Looking for ways to migrate

I am wondering what my options are for migrating to Japan.

Summary: In summary, almost 30 year old junior doctor with native level English certification and no Japanese certification looking to migrate to Japan for a change of life. Making money is secondary just want residency and eventually citizenship. Would appreciate pointers in the right direction to continue my research, and/or types of jobs available to me without needing further certification. Early in my search, will consider all options. Need info on jobs available and visa process for said jobs on the road to eventual citizenship.

In detail:
I am still in the very preliminary part of my research into this, and while specific answers will be appreciated, part of the reason for making this post is to gauge where I should direct my attention in continuing my research into moving to Japan.

My background is medical, currently a junior doctor in Australa, almost 30 years old. I have general but not specialist registration. General practice is considered a specialty here, which means until/unless I finish my training, I can only work under supervision in a junior role in hospitals. Working as a doctor in Japan is therefore not an option (that was the first thing I checked), and I'm not keen to study for more exams besides the JLPT. I have only just started learning Japanese and am willing to take the JLPT but N1 is a pipe dream at this stage, I am not really looking to do that until I actually move to Japan and get settled.

I know of a Japanese acquaintance from another online community who is working as a freelance translator mainly translating medical and news articles into English. This was some time ago, but he told me that he worked from home for a few companies hiring freelance translators who were paid based on each job they did.

He also mentioned that some of these companies were hiring editors who didn't need to have native level Japanese. His and many other native Japanese translators' English is not very good, hence they had editors go through the work for clients who paid for that option (that's in his own words, I didn't think his English was terrible but could understand why professional documents would need a higher standard of English). He told me these editors didn't need to have N1 otherwise they would just be translators themselves, but just N3 or even no formal Japanese certification at all is fine. English certification was more important. I have IELTS band 8 (considered native level in Australia). I am not only looking in this field but it is where I started my search. Given that I have a medical background, and most of the documents offered were either medical or legal, I thought this may be one of the suitable options since my goal of moving to Japan is for litestyle rather than trying to make my fortune or anything ambitious.

The problem is that it is much easier to get a job like that when you are already a resident in the country, most of these companies are online-only and will generally not hire anyone until they are already a resident in Japan, and getting any of them to sponsor my visa application would be challenging if not impossible.

My plan is to work in my present job until I have about $200k in net worth before making the move. This should take approximately 5 more years. Basically need to find a job that will pay enough to get by, doesn't need to be huge, just to avoid having to dip into savings too much. I know it will probably be a downgrade from my current pay/standard of living and am fine with that. I thought I could start with something like what is described above, then try and get JLPT N2 when I am in the country and eventually N1. I also looked into the JET program but I don't really like the idea of teaching, and being Asian in ethnicity I probably have a disadvantage if trying to be an English teacher. My written English is better than spoken (though both certified native level).

My passion is in games and anime so jobs in that industry would be a bonus, but probably will not be an option at this stage until I have been there a few years and get N1.

Thank you in advance for your advice.

Well, the first thing you need to understand is the visa system for Japan. Essentially there are specific visas per job and for many jobs there is NO visa.

In a nutshell, if you get married to a Japanese, you can get spouse visa, which gives you the right to work in anything you can find a job. However if you go on your own, you need to 1) find a job, 2) it MUST be in a category for which there are visas and 3) the company must be willing to do all the paperwork for you.

Besides teaching, these jobs in broad terms are highly qualified jobs. So you should search for something within your profession. Although working as a GP is probably not possible as you already recognized.

What COULD be possible is to work in pharmaceutical industry. Either in a CRO or directly in a pharmaceutical company. To find noted that field it might be best to start working in this field already in Australia. So to have already several years of experience under your belt before coming to Japan. (Background I am a biotechnology engineer and work in a CRO in Japan- although I am currently home based in Netherlands- long story...)

Regarding learning Japanese, youfll need to do that. I agree from my own experience that it is much easier to learn it in Japan than outside, but if you can get started, that is best. When I first started working in Japan I was at N3 and honestly that was not enough. Now I am at N2 and frankly there are still many situations where I need help. But luckily my job is mainly international and although it has parts in Japanese, I manage to get by. But really N1 should be my goal. Even N1 isnft really high enough for working in medical profession in Japan. However there are positions working in Japanese companies for their international business. So those are the type of position you would need to look at. However these positions require previous experience. I would say that 5 years should be the minimum. Plus N2 or N1. (At least when I now hire these are our requirements).

Getting to N1 roughly takes 2 years of full dedication. It could be a bit quicker if you know Chinese because you donft need to learn so many kanji.

Finally getting citizenship is a long way down the line. Youfd first need to get a work visa, then get permanent residency and then eventually you could apply for citizenship. I donft know the process as I am not interested at all in that. You will also loose your current citizenship(s). So that might not be convenient.

About translation work and jobs related to that: even if you reach N1, you need to know the terminology in both English and Japanese (and written, meaning a lot of kanji) to be able to function as a translator. There are jobs called gnative checkers,h who would review ONLY the finished English translation to check on grammar and finer points; gproofreaders/editors,h who can understand the substance of the translation in the original language and brush up the translation to some extent needed.
Just to give you the categories.

Another thing: translation companies and publishing companies (such as those who help corporations publish their IR report and such) do not hire many translators/native checkers/editors full-time. They hire mostly freelancers, for which there is no visa sponsorship (so the workers need to have their own means of obtaining a visa/resident status, which might be family-based, or permanent resident status obtained after some years of working full-time for employers). For freelancers in translation/editing/native checkers, the pay is not stable, and even per job assignment, well, not good (I can say this from my own experience and also experiences of my family member). And freelancers is no entry job into Japan.

Which gets me to the question of, what would you want to do in Japan? I am not familiar with the pharmaceutical positions mentioned by the OP, so there might be a chance, but to me English language teaching (if you can show you are at native level, or show 10 or so years of education ginh English, if you are not a native speaker) is about the only gentryh job into Japan, unless you have some other professional qualifications.

Another important question: why do you want to migrate to Japan? What is it about Japan that means you want to live there, and possibly give up your current citizenship to be a Japanese citizen (as you cannot hold a dual citizenship with Japan)?

You have a lot of conditions to meet (not a bad thing - you are clear on what you want!), but you may need to be more flexible depending on how keen you really are to move there.

without needing further certification.
Through your post you repeat you don't want to do any more work to learn the skills you need to either work or live in Japan. Therefore, I cannot read your post and questions as being serious.
You would essentially be arriving as an unskilled person and not eligible to work in a category where you would really be eligible for a visa under one of the specific categories, and without language ability, not a good employment candidate.
Yes, there are roles/work where Japanese is not required, but those are few and often poorly paid.