Have you mentioned what location in Japan the school is located in? Prefecture or region wise at least? I just think it might be useful for those muses who want to talk about their aspirations - maybe some want to stay in Japan, but if the school is say... located in the inaka/rural country and the muse wants to live in the city, but we as the mun have no way of clarifying if where they are in relation to where they want to be, does that make sense? 1/2
Also, I think it would also just be helpful to know a more specific location if we wanted to write about commuting headcanons and such. Depending on where they are in Japan, some muses might be commuting by the local train, metro, or by bike depending on how rural or how urban the school location is. 2/2
hey, sorry for such a late response ! we were originally planning on leaving the location of dex ambiguous, due to the fact that many people would either need to do research on the location, or assume things about the location ( and ultimately fail ). however, you do bring up a fair point in mentioning aspirations and methods of transportation. ( and as someone who puts up with the hell that is transportation on a daily basis here, it really resonated with me ) — so we’ve decided on a location !!
dex is located in the saga prefecture / saga-ken of kyushu. we definitely won’t be naming a particular city or ward, though — that may be a bit much. i’ll put the rest under the cut, to avoid clogging dashes. but to those interested in reasoning, as well as a general information dump on what transportation and such is like down south, feel free to proceed !
for starters, if dex were to be placed in the city ( for example, tokyo ), the clubs would definitely seem a bit off. gardening, photography, and some of the sports require lots of space — precisely what you wouldn’t get when placed in the city. thus, we opted for a place more in-tune with nature. we headed to kyushu, and felt like saga-ken would be a nice location for dex.
saga-ken is filled with japanese culture and tradition, which is ultimately dex’s “motto,” if you will — to immerse the students in japan’s culture. there are also tons of historical sites within the prefecture, which would be perfect for field trips or activities for certain clubs. saga is really quite beautiful, and with everything going on in terms of aforementioned culture, we feel like saga-ken would be a very nice prefecture to place dex in.
of course, there’s transportation. to quote a friend that lives in kyushu, “it’s the exact opposite of tokyo.” trains exist, though lines and stops are limited. in other words, the bus would be the main method of transportation for dex’s students. monthly / yearly bus passes can be purchased for “free” rides during the pass’ duration, and i personally could indulge in the concept of fusing what should be a pasmo / suica card with the dex student id. i’m sure bikes are also a very viable method, though that would depend on the student’s area of residence. if the student lives on their own and relatively close to campus, then sure ! otherwise, dorms are almost never near campus — at least a couple of wards away. in other words, to those catching the bus would have a commute time of approximately 30 minutes, give or take. ( again, this is based off of my friend that lives in kyushu — few details may change to accommodate for this verse, though i will ultimately be using this as a layout, should we decide to tweak things. )
oh, towns nearby would be a mix of your big-name stores, as well as little family-owned businesses ! saga-ken is also known for traditional ceramics, so it’d be no surprise to see a couple of more traditional stores scattered about.
as always, if you have any questions regarding dex ( or japan in general ), feel free to shoot them my way ! i can’t guarantee a quick reply, but i will absolutely provide as much detail as i can to avoid confusion !! —— so if there’s anything in this post that raises a question or two, please send them so i can expand upon them ! and as always, thank you for asking !