Immigration to Japan - options

I want to move to Japan for work or study. I’ve been running different scenarios in my head and would like some advice on what to do or is this just crazy talk.

Some background, I’m in mid 30s. I’ve been working as a software engineer for about 15 years. I also have two degrees – BEng in Electronics and BSc in Computer Science.

Option 1: I thought of taking 1 year sabbatical and going to Japan on a language study and then either move back to the states, Europe, or try to stay in Japan depending on how that goes.

Option 2: I can try to apply for a master’s degree and then either try to find a job on the points visa or continue my studies for PhD and transition my career into research and teaching. PhD is what I want to do but I’m getting older, and it will be hard. (Doing this in Japan will actually be much cheaper than doing it in the states)

Option 3: Try to find a job and get an Engineer Visa – I have no idea how easy or hard this is, but my concern is I might need a year or two to get some decent level of Japanese.

Option 4: Start a business. I’m willing to try to start a business, have about 300k USD to invest. But I think is crazy idea – I speak no Japanese and I think I need to legit first live there for a bit.

Currently, I’m thinking either:

Option 1 and then Option 3 – I get to learn some basic Japanese, travel and if I don’t like it, move back and if I like it try to get a job.
Or
Option 2 + Language Study (but no PhD) – I can get a degree and also sign for language courses. It will be harder, but I’d also hopefully get a degree.

PS: The biggest con for me is that if eventually I start work in Japan, I estimate I’ll make 5 times less money and I worry about saving for retirement. I know this is all over the place - I want to do a big change in my life and I want that to be in Japan.

If you have large savings. I'd suggest holidaying first multiple time. Get to know if you will like living in Japan. Work on you language skills also in this time.

Then go option 3.

Yes, most friends suggest I visit a few times. I guess since that's not possible now, I'd focus on studying the language.

I think options 1, 2 and 3 are all good. The pros and cons are based on what you really want to do.

I would slightly advocate AGAINST doing multiple tourist trips first, because even going frequently as a tourist is still very different from living.

That said, if you never have been to Japan, something with a relatively short commitment as a start might be better. That could be a master or the language studies. Both these options give you also time to look for a job in Japan. MY personal choice would be the language studies, because I strongly believe that having a reasonably good command of the local language is the basis for really LIVING in a country. I have lived in Spain, Japan and now Netherlands and learning the language always has been a great way to integrate and to really LIVE in that country.

I don’t know enough about the IT sector in Japan, but to hear say your options with 15 years of experience and university degree shouldn’t be too bad.

I think Option 1 and Option 3 are very viable.

With Option 1, I don't think you need to spend a year in Japan to find out if you would want to stay longer. Also, such can be quite expensive. You can spend up to 6 months on back to back tourist visas. Even longer, if you apply for long-term stay, which can be for 1 year, and you need to show you have 3 million yen in the bank (around 30,000 dollars) to apply.

Even if you stayed in Japan for 1 year, add to it that you are not fluent in speaking and reading Japanese, there is still a lot of little things you won't pick up on. This often takes years of experience and interactions. There is a lot of the culture and thinking that is hidden.

However, from what I've seen and heard, Japan is more a love it or hate it type of thing for many. Those that don't like Japan (in a way that they want to stay and live) seem to figure that out in about 3 to 6 months. Others, after getting a taste of Japan, enjoy it and know they want to stay (get a job, married, have kids, etc...).

The other advantage of you doing an extended tourist stay is that you can talk to recruiters and do job interviews. You will at least get a strong feel and information about your job prospects.

As for language, you can do a lot of self-study. Since you are a software engineer with a degree, often the language requirement for jobs is lower. In some cases they will be asking for only conversational Japanese or allow you to pickup the language, as oppose to needing the JLPT N2 or demanding fluency. However, keep in mind that the less Japanese you speak, the fewer the jobs will be available. But, there are a lot of factors involved, especially if you have skills that companies need.

For you, if you have the experience and a good resume, Option 3 is more readily possible than you may think. Programmers are not pressed as hard on their language abilities. Definitely you should be studying Japanese, but there is less expectation that you need to be completely fluent. At least not initially, but can be a factor in promotions and management positions in the future.

Thanks for the good comments. I think whilst Covid-19 is still a mess, my best bet is to keep studying at home and then we'll see how things go.

