So I’m in a bit of a conundrum, I’m 37 years old and I basically hate my life. I spent my teenage years working because my family was poor, worked and grinded through college, then worked non-stop until I was 30 (a blue collar job that pays decently well, so I don’t have an impressive resume). Then I poured all my savings into starting a small business and last year I sold it for about 6 million dollars, and I invested the net amount into investment properties that generate me passive income. I’m not rolling in dough, and property management is a bit of work, but I basically make a decent “salary” every year from rental income.
That may sound pretty nice, but I’m desperately unhappy. I missed out on so much shit in life, and I kind of regret it sometimes. Maybe I should have tried having a little more fun and exploring more when I was younger. I would travel occasionally, but rarely and it was always for a week or two so I was just a lemming tourist being rushed around everywhere. At 37, I’m already starting to feel a few things start to go wrong with my body, especially since my work put my body through hell… I basically am middle aged, haven’t done anything but work, am unhappy, and my body is already starting to fail.
Before I sold my business, I took a few trips to asia and ended up staying in Japan for a few weeks… then a month… then 3 months… and I think I want to live there for a while now.
Though I find asian women attractive, that’s NOT the reason I want to move there. Every time I go there, I feel a supreme sense of peace wash over me, almost to the point where I want to cry. I just feel good there. No one bothers me, I’m not constantly reminded of my difficult life and struggles, and I kind of just feel like I’m in an alien world. I actually started writing a journal when I was there, and would just walk around endlessly by myself. I met an australian ex-pat there and we started a relationship, and it was maybe the first time I ever felt happy in my life. I feel like the white people in asia are different, they seem more compatible with me than trying to date in the US, where I haven’t had any long term success with women.
The problem is that I don’t know how I would get into Japan. The longest I can stay is 6 months by doing a visa run after 3 months… but i hear that’s not a guarantee that they let you back in. Also I would like to rent out my own home for a year while I live in Japan, I think it’s hard to find people who lease for 3-6 months.
I also don’t have any useful skills in Japan. While I’m trying to learn Japanese, I don’t have any skills that would be useful in Japan (I did restaurant related work, and I really don’t want to do it anymore because it was too hard on my body.) I think most of the people who can move to Japan on a work visa are in tech or business or something.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I would be able to move to Japan? My friend told me that I could apply for a language school, but I think I would feel very embarrassed being an almost 40 year old man learning Japanese with a bunch of 20 year olds. Also, I would like to work if I could because I’d need something to do. Thank you.
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This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Is it feasible for me to move to Tokyo for a year as someone with no useful skills? Trying to find ways to do it.**
So I’m in a bit of a conundrum, I’m 37 years old and I basically hate my life. I spent my teenage years working because my family was poor, worked and grinded through college, then worked non-stop until I was 30 (a blue collar job that pays decently well, so I don’t have an impressive resume). Then I poured all my savings into starting a small business and last year I sold it for about 6 million dollars, and I invested the net amount into investment properties that generate me passive income. I’m not rolling in dough, and property management is a bit of work, but I basically make a decent “salary” every year from rental income.
That may sound pretty nice, but I’m desperately unhappy. I missed out on so much shit in life, and I kind of regret it sometimes. Maybe I should have tried having a little more fun and exploring more when I was younger. I would travel occasionally, but rarely and it was always for a week or two so I was just a lemming tourist being rushed around everywhere. At 37, I’m already starting to feel a few things start to go wrong with my body, especially since my work put my body through hell… I basically am middle aged, haven’t done anything but work, am unhappy, and my body is already starting to fail.
Before I sold my business, I took a few trips to asia and ended up staying in Japan for a few weeks… then a month… then 3 months… and I think I want to live there for a while now.
Though I find asian women attractive, that’s NOT the reason I want to move there. Every time I go there, I feel a supreme sense of peace wash over me, almost to the point where I want to cry. I just feel good there. No one bothers me, I’m not constantly reminded of my difficult life and struggles, and I kind of just feel like I’m in an alien world. I actually started writing a journal when I was there, and would just walk around endlessly by myself. I met an australian ex-pat there and we started a relationship, and it was maybe the first time I ever felt happy in my life. I feel like the white people in asia are different, they seem more compatible with me than trying to date in the US, where I haven’t had any long term success with women.
The problem is that I don’t know how I would get into Japan. The longest I can stay is 6 months by doing a visa run after 3 months… but i hear that’s not a guarantee that they let you back in. Also I would like to rent out my own home for a year while I live in Japan, I think it’s hard to find people who lease for 3-6 months.
I also don’t have any useful skills in Japan. While I’m trying to learn Japanese, I don’t have any skills that would be useful in Japan (I did restaurant related work, and I really don’t want to do it anymore because it was too hard on my body.) I think most of the people who can move to Japan on a work visa are in tech or business or something.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I would be able to move to Japan? My friend told me that I could apply for a language school, but I think I would feel very embarrassed being an almost 40 year old man learning Japanese with a bunch of 20 year olds. Also, I would like to work if I could because I’d need something to do. Thank you.
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Japan has a visa for wealthy people. You need savings of 30million yen and can stay for a year.
https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page22e_000738.html
The most realistic option seems like attending a language school. Why are you opposed to going to one as a mature student?
