Moving to Japan at 47

Hi everyone. Hoping you could help provide some insight.

I am a 47 year old woman and am thinking about moving to Japan to teach English. I recently lost my job (software developer) and have always wanted to move there. My mom is from Japan and I have traveled there almost every year since I was a kid, so I am familiar with the culture. I can also read and speak the language, so that should not be an issue.

I am not sure if I am making a mistake going there at my age because I know that there is age discrimination for women over 30. I just donft want to make a decision based on emotion or impulse. I am divorced and my kids are grown.

Anyone have any suggestions or have a similar situation? Thanks!

If you can get a job and make ends meet, then why not?

Umm... I am not sure what kind of "age discrimination against women above 30 years" there is in Japan, that doesn't exist in many other countries as well. Yes, there was that discrimination about 20 years ago, but society has moved on. Now women are no longer expected to quit their jobs or become secretaries once they get married. So maybe your impression about the gender discrimination is from what you heard from your mother? (And it may well have been true when she was young. I know it was definitely still true some 20 years ago).

I (female) moved to Japan when I was 42 and would not say that I have suffered any age or gender discrimination to which I am not already (unfortunately) used from living in EU. Probably actually as a slightly elderly women you get less discrimination as you are no longer likely to have babies... so no more mata-hara.

Note that I am not working in teaching in Japan, but in corporate. So can't talk about if there is some specific gender / age discrimination against teachers.

If you were a software developper, would it not make more sense to come as a software developper? But maybe with your mother being Japanese, you can get a different visa category and can come with one in which you can work in just anything you want. (I am no expert on visa categories).

Now, if it is a good idea to move to Japan and live here is a different question. There is a recent thread here that explores that question in general terms: https://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+168312

But hey, if it was your dream to move to Japan, and you now have that opportunity, what holds you back? Worst case, you can still go back to your home country (or some other country) in a few years if things don't work out in Japan. But if you don't try, you'll never know if things work out or not.

I agree with @LikeBike. I have quite a few friends who are women who live in Japan and most are either close to 40 or over it. One acquaintance friend just turned 50 and is loving her job in Fukuoka. I would say... going by most of my friends, being a foreign woman in Japan makes dating a PIA. I think if you're looking for someone new, that will be more of an issue than your age.

I also agree with @LikeBike and think you should see if there are any software jobs you might be interested in Japan since you are fluent in Japanese. Heck, with fluency there are all sorts of jobs possibly open to you that wouldn't be otherwise.

If you just really want to teach, I'd recommend once you are in Japan looking for teaching position available to those already residing in Japan and fluent in Japanese. I have a friend who started in an eikawa (she didn't know Japanese at the time) and later moved to a much better paid teaching position at an actual Japanese private high school. The salary and hours were so much better than with an eikawa, but you had to be fluent in Japanese and already in Japan to apply.

Good luck!

When it comes to age, it's probably more about what type of job you want compared to if you can get a job. One thing to consider is do you want to teach small kids or do you want to teach adults? Because of your age and background, you will have some major advantages and some possible disadvantages (I don't know exactly the disadvantages) to consider specifically when it comes to teaching adults (specifically in software engineering if you know the lingo or english technical terms).

The biggest thing which I will mention which is a north asia thing is more meaningful partner relationships. I am a male so can only talk through observation, but some females can find it difficult to find a partner which is one of the reasons many females leave north asian countries after a couple of years. I don't know enough about age in relation to this to make a comment. There are many theories about why this happens - but I do not want to talk about why as it can possibly cause some arguments....

As others have suggested, you need to clarify what kind of age discrimination you're talking about. But if you're talking about job opportunities, it is now against the law to set an age limit upon recruiting new employees, or even to suggest that younger people are preferable. That said, in reality, as you age, it does become difficult to secure a new stable and responsible job with an income suitable for your age. That age is not necessarily 30, though. And I don't know about English teaching jobs. I'm talking about jobs in general.

One question that comes to mind (when it comes to making a big move relatively later in onefs life) is are you going to be OK leaving friends and acquaintances that you have now around you? I see that you are in the US, so the idea of uprooting oneself and moving to another place comes more easily than others, but please be aware of what impact losing onefs familiar circle of friends/acquaintances gcanh have, particularly in your (and my – um, to be honest I am a bit older) age bracket. Maybe that depends also on how outgoing you are as well.

Another is the job prospect – I am assuming that youfve been in in IT all your career so far. Any TESOL/TEFL experience? Whether youfd find job in English teaching depends on what kind of teaching positions you seek. Some English conversation schools that have their own curriculum (and even teaching materials) ready, which they expect all teachers to follow exactly, tend to want young people who are willing not to ask questions but follow their guidelines, teach for a few years. Others who want teachers who can teach business English, for example, would prefer different candidates. English teaching in Japan is considered an entry job for native English speakers wishing to live in the country (you would know that), in the sense that they can simply come with no qualification but being native speakers of the English language (or near native) but that means the employers might expect you to just come, teach a few years, then move on (unless you have a linguistic/literature degree and want to pursue teaching in university). Aptitude for teaching and whether you enjoy teaching will play a major role too.

Any wish to work in the IT field in Japan? That might be another idea.