I’m a 19 year old half Japanese, half Korean Japanese citizen who’s been in Japan for 7 years since I was 12. I grew up in Korea going to an international school so my Japanese is terrible and I can speak English at a fluent(ish) level. From my experience working random jobs, school and interacting with Japanese people in general, people here tend to think I’m rude/stupid/weird after interacting with me a few times because of how bad my Japanese is. My Japanese accent is native and I look Japanese but I have no idea how conversational Japanese works, I’ve got no clue how Japanese people think so I’m oblivious to why they give me weird looks or laugh at me when I say something I think is normal, my brain feels like it slows down so much when I try to read Japanese compared to English or Korean, my Kanji knowledge sucks – I don’t think I can build a life and career for myself here besides working at mindless dead end jobs like factories or warehouses. I feel like my parents messed me up big time sending me to an English elementary school, Korean middle school and Japanese high school which probably made me unable to hone one language enough to function properly, Japanese being the worst out of the 3. Anyways the solution I came up is just to up and leave Japan to a different country, preferably the US or NZ, by going to university there. I’m currently thinking about going to America since they’ve got the best education which should open up a lot of opportunities(I know it’s expensive but I’ve found a few schools that I can afford). I just wanted to ask for advice on whether this is a good idea or if I should just stay in Japan and work on my Japanese while going to a Japanese university.
25 comments
Nothing wrong with leaving Japan, but I wouldn’t worry too much about the language skills. If you were to stay here, at your age you will adjust to conversational Japanese, and the value of being able to speak 3 languages well is more valuable than the drawbacks.
I’d first decide what you want to learn/do as a career, and then try to figure out where would be the best place to do that
Your fluent English and Korean should be seen as a great asset. And your conversational Japanese is probably going to be much better than other foreigners who want to work here in Japan.
So, I feel like you probably should focus on learning as much skills as you can on what you’re passionate about(software engineering), then look around for companies to join after. If there are no companies that interest you here, or if you feel like the working environment is not conducive for you. You can always decide on a change then.
Again as many have stated here, it’s up to you to weigh the pros and cons and decide.
I am Korean, born and raised in Japan who went to an international school, then went to the US for my bachelors degree. My Japanese was fluent, but my writing was mediocre at best. After graduating I worked at a Japanese company and my Japanese got considerably better over the years. Now I’m working in the US, utilizing my bilingual skills.
That said, as an older guy who had a similar experience. Your still 19, furthering or education is probably a good idea, but you should know that living in the US (especially the west or east coast) is a lot more expensive than you think. You won’t be able to work decent hours depending on your visa.
Also, if you really want to get into IT, anywhere other than Japan (or Asia really) is a safer choice considering pay and worklife balance.
Seems nobody has asked–what is/are your citizenship(s)? (probably not US, since you mention H1B in connection with that)
I also grew up multilingual and multinational like you and I know exactly how you feel. I left the country my parents are in and the country I went to highschool in, to move to another country. I eventually lived in many countries with Japan being the 4th. The feelings you’re having are completely normal and understandable. Whenever I go back to the country my parents live in, I feel out of place and the culture doesn’t feel familiar to me, similar to how you described Japan.
Listen, you’re young, you speak English, a Japanese passport allows you to go to many countries. My advice to you is to research a country you feel like you’ll fit into and go there. Try it out. Go as a student if you can afford it and your parents can help you out.
Otherwise save up some money and go to different countries on a working holiday visa and support yourself like I did.
You’ll learn a lot about yourself and you’ll find a place where you feel like you belong.
If you study programming or computer science or other IT related fields you’ll find work in just about any place you want to go to. That’s how I got started in my early career.
Anyway it’s just my opinion.
Depending upon your citizenship, you could always work at the Embassy or consulate
Many people in this sub can’t even speak Japanese. But they can still live here. If you can speak English well, you can try to get into a foreign company. You can make foreign friends who speak in English.
But at the same time, I would say if you are still young, you can try living abroad and you can go back if thing goes unexpectedly. Don’t be afraid to make mistake. Nobody can tell what future is. Did you expect a plane crashing into a tower? Did you expect a disease stopping the whole world?
Would depends on other things surely.
Are your parents rich? Sounds like they might be. So one day you’ll take over managing their assets or businesses which probably means you should go where the assets are.
Where are your parents and family? That might drive where you want to be.
Then there’s the type of career you want to build. If you’re a Optiver trader, who cares if your Japanese is good.
What are you even doing at 19 actually. Are you at uni? Which uni do you go to?
Edit: just saw you want to do software engineering, I’ve never worked in Japan but the salary sure is low from what I’m told? compared to many places in the west or places like Shenzhen. If money was your driver Japan hardly has anything competitive to offer for getting a job. But I’d probably still think about where dad’s assets are
If I were you, I’d go to school in the US and see what you’d like to do after you spend some time in America. Going to a school in the US opens up doors for you that going to a school in Japan wouldn’t. A lot of countries honor a US degree over a Japanese degree too (well, maybe it doesn’t matter for computer science, IDK). Remember, you have 4 years of college to experience American life and you can work during those years with internships and whatnot. You would have a good feel for what it could be like for you if you chose to stay in the US. Also, I think you might feel like you fit in more in the US since there are lots more immigrants too.
