My wife and I have both been to Japan quite a few times, and I lived there in the military for nearly 5 years, and it’s the place we keep going back to. We both have friends in Japan that we’ve known for a while. I study Japanese as a hobby and while I’m nowhere near fluent I’ve been studying with WaniKani / Genki / Bunpro / Tobira for years (having a child set me back).
We are on track to retire in the USA in about 10-12 years. We are wondering how feasible it would be to move to Japan (preferably Sapporo area). I’m interested in immersion to learn the language and we would both like our daughter to learn Japanese (she’d be about 12 if we move then). Our goal is to essentially have enough money that we don’t HAVE to work but will be able to live comfortably. We’d like to buy a place near Sapporo or Chitose and attend an immersion language school while possibly teaching English too.
What I’m wondering is if we were able to build up enough of a nest egg, could we potentially get a non-tourist visa to attend an English-immersion program in the country (educational route) and look for a more permanent place to live while we’re in the program, and apply to English teaching jobs that could provide a COE? We are both professionals (engineer and dentist) but don’t really want to do those jobs in Japan and don’t plan on living near a military base where it’d even be feasible anyways. On a side, would we be able to enroll our minor daughter in school in Japan while living there?
We’d be around 45 years old if that matters at all for employment / school enrollment.
by EldritchSardines