Teacher headed to Tokyo, need advice!

14 comments

1. Dependents have limits on the amount they can work and they 100% aren’t allowed to work remotely for a salary in another nation. You are going to have to support both of you on your salary. If it’s an accredited international school like ASIJ, they should help with everything and will be more helpful than reddit. If you were hired by a business like an eikaiwa, you will struggle to support the two of you.

2. Is your husband getting a job too? Many entry level teaching jobs don’t really pay enough to support two people in Tokyo.

3. Ask in r/movingtojapan.

4. Craigslist can be very useful for finding a place, particularly one with English speaking landlords. The commercial rental market has shrunk massively due to covid, but you may find apartments and private landlords who don’t demand too much up front like regular realtors/ lettings agents.

   It might be best to short term rent before setting yourself up, there will be plenty of options for that.

   Also, join the general union if you’re staying here long term, they will give you some legal advice and support in the event you need it.

5. [deleted]

6. Your new school should be handling the visa process. Ask them.

7. >How does the visa process work?

   You fill out some paperwork, your employer fills out some paperwork. It’s pretty straightforward and they’ll guide you through the process.

   >How long does it take?

   A few months.

   >My husband is coming with my as a dependent

   He will be intensely bored. He should enroll in language school as soon as he arrives so he can stay busy and pick up the language. This isn’t a suggestion so much as a requirement for living smoothly over here. If neither of you speak the language proficiently, you’ll struggle *a lot*.

   On the bright side, going through this new experience together will make your marriage stronger! Or it’ll tear you apart. I’ve known many couples who have broken up and divorced because they couldn’t handle the stress of living in a new country where they don’t know anyone, or one partner never actually wanted to move to Japan so they resented their spouse, or one of the partners realized that they’re more attracted to Japanese people than their spouse.

   >what are some important pieces of advice you would have for a newbie?

   Learn the language. Go for walks in your neighborhood. Doing these two things will help you adjust more than pretty much anything else.

   >Are there any helpful tools you would recommend?

   Go to the Learn Japanese subreddit and see what Japanese language textbooks they recommend.

8. I guess this is quite generic, and relevant as long as you’re moving internationally:

   Don’t get your plane ticket, until you have the visa in your hand; or if you absolutely have to, get a fully refundable ticket, or one that would allow you to reschedule your flight for no (or a very low) fee.

   Look into remote banking, and methods to move money between countries reasonably easily. Wise (formerly known as TransferWise) or Revolut are some of the possible services that some of us use. You’ll want to have these in place before the move.

   Look into ways to make and/or receive calls back home for a low/reasonable price. I use a voip number with voip.ms. Some people use Google Voice which can be (is?) free.

9. I hope you’re getting paid well because he needs a visa to work.
   If you can get a car and rent a nice cheap home in a rural area and take an hour ride in, it might be cheaper than the 1k your company might put you in. Same cost too.
   Otherwise, seek out non-sketchy local foreigners because that quickly brings you up to speed. Have fun!

10. This is better for movingtojapan but I was in a similar situation so I will answer a bit.

    ​

    My wife an I moved to japan with her as a dependent. I did an eikaiwa gig at first and had a nice time. The salary was enough to support us both (no crazy savings though) because we were in the country side.

    Some advice would be have enough cash on hand to get settled into an apartment (I think I exchanged like 3-4k USD at the airport and lived on that until my first paycheck).

    If your school isn’t helping much with your process you will need to get to city hall (ask for a translator) and get all initial resident stuff done with. This will include pension, address registration, resident card(I cant remember this one), insurance (if not provided), etc.

    Daiso is your friend for initial household items like cleaning materials, dishes, etc.

    Get into a language school or find some local activities/clubs. Personally I avoided hanging out with other foreigners too much until I got settled in other local friend groups (the bubble is very real). Also try to not rely on coworkers or friends to do the translating for you too much. I found calling the gas company for my apartment was a huge step for me in overcoming some confidence issues.

    Your husband can apply for permission to work part time. It’s super easy and should get it just in case. Also the permission has no limits on what kind of work he can do! (28 hour/week limit I believe).

11. Will your husband be working remote or will he be a deadbeat?

12. [https://www.tofugu.com/japan/jet-program-post-arrival/](https://www.tofugu.com/japan/jet-program-post-arrival/)

    Here’s a good checklist for after you arrive. Goes over things like hankos (personalised stamps) and setting up your bank. I hope it helps

13. Visa: 3ish months in general. Your company will request documents from you, then apply in Japan on your behalf for a COE. Once that’s issued, you take it to the embassy in your area and a visa is issued in your passport for entry. Upon arrival in Japan, you will be given a residence card (this is the ongoing ‘visa’ ID you’ll hold).

    Dependent visa: He can’t work on it unless he goes to immigration after arrival to apply for a special permit. After granted, he can work <28 hours.

    Apartments: Places on local train stops are cheaper than express stops. It’s worth staying in a ‘monthly mansion’ or serviced apartment initially to give you time to search out a place.

14. I hope your job in Japan pays a lot better than your job in the U.S. because it’s tough enough trying to save money in Tokyo on a typical teaching salary here, nevermind supporting another person.