Hi, Sub!
My wife and I are VERY interested in moving to Japan semi-permanently (at least 10-20 years). We are both 29 at the moment, have no children, and have very little tying us down to our current home. Our goal is to move by 2025.
We both work in the Technology/software field with high-level strategic roles and make over 200k annually combined, so budgeting is not much of a concern for us to make this dream a reality.
Ideally, we would like to find technology-sector jobs and use that to gain visa sponsorship.
My wife has been studying Japanese for two years and I am going to begin learning next month.
Does this seem like a feasible plan? Does anyone have any tips for us that we may not have considered? We are feeling a bit overwhelmed by the process.
edit: Forgot to mention that we are American and currently live in NYC.
13 comments
good luck
I am a network engineer and I wanted to live in Japan still do but I found it very difficult to find a job for visa sponsorship unless you are fluent in Japanese. You may want to look into a teaching job to get your visa and then apply for IT jobs as already having the visa done opens up alot more companies that will take you even if you don’t have a master of the japanese language it sounds odd but that what I found. In order to become a teacher the main requirement for a American is a bachelor’s degree in any subject. I don’t have this unfortunately or I would have taken my own advice 😓.
Japan also has a point based system for highly skilled workers that you can look into I was only a few points shy of getting into this.
Also making 200k a year if you were saving it up you may qualify for a rich person visa that is not the name of it of course but I believe that you need savings of 200k for a married couple and that will allow you to enter Japan for a long time and look for work and do interviews as most companies are a little old fashion and want you in the country even if you are interviewed remotely.
I can tell you in my opinion as a American other countries have it way easier than us it is super hard to obtain a visa unless you are rich lucky enough to find a sponsor but teaching is the easiest way in.
All in all Japan is a amazing place to visit work culture is very difficult compared to America but I think it is still worth it to live in Japan sorry for rambling let me know if I can help you out In any way
Sounds very feasible! Go for it :). Good luck!
If you work in tech and are already living in America, I can’t imagine going anywhere else. If you move to Japan, or really any other country, expect your income to be slashed in half. Just stay put and use your salaries to go on trips.
Check out job posting sites like gaijinpot, daijob, careercross and look at the type of jobs in your field and see how attainable they are. Also connect with recruitment companies. Usually IT positions don’t really ask for high fluency in Japanese but at least conversational. The salary will not be as high as where you are now but since money is no issue then this won’t be a problem.
Japan is also a very aged-gender based work society. Meaning when you apply for jobs your resume in Japan includes your photo, age, and gender. They say under 35 is the best chance to secure a job but take it with a grain of salt.
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It sounds like you guys are valued highly by your companies. Do you think you could swing a 6 month sabbatical and go to language school in Japan? You could travel, learn the language, interact with all the good parts of Japan and have great memories. If you go back to your high paying jobs you’d come out financially ahead compared to working in Japan. I think for people with good opportunities at home, moving to Japan to work is something I’d really advise against.
If you’re software developers, you should have little trouble finding good jobs in Tokyo. I did and am moving there soon. You don’t need to speak Japanese to work at many companies because they heavily recruit English-speaking foreigners, though some Japanese skill is of course useful, especially when you’re outside the office and trying to navigate daily life there. There’s a lot of jobs in the tech sector there, and not much home-grown talent.
If you’re not developers however, and your job is more managerial, expect fewer opportunities, though they may still be there at those kinds of companies.
I dont understand – is the plan to work in Japan for a company in Japan or to wfh for your USA firms?
Wow so many people wanting to move to Japan.
And I’m here living in Japan for over 15 yrs and dying to move to Europe :'(
Been living here for so long and I can’t take it anymore.
Having been job hunting in similar industry for a while now, I can attest that it’s been very challenging !
Challenges: language barrier, risk averse culture means that many companies will turn you down based on your commitment to Japan, understanding of the culture.
The pros are that you both have experience and if you can find companies that are English first (mostly startups), there are opportunities. It takes some luck too..
What is it with Japan that has so many people saying “I want to move there” but never including a “because”?
Just wanted to say congrats, you’re both living the dream! Best of luck with the move/sabbatical