I'm 35F and my husband is 33M, we have a 7 month old son. I lived in Japan 2014 to early 2020 and am N2 certified. Everything I do still is related to Japan, I am studying for N1 now and my remote job uses Japanese (it's in data). I do have a TEFL cert and a Master's in C&I, so I think I can do more jobwise in or out of education in Japan. I was formerly a children's eikaiwa teacher. I've failed to adjust well to the US; I got my driver's license in 2020 but rarely drive and since many places don't have good mass transit I rarely go outside here, so it's kind of depressing. In Japan I'd take the train or bus almost every day and go somewhere, even on days off of work. I'm teaching my son both languages and I worry about sending him more to American schools than Japanese schools. We're also in a state prone to hurricanes and weather disasters. I also experienced typhoon Hagibis (I was in Chiba at that time), so I do know what to expect there. Earthquakes are a bit scary, but due to the nature of my husband's work, I think he can get a remote job and we can move to one of the areas mapped out with lower odds of a 6+ quake and just cross our fingers. I also made friends more easily and enjoyed the politness of Japan. My neighbors in Japan traded fresh produce with me and we fetched each other's stray socks if the wind put them on each other's balconies; but in the US, if I say hi to my neighbors, they don't respond. Also their weed smoke is coming in through the vents and my child is breathing it in. Our landlord does not care. The lack of customer service is overall shocking. Am I just getting older and more bitter?
My husband works as a software dev, but his salary in the US doesn't touch six digits and cost of living is high, so even if he made 5-8 million yen a year in Japan and I worked a 28 hour max job (and focus on parenting), we'd be better off, especially since buying a house is less than half the price as here. I want to live in a more rural area, as Kanto was a bit crowded the 3 years I was there and I preferred the countryside. Having a baby in the US was also a big mistake; paying $10,000 USD after expensive insurance is crazy. I didn't even have a C-section or any major complications. My husband himself will move anywhere that is ok for us and he likes Japan, he's more into the otaku stuff. I like food, nature, and fashion. He's Asian-American, and living in Japan would be halfway between his two branches of family, whereas rn we're on the opposite side of the US from his American family due to his current job, and even farther from his other relatives. I'm pretty confident even with prices increasing there, we can save 20% of our income in cash and retire more easily there than here. If he can snag a PR visa for skilled work within a few years, he may even be able to then work for a US company remotely and we can live pretty comfortably. So… I'm thinking there is good opportunity there. I'm just laying out all of my thoughts. Is there anything I missed?
by Efficient_Plan_1517