For me there’s only three “must haves” when it comes to moving (non-specific to Japan, it’s not the only country I’d like to spend time in during the course of my life)
1. Fulfilling my desire to explore the world and it’s various cultures and languages. (Of course, I can do this so long as I’m in X country to begin with)
2. Being able to have pets (I’m not asking about it. I already read up on this topic.)
3. Being able to present myself however I like (I’d like to dye my hair dark purple, get more piercings, and get a tattoo on my right hand. You can mostly get away with that in my home country, but not everywhere is Puerto Rico.)
I know Japan is a tough one. When it comes to the second point, it’s difficult to find reasonably priced housing allowing pets. As for the third, I’m well aware of “出る杭は打たれる”. But were I to be working from home, which is common in the field I’m primarily aiming for, would that still be an issue?
Of course, if it is I don’t mind compromising during work hours (removing piercings \[they’d be healed by the time I enter the workforce, I’m a 2nd year college student\], and putting on a wig). So long as I can do whatever I want during my off-time.
2 comments
>Being able to have pets (I’m not asking about it. I already read up on this topic.)
As you’ve discovered, pet friendly housing for foreigners is *not* an easy thing to find. It’s expensive, and in very limited supply.
>Being able to present myself however I like (I’d like to dye my hair dark purple, get more piercings, and get a tattoo on my right hand.
This ***very*** much depends on what you plan on doing for a living. But outside of a relatively few IT/Tech positions pretty much any office job is going to have dress code provisions that will make your level of modification/expression impossible.
Especially the hand tattoo. While things regarding tattoos aren’t *quite* as bad as some people make it out to be, visible tattoos, especially one on your hands, is going to be a problem.
>But were I to be working from home, which is common in the field I’m primarily aiming for, would that still be an issue?
You haven’t actually said what field that is, but I can almost guarantee that it’s not as common in Japan as you may think.
It took a full blown pandemic to make any level of WFH happen in Japan, and now that we’re climbing out of said pandemic the *vast* majority of companies are going back to the office. Some workplaces are going hybrid, but most of them are moving back to full time office work.
And even if you do snag a WFH position, you’ll almost certainly be expected to conform to the same dress code for any video-on meetings.
2. You will have very little luck finding pet friendly and foreign friendly housing.
3. If you are strictly WFH, doubt anyone will care. If you have a hybrid job, you will a lot of issues. I would not get a hand tattoo until you have solidified your skills to the point where an employer can’t deny you work based on that. For instance, I have a lot of different IT skills which outweigh my current tattoos and piercings.
Also, you’re most likely not going to find a WFH job unless you’re in the IT/CS field, which is often hybrid in Japan if not fully in office.