>Every time I go there, I feel a supreme sense of peace wash over me, almost to the point where I want to cry. I just feel good there. No one bothers me, I’m not constantly reminded of my difficult life and struggles, and I kind of just feel like I’m in an alien world.
First and foremost: You need to be aware that visiting somewhere and actually living there are two *wildly* different things.
Not saying living in Japan isn’t going to feel nice, but it’s a very different experience once the initial honeymoon phase wears off. Yes, walking in the parks and visiting the temples is nice. But you have to weigh that against dealing with Japanese bureaucracy, or risking getting ostracized by your neighbors if you fail to sort your trash appropriately. Obviously neither of those lists are exclusive. There’s plenty more, both good and bad.
>My friend told me that I could apply for a language school, but I think I would feel very embarrassed being an almost 40 year old man learning Japanese with a bunch of 20 year olds.
I think you’d be surprised by the age breakdown of language school students. While yes, most of them are younger, there are also plenty of older students.
>Also, I would like to work if I could because I’d need something to do.
You can work part-time as a student.
Other than that… There’s always English teaching. A lot of us talk shit about English teaching, but it’s pretty much perfect for the “Experience Japan for a bit” thing you seem to be looking for.
There’s also the “rich person visa” u/engoac mentioned. But it’s basically an extended tourist visa, so no working allowed. Plus if you need 2-3 years to save the money you’re honestly not the target market for that visa.
If you are willing to invest 5M Yen in starting a business in Japan, there is also a visa to do that, but you would need to have a Japanese partner. Of course, that figure is the minimum for the visa application and actually starting a business would almost certainly cost more than that. I wouldn’t recommend this without language skills and prior market research, but it is an option.
well you can start a small business in Japan (and get a business owner visa), you only need 5 million yen start capital, shouldn’t be any issue with your net worth
depending on how much money you want to invest in Japan and how much time and effort you want to put into said business there would me multiple options
I think you should move to Japan 🙂
Hey OP,
Don’t be ashamed of going to school at 40. You should never be ashamed of learning a new skill at any age in life. **Always challenge yourself to learn new things and grow.**
I am unsure of the nuances of your situation, but with your resources I think you can pull off a few things to get yourself a reason to stay longer.
The route I am going is via Software Development. By what I understand people who are knowledgeable coders have skills that are in demand. Pair that with learning Japanese and aiming for the N1 and I believe you would be in a good spot for staying as long as you would like.
Go to a coding bootcamp and then get yourself a year or so experience, (or do an internship at a Japanese company / Japanese branch of a company.) Most Americans from what I understand move there working in IT and don’t speak any Japanese, so if you do move there and get the N1 I believe you will give yourself an advantage.
If this feels way too uncomfortable, you mentioned having rental income. I assume not all of your houses were turn key and at some point you had to renovate. You could possibly go into business renovating / rehabbing old buildings??
Idk, these are just a few things I can see from my very limited perspective. I hope this gives you hope!!!
A lot of folks have already given you advice on ways to move to Japan as a worker/student/investor.
I want to say this from a kind place, but I’m not sure moving to Japan will solve your issues. You mention that you’re deeply unhappy with your life, that you’ve missed out on experiences in your younger years, you’re unlucky in love, and your health is failing you.
If you move to Japan you may find that after the honeymoon period (which is about 3 months for a lot of people) you have the same issues, but less support and at a disadvantage when it comes to communicating. Japan has cheaper health care than the US (I won’t touch on quality but ymmv) which you can quality for if you are on a working visa (unsure of investment visas; for student visa conditions you should reach out to the institution you sign up with) but mental health and counselling/therapy is very much lagging behind in Japan. Also if you have any particular medication needs, they may be illegal in Japan, so best to check that ahead of time. Also there are usually limits on the amount of any one medication you can bring into the country at a time. I’m going to assume that you don’t speak any Japanese, in which case getting treatment/prescriptions/support can be a lot harder.
I can understand making up for lost time by having new experiences, and Japan does have a great deal to offer, but unless your budget for one year is the same as your vacation budget multiplied, you will likely not be able to have the same level of experiences as you did during your vacation.
I’m not sure if “white people in Asia are different”. I believe you may have just enjoyed meeting someone who is more travelled; or just had a holiday romance, which is not unique to Japan. There are well travelled people all around the world; you may also want to look into groups for travel or people who like different countries. There are lots of Japan appreciation societies and groups out there, and likely in a nearby town/city if you look on facebook etc. for networking or making friends.
Moving to Japan is a big change with lots of paperwork and definitely not a cure-all for not enjoying life at home. But it can be a great experience if you decide it’s for you. If you do reconsider, maybe check out some of the FIRE subreddits to see what people with passive income get up to and how they find moving to other counties. It may give you a sense of the potential issues and pitfalls or upsides of different places.
Also for what it’s worth I met both students and workers aged 40+ and 50+ in language school/at jobs in Japan. Sure, you wouldn’t be in the overall average age bracket as some folks, particularly students, but it will not stand in your way from making friends or fitting into the community. You will however still have to make the same if not more effort as someone who having moved to a new country wants to enjoy a social life.