Ok, so this post became something else lol. I was talking with my psychologist about my dream to live in Japan and the anxiety that I feeling about it and she told me to make a list of everything that I have some doubt to put my thoughts in order. Here is the result…
I know that I putting the cart before the horse in many of my questions, especially in the housing part, but if I got the answers I think that I will calm down a little. I made some research first, so the questions here are things that I didn’t find or I didn’t understand. Also I want a feedback if my plan for the next years are viable or not and what can I do to make it better.
Sorry if something is confusing, I write this in my mother language first (for my psychologist) and then translate do English to post here. And sorry for the big post!
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Some backstory
I’m a woman, 25 years, white and live in São Paulo-Brazil. I also have Italian citizenship. Single, no kids, have a big family but nobody will come with me. I plan to go to Japan after my graduation.
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Job
I will finish my degree in computer science in two years. I already have a full time job as software developer (6 months). They use a low code development platform, so I don’t program in a “common” language like Java or Python, but I do front end side projects (using html, css, JavaScript and I learning react now) and I use LeetCode to study.
I studying Japanese with a tutor. I don’t have much time to study Japanese because I work and go to college but my teacher say that in 2 years I probably will get my N3 (got N5 last year). I can speak three more languages (English and Portuguese fluent, Spanish advanced), but I don’t know if this can help me.
I don’t plan to marry (because my sexuality) and can’t have kids because I have severe PCOS, so I will not abandon my career to be a mom or housewife.
What are the chances of me getting a job in japan in 2 years? 27-28 years is old to start a career? My job using a Low code development platform can help, or they will not count as experience? Having a portfolio helps or they don’t care about it? There is something more that I can do to help me getting a job?
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Housing
I saw in others posts that the base salary for software developer with experience is 6 million per year. Dividing for 14 (12 months + 2 bonus per year) and multiplying for 0,80 (20% of taxes (that is right???)) I will get 342.000 for month. I was thinking about using 100.000 for rent and utilities
I wanted a 2LDK or a big 1LDK. There is some reasons for that. One is because I grow up in big houses. Also on of my hobbies is doing art and DIY, so I would like a space for that. So I was thinking that if I get a 1LDK the room is going to be my room and office, and the living room I would use as an art room and game station (I love videogames, is stronger than me… I will take my ps4 with me and one day I will build a pc if THE CRYPTO BROS LET ME). If I get a 2LDK will be better because I can put the art room and my office in the second room and have more space in the first room (also, if I receive visits I will not have paint in the living room).
I will not take my cat with me, she will stay with my family. But I always had cats and they help me keep my mental health (like, when I had depression was my cat who make me get up and work every day because she needed me), so I really want to adopt a cat when I move to japan. Is difficult for a foreigner to adopt a cat? I know that get a pet-friendly apartment is difficult, but is possible with my budget?
I was looking in Suumo to see if there is apartments that fill in my requests but looks like I will take 1h of commuting every day to get to central Tokyo, but I take 2h in my city right now so I think that I will not have so much problem in this case. There is some site that have the pros and cons of each district? First I was thinking about Adachi-ku, but a read that is dangerous (probably no more dangerous that São Paulo but let’s not push my luck), and Koto, but then I discovery that this area have floods. Now I’m thinking about living in Chiba, what you guys think?
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Budget
How much in yen I should save before I move to Japan? Already know how much I will spend for the visa and the flight ticket… what others things I need to pay before go or in the first month? How much is to buy basic furniture for an apartment (refrigerator, microwave, oven, wash machine, futon or bed…)?
Assuming that I got an apartment in the budget, there I will have 220.000 yen. I planning to save 100.000 (because you never know) and use the rest 142.000 for food and other things (I read that companies pay for transport, is that true?). That is enough right?
I know how to cook western food and if is possible I will learn how to make Japanese recipes too, so I will not eat out so much (but I will sometimes because the food looks amazing). I also don’t eat so much red meat, I like more fish and chicken. The only problem that I see is that I eat a lot of fruits and they are so expensive. Maybe 30.000 for food per month?
As I said before I have PCOS and because of this I have insulin resistance (not diabetes, is pre-diabetes). I use some medicines, I looked in the list of controlled substances and none of it was there. So I can take some medicine for some months but after I need to go to a doctor? Is there doctors that speak English enough to understand my problems and give me prescriptions? I do not think that my Japanese will advanced enough to explain to the doctor that my ovaries are exploding and I need Birth control pills to stop dying (because cramps are going to kill me I not even joking). How much I will spend in doctor’s appointments and medicines? (I take Birth control pills, metformin, Spironolactone and Rosuvastatin).
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That’s it! Probably I will have more doubts in the next years but for now I think that taking this things of my chest is enough… If you have some other advice please let me know!
5 comments
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So we have a lot of rules on this sub. Nearly half of them have to do with doing some basic research yourself. Almost all of your questions can be answered with some basic searching of the sub, which would give you more context and info so you can ask better questions. Cause this wall of text is… a lot.
> I plan to go to Japan after my graduation.
I’m guessing you work during the day and go to school at night, right? If you’re working full time it may be more… doable. But companies may be a bit wary of experience you got *before* being “qualified” for it. I’d advise you to get at least another year of experience after graduation to properly count. But you can surely try.