If you're going with Option 1, I would definitely recommend staying in Japan for a year, if you can afford to. Japan has extreme seasonal differences. Places that are swelteringly hot and humid in summer can then get plenty of snow in the winter. There's an extended rainy season at the start of summer that almost feels like a fifth season unto itself, summer comes with tons of mosquitos and cicadas, and the winter air can be extremely dry on sunny days

While those aren't extreme hardships or hazards, they do affect lifestyles and can make certain times of year far less enjoyable, so a full year in Japan will help you see how you feel dealing with those issues, specifically as it relates to the options you have living in Japan. For example, if you're the kind of person who gets stressed out spending too much time in the city, running off to the mountains to go hiking for a day isn't always going an option during typhoon season or mid-winter. Likewise, if you hate hot weather and don't like going out in it, you might find yourself spending more days during the summer at home in Japan than you would in your home country, but without the same options for keeping yourself entertained that you do in your home country (TV programming in your native language, inviting friends you've known for a long time over, etc.).

Another advantage to spending a whole year in Japan is that it gives it enough time for some of the novelty to wear off, which will let you better predict how happy you'd be living here for a job (which would presumably be for multiple years). Some things that feel like interesting challenges or funny bloopers the first few times they happen can start to become genuine stress sources once you realize they're a regular part of your daily life that you'll have to put up with for as long as you live in Japan. Other things which seem shockingly awkward or unpleasant the first time can become easier, or even enjoyable, as you get used to them. A full year will give you a better idea of how you personally feel about those things, because you'll experience them enough times for your long-term reactions to emerge.

Hey (guest), thanks for the advice. Weather isn't scaring me that much although I haven't experienced a humid summer and everyone is pretty much telling it's bad. I am used to hot summers and very cold snowy winters.

I am curious if foreigners develop allergies after a while?

Personally I like the hot summers (and this year has not been very hot), and the cold winters (with occasional snow) here in Tokyo has nice contrast. Rainy season is over-blown in its impact. Each person is different what they like and tolerate - not coming to Japan because of the weather is a bit odd.
Similarly, the bugs don't worry me much. Mosquitos love me and cicadas are a sound of summer. Unusually I had some extra cockroaches this year (they decided climbing a few floors from the outside was a good idea), but a simple fix means they are gone very easily.
Not sure why someone would develop an allergy.

I guess the mention of allergy comes from the fact that many people in Japan side of hay fever.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hay_fever_in_Japan

I have heard anecdotes of foreigners also developing 花粉症　hay fever after living for a few years in Japan… but those are anecdotes. I guess if you have a history of hay fever in your native country it is quite likely that you’ll have hay fever in Japan as well because of the high pollen concentration.

「Hey (guest), thanks for the advice. Weather isn't scaring me that much although I haven't experienced a humid summer and everyone is pretty much telling it's bad. I am used to hot summers and very cold snowy winters.」
As someone who grew up in Los Angeles, I don't personally find summer in Japan all that bad. The humidity is obviously higher here in Japan, but the temperature itself is lower, and I adapted pretty quickly. And winter, in most parts of the country, isn't extreme enough that there are any health/safety concerns. Really, my point in bringing up the weather was just as an example of how day-to-day life in Japan (or any country) can feel different at different times of year, and a place that seems great in one season can feel a lot less enjoyable in another. So if you have a chance to sample the lifestyle for a whole year, it really gives you a lot more information on whether you'd like to live there long-term for work, not just in terms of weather but also food, local events, peak travel times, etc.

「I am curious if foreigners develop allergies after a while?」
I definitely did. I never had hay fever growing up, and didn't have any issues for the first several years I lived in Japan. After about 8 years here, though, I started developing it, and now I need to wear a mask when I go outside in the spring and also usually take over-the-counter medicine.

「Each person is different what they like and tolerate - not coming to Japan because of the weather is a bit odd. Similarly, the bugs don't worry me much...cicadas are a sound of summer. 」
Exactly my point, JCT, each person is different in what they like and tolerate, so if someone has the opportunity to spend an initial year in Japan before deciding to live her longer-term, as opposed to having to make that decision after only a few months or weeks, then they're more likely to make the right decision for themselves. I absolutely love summer in Japan - sure it's humid, but I love the warm nights, and the sound of cicadas, to my ears as well, have always been very atmospheric. But I also know plenty of people who are absolutely miserable in such weather, and who find the sound of cicadas extremely irritating, and those too are valid opinions.

