They justify their circumstances and decisions to the people around them. I say stay if you're staying, go if you're going. From my own perspective it sure feels good to be back in my beautiful Canada.