I’ve always wanted to move to Japan since I was younger and now really want to create a realistic plan to do so as I realise how bad England is. I’m a print journalist and I’ve seen that there are English language publications I could work for if I can find a job in Japan. My current job has a 2 year contract (18 months left) so I was thinking of really brushing up on Japanese in the 18 months (I have a very basic understanding) then looking for jobs there as my contract comes to an end. The trouble is I feel like it’ll be impossible for me to get hired without me already living in Japan. I also have a partner who I want to move with me and I’m unsure what he can get hired in as he is a surveyor. Do I need to give up on my plan or can anyone think of work-arounds for it?
2 comments
It would probably be easier to find a job working as a Japan correspondent for a British publication; but even if you’re writing in English, the majority of your work as a journalist would likely require extremely strong Japanese – interviewing, researching, etc. would essentially all be in Japanese, even though you’d be writing for an English-speaking audience. Any serious publication would surely have Japanese fluency as a basic requirement. Imagine how successful a Japanese journalist would be in the U.K. if they couldn’t speak English, even if they ultimately published articles in Japanese. Some people are able to get really good at Japanese in 18 months, but they are vanishingly rare, and are often not trying to be journalists, where great language skills are even more essential.
There are smaller online publications that would probably take your writing, but they’d likely not pay much – if anything – and they probably wouldn’t sponsor your visa.
Still, you could scour the internet for jobs in your field that sponsor visas and don’t require Japanese fluency, you might get lucky.
All of this is compounded for your partner; I can’t imagine you can do survey work without a Japanese license/qualification (much like RICS accredits surveyors in the U.K.). I don’t know what the requirements for that would be, but unless he is able to find that information himself in Japanese then it’s unlikely he’d have the Japanese ability to be able to qualify, and he certainly wouldn’t be able to get work.
If you somehow managed to get a work visa, you could sponsor them for a spouse/dependent visa, but you would have to be married and they would not be able to work.
There’s always English teaching, but this doesn’t always translate into being able to find other work later on, and would not solve your partner’s issues.
As for how bad England is, Japan has its own problems. The grass always seems greener elsewhere!
I would give up on the plan unless you work for a western company and can transfer there for a period of time. They cover your costs.
I was in a similar situation to you and after visiting for six months before committing to a job there the rose coloured glasses really fell off.
Nice place to visit – but permanently living there – nah. Japan makes it very clear through its bureaucracy and govt attitude to foreigners that they are quite happy for foreigners to fill the areas they lack workers or specialist skills in, but that’s it and then you are expected to leave.
Your wages in Japan will be far less than you make in Britain, the work conditions poorer, and if you purchase a property it will generally depreciate, while Britain property prices rise and fall.
Great place to visit though.
🙂