And while I agree that not coming to Japan because of the weather is odd in the context of tourism, I think it's worth considering if one is thinking of maybe settling in Japan long-term for a job. When entering a new country/culture, everyone is going to have some things they can adapt too, and some things they can't. For the things they can't adapt to, there may be things they can tolerate in the short term but which would be a major source of stress if they have to put up with them indefinitely. So if someone is thinking of coming to Japan to see if they'd like it enough to live here for work, it's probably beneficial if they can trial the local lifestyle long enough for the "honeymoon period" to wear off, if they have that option. And again, I'm not just talking about weather - my first few weeks commuting on the Yamanote Line at rush hour felt fun and funny, but were considerably less enjoyable once the cultural novelty completely wore off, and I had to figure out if, and how, I could better adapt.

Also, this is all within the context of someone who's thinking of making a discretionary decision to move to Japan. For people who HAVE TO move to Japan, whether it's for career, educational, or familial reasons, then I'm much more of the mindset "Japan isn't such a hard country to live in, so suck it up and adapt," and that goes double for people who're just talking about whether or not they should take a trip to Japan. But if someone has the choice to move to Japan or not, I think it's worth considering how much effort it will take for that individual specifically to adapt so that they can decide whether the challenge will be worth it, or whether they'd be happier living somewhere else.

Again, some people don't have that luxury and have to jump in long-term with both feet if they want to live in Japan, but if the question is "I'm thinking of studying in Japan to see if I'd like the lifestyle before I decide whether or not to get a job there. Should I do a three-month program or a one-year one?" I'd definitely recommend the full year.

Again, some people don't have that luxury and have to jump in long-term with both feet if they want to live in Japan, but if the question is "I'm thinking of studying in Japan to see if I'd like the lifestyle before I decide whether or not to get a job there. Should I do a three-month program or a one-year one?" I'd definitely recommend the full year.

. . . ., I got what you are saying - 1 year trial is better than a short stay.

In my case, I feel blessed and I have that luxury - jump both feet - I don't have much to lose, besides a set back in my career. I already did a similar move 10+ years ago (EU to US), so I've experienced a lot of the major pains with moving abroad. I like living in the US, but I also want to experience living in Japan. These are the two countries I'm most interested in, hard to say why - I think they just have the best soft power - aka promote their culture a lot. My biggest worry is the language barrier and work-culture. I've pulled 80+ hour work weeks in the states - but this never goes for over month.

A bit off topic: One negative thing of living abroad for so long, is you lose your identity and become a foreigner in your own country as well. When I visit back home, I can't help but feel like an outsider. I think my accent must have changed as well. Store clerks look at me funny when I speak - as if I'm speaking ok but something doesn't add up in their brains. One waiter asked me where I'm from, and when I said my home town - he said "No, what country do you live in?"...

And while I agree that not coming to Japan because of the weather is odd in the context of tourism, I think it's worth considering if one is thinking of maybe settling in Japan long-term for a job.
by . . . . (guest)
I read through your interesting and long reply and wanted to add a further comment regarding the weather (yes, everyone talks about the weather). While most people will think about Tokyo (and greater Tokyo) or Kyoto/Osaka and the conditions in those cities, people should also remember that Japan spans several thousand kilometers north to south (yes, that makes a difference) and has several distinct regions and the climate varies considerably. Living somewhere like Sapporo or on the western coast of Honshu (Akita maybe) is vastly different from Okinawa or some of the alpine regions like Nagano. Depends where you end up.

「While most people will think about Tokyo (and greater Tokyo) or Kyoto/Osaka and the conditions in those cities, people should also remember that Japan spans several thousand kilometers north to south」
Yep, definitely true, and another reason to take the extended trial route of living in Japan if you can afford to. There are all sorts of little lifestyle differences for different parts of the country, and you might find that some places are a match for your tastes while others aren't, which is nice to know before you sign a long-term work contract.

「One negative thing of living abroad for so long, is you lose your identity and become a foreigner in your own country as well. When I visit back home, I can't help but feel like an outsider. I think my accent must have changed as well.」
Yeah, the longer you're away from your home country, the more reverse culture shock you may feel when you go back, and yes, it happens with language too. I think we expect to eventually not keep up with all the new youth slang once we become adults, but it's always a bit of a shock to hear friends my own age who still live in the U.S. use words or phrases that have become part of the mainstream way of speaking that I'm not familiar with. I also sometimes catch myself using English terms that are common in Japanese, like "supermarket," "sofa," and "veranda" that I never used while living in southern California ("grocery store," "couch," and "balcony" are the norm there).