Hello everyone. So I will be moving to Japan in about a year with my fiancé (soon-to-be-husband), who is a Japanese citizen. He has a very successful career, and any additional income from me would not be necessary. He doesn’t expect me to contribute financially at all. However, I would like have something to do to occupy my time, and getting a little extra “spending money” that I earned myself would be nice too.
A little background, I have a bachelor’s degree and speak Japanese at an N4 level. I’m currently continuing my Japanese studies. I know technically I can work with very few limitations on a spouse visa, but obviously speaking only N4 will limit many opportunities.
I love teaching and have always had a passion for English. I am considering getting a TEFL certificate this year. However, based on my research, teaching English at an Eikaiwa is not something I’m interested in doing. This is based on the work hours, management, and many other not-so-desirable aspects that I’ve heard about.
Instead, I am considering tutoring English privately. My fiancé has a lot of connections, and thanks to this I have done some networking with people in Japan as well. All that to say is that I think I could reach a good-sized audience when advertising my tutoring.
Is that a good option? I’m a little hesitant in case some people meet up with me in the hopes of meeting my fiancé (which obviously would never happen). He is quite famous and has somewhat of a fanbase. Would there be a safety concern for me? Any way to mitigate that if there is one?
Teaching English privately is essentially my only job idea right now, although I’m open to any other suggestions and would like to hear some. I just figured teaching English was the most feasible option based on my Japanese speaking ability (or lack thereof).
My bachelor’s is in animal science and I have extensive experience working in animal research, including being a co-author on 3 scientific peer-reviewed articles. I also spent time teaching plant genetics. So anything relating to plants/ animals/ research would be nice. But again I’m guessing my lack in Japanese proficiency would make it hard to get a job in such an area. However, maybe volunteering is more feasible?
I have a little less than one year to get any sort of experience or education under my belt while still in America, and I’d like to use that time wisely. Of course I’ll continue studying Japanese in that time as well.
All that being said, if a standard job doesn’t sound like the best option, what are some other things I could do instead that might be worthwhile and fulfilling?
*Edited to remove some potentially identifiable info
by Plastic_Apricot_2890