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If you’ve found yourself a few US schools that you can afford like you say then go for it. You’re never going to be treated as an equal here, shit is rigged. At least in america nobody gives a shit where you from as long as you can deliver.
If you want to go to the US, think about the downsides. For example, health care is almost prohibitively expensive. You will need a car and license unless you go to New York or LA (and even then, public transportation is not particularly safe). Be aware of discrimination issues as well.
if I will be you, I would prefer Ireland. Ireland is English-speaking country and possess lots of multinational Tech HQs as well.
>I’m oblivious to why they give me weird looks or laugh at me when I say something I think is normal
The combination of native accent and limited vocabulary can make you look intellectually impaired.
There’s nothing wrong with leaving Japan, and your Japanese can be an asset if you work on it as well.
If money is an issue, try going to a community college first.
They generally have open admissions, meaning they accept everyone (some may require TOEFL) and the cost is pretty low compared to for-profit schools. You can apply to a community college, and then once you are admitted you can apply for a “F student visa”.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/study/student-visa.html
If you’d like recommendations for community colleges, I would highly recommend Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, California and its sibling school De Anza College in Cupertino. These are in the heart of silicon valley and some of your professors may be moonlighting as professors while their day job is in tech. Lots of diversity and a few Japanese supermarkets in the area. Job opportunities/internships are plentiful in CS, although the cost of living will probably be the biggest problem for a student.
Renting a studio apartment near those two schools will cost you at minimum $1800 USD, usually not including things like internet or electricity costs. Not to mention the cost of groceries and other basic necessities.
You also need a car for transportation in the US. Full stop. Unless you live in the heart of San Francisco or New York City, you need a car in America or your life will be extremely inconvenient. Public transport in the US can’t be compared to Japan. Right now, car prices in the US are crazy high because of the pandemic and supply chain issues. Not to mention gasoline is about $6 a gallon in CA.
Please factor all these things in before making a big relocation. You might have an easier time finding a local University program and later transferring or studying abroad for a year through a program from your local college! During my time at university, I met plenty of JP students that took a year abroad to study. Good luck!
> I feel like my parents messed me up big time sending me to an English elementary school
You said you wanted to be SE, I can tell you English is one of the most important skill you need to be a good SE.
Just go to the US to see if it works
You need to improve your Japanese.
Furthermore, you’ve reached an age where you really can’t blame your shortcomings on your parents who, it sounds like, did nothing wrong. It reflects badly on you.
If you went to a Japanese high school and you spent 7 years in Japan during your teen years, your Japanese really should be better than it is. Why, in this environment did you not practice the language? Did you choose to speak Korean or English? Consume content in other languages? That’s fine to improve your English and Korean but now you see how your poor Japanese is holding you back.
Immerse yourself in Japanese. Practise it, even though it’s hard. Try learn it from first principles from whatever language you’re strongest in. Korean has a very similar grammatical structure, so this will be easier than learning from English. Find a conversational partner. Watch Japanese content with audio description on – the settings used for blind people where a narrator describes in Japanese ‘The main character enters a busy cafe, stumbling on an uneven flagstone why a birds chirps noisily.’
Put the effort in and it will unlock opportunities in Japan that you, quote correctly, realise are currently closed to you.
Your not going to enjoy the work culture here . Get out before it’s too late
sure, why not
Also do not overlook Canada of you decide to leave. Meanwhile I would think that just getting over a hump of learning Japanese better would put you in huge advantage in future.
please please look into other countries that use english that also offer a much more lenient visa system than the US. Canada is an example.
it’s easy to go to university in US if you have the money, because international students bring in so much money for the universities. There is an insane amount of international students, a highly competitive market, and a lottery visa system that gives no fucks if you have a job or not.
Please have a STRONG reason why you are going to the US, so you don’t regret it. Do not go just because everyone goes there.
Look into systems like working holiday visas as well.
Just so you know the US is extremely elitist, meaning the best jobs will go to well connected Ivy League grads, okay jobs are divided hunger games style or squid game style to people with the best grades in the top 40 or so universities, and then everyone else gets bundled into the people you hear about who went to college, took out huge loans, and now work some random minimum wage or dead end service job. Exceptions exist but have a look on LinkedIn at the kind of people who work at Apple, Deloitte, or JP Morgan.
My point is you should really think about what your major will be, what kind of job, and what kind of industry you might want to work in. You can always change your mind, but make sure you at least have an idea like “I’m going to major in economics so I can do consulting at one of the big 4” or “I’ll do computer science and try for MANGA or some random startup” This will help you stay focused so you can at least end up with something you might be interested in.
We would need to learn more about what your dreams are to advise
But look man, a few people in their 40s come to Japan, work their butt offs, and achieve N1 fluency or better. It requires real work and you have many advantages over them.
Your cup is half full
You can either buy your own excuses and leave, or decide to work hard and stay if you like it here the most
South Korea is pretty sweet though, I wouldnt mind the change myself. Depends on what your long term lifestyle dream is
Yes, you should leave Japan!