> I can speak three more languages (English and Portuguese fluent, Spanish advanced), but I don’t know if this can help me.
I won’t. As a developer, you’ll be developing. In the language of the office. Other languages may be nice to have, but aren’t relevant.
> What are the chances of me getting a job in japan in 2 years?
Fresh off college? Unless you were coming with a degree from USP or Unicamp, it’s going to be hard. There’s plenty of unqualified natives here that companies use for entry roles since the people can be molded. Not the same for foreigners.
> 27-28 years is old to start a career?
In a brand new country? Most times yes. That’s why you should get some proper experience in your home country first.
> My job using a Low code development platform can help, or they will not count as experience?
Depends. Is that a full time job? Are those code development platforms in demand? Check the job boards see if companies are searching for those.
> Having a portfolio helps or they don’t care about it?
They don’t care. They want actual work experience.
> There is something more that I can do to help me getting a job?
***EXPERIENCE.****
> I was thinking about using 100.000 for rent and utilities
Nope. You want a big apartment? You’re gonna be spending at least 120k on rent alone. And this is with a big commute attached to it.
> Is difficult for a foreigner to adopt a cat?
Yes.
> I know that get a pet-friendly apartment is difficult, but is possible with my budget?
Not really. Pet-friendly apartments are rare; pet-friendly apartments who accept foreigners are even rarer.
> Now I’m thinking about living in Chiba, what you guys think?
Chiba is at risk of tsunami. So pick your poison.
And the place you live will depend *hard* on where you’ll work. There’s still years before you get to this stage, so no use deciding now.
> How much in yen I should save before I move to Japan?
As much as you can. A couple million yen would help.
> what others things I need to pay before go or in the first month?
Key money. Security deposit. Budget 3-4 times your rent to spend in the first day of getting your apartment, just in case.
> How much is to buy basic furniture for an apartment
Varies. Big retailers often have “new life” sets, with fridge, oven, wash machine all included for a decent price.
> That is enough right?
Rent will be your biggest issue. Once you figure that out, the rest is easy to calculate. 6m is a good salary for a single person to live in Tokyo, so there’s no real worries. But to get the 6m, you’ll need some experience first.
> Is there doctors that speak English enough to understand my problems and give me prescriptions?
Very unlikely. You’ll also need to get some doctors notes and information before coming, otherwise you would need to get re-diagnosed by a Japanese doctor and this would take time and be… difficult.
> enough to explain to the doctor that my ovaries are exploding and I need Birth control pills to stop dying
Ahhh you’re gonna have a horrible time with this. Women’s health isn’t a big concern in Japan. It’s not rare for doctors to turn women away because they just don’t believe them. And the whole diagnosis process takes a long time.
So you’re definitely putting the cart ahead of the horses. Focus on getting your education and work experience, while saving money, and then begin doing the math. We don’t know how Japan will be in 5 years from now, how much shit will cost etc. So it’s pointless to speculate now for something far ahead in the future.
I have some recent insight on searching for pet-friendly apartments for foreigners, because my also-foreign partner just moved within Tokyo so she could bring her 28 kilo dog into the country.
The absolute cheapest place we found when looking was a little over ¥100,000. And it was not very nice. I wouldn’t have lived in it. The general price range for apartments we viewed was between ¥140,000 and ¥180,000. This was all <45 minutes by train to Shibuya or Shinjuku stations. The one she ended up choosing was ¥150,000 and pretty close to Shinjuku station. Which is great, but this is after MONTHS of searching. So if you really want a pet, I would recommend finding somewhere cheap to start, then spending time after you’ve arrived to find your ideal pet apartment.
As others have said, your biggest issue will be rent as you want a large place AND a pet friendly place. We have a large place and it is pet friendly and it was tough to find. FYI add to your initial apartment costs (deposit, key money, etc) another one month’s worth of rent for a pet deposit, as that seems fairly common.
We’ve recently moved and I can comment a little on the medical situation. My husband had some major health issues in the year leading up to our move. To ease the transition we brought three months worth of medicine with us and I printed out his entire medical history from his doctor.
We found an English-speaking doctor in our area who is frequently used by expats (not Tokyo, but nearby). We went to see him early in the process to allow the doctor time to reevaluate and re-prescribe as needed.
Honestly, perhaps because my husband’s conditions (diabetes and high blood pressure) are pretty common, it was fairly simple. He wrote a prescription for us immediately (for the medications that we were running out of) after reading through the documents and then set up some more tests so he could reassess things as well.
Coming from the US I found the price of medications VERY reasonable. But again, US perspective and our healthcare system is, well, what it is. My one quibble is that it seems that we have to go physically pick up the prescription script from the doctor once a month to “refill” the prescription. In the US we would just go to the pharmacy again, or have it mailed automatically to our house. Oh well.
I can’t comment on finding doctors to work with you on PCOS, but I’ve gotten birth control in Japan before without issue. It’s not like you need a medical reason like PCOS for birth control, you can just get it.
Doctors here know fuck all about PCOS. If you’re not obese and hairy, they will literally tell you that it’s “impossible” for you to have PCOS — even if your medical history says otherwise. But, since you take the regimen usually given to heavy PCOS patients, you might be able to find some treatment. It’s not cheap, since birth control isn’t covered and you must go monthly for refills. Also, they probably won’t have the type of pill you need.