Considering Dropping Everything And Moving to Japan

38 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

   —

   **Considering Dropping Everything And Moving to Japan**

   I am an American who just graduated with a Master’s in computer science from a top university (think the best in CS). I also did 4 years there for undergrad. I got a very reputable job in finance paying nearly 300K total compensation in NYC, which is supposed to start in late August. In the meantime, I’ve been able to travel this summer because it’s kind of my last opportunity before starting a life of work. Right now I’m staying in Tokyo.

   And I’m thinking about dropping the NYC job and moving here.

   Every day I’ve been here has been amazing. I have about a year and a half of college-level Japanese, and I’ve had so much fun applying it at restaurants, bars, etc. I’ve only been here a week and already had a couple of incredible nights in Shibuya. My Japanese still isn’t great, but I was surprised that I was even able to communicate at all, and some people were impressed. I had a ton of fun.

   The other night, I was just in Yoyogi Park listening to the cicadas. I felt more peaceful there than I have been in a long time. There’s something about this city that I really like, how it’s a really busy place with nightlife, yet calm at the same time. I feel very comfortable.

   And to be honest, I don’t want to work in finance at all. I basically just took the job because it pays a lot of money. My real dream is to work in robotics, and I feel like I could get a great job in that here. I already have an interview at a Japanese startup next week, and I got an email from another reputable international Japanese company, but they haven’t gotten back to me yet. However, I know these companies will pay a lot less. It seems like 80-100K USD, compared to the 275K USD I would make in the states.

   But I’m starting to feel like I don’t care. I’ve loved every second of being in Tokyo, and I wonder if the life I really want to live begins here. Am I romanticizing the city? Is it just the novelty? (P.S. I am half-black, I do hear about the racial dynamics here and I do worry about it, although I haven’t experienced anything so bad yet).

   If people here have any advice for a 22-year-old who has about 3 weeks to make a very important life decision, I would greatly appreciate it!

   *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*

2. I’ll give you the quick and dirty. Work for a year or two for experience, Save up $200k, apply to the long term sight seeing visa which requires 30mil yen in liquid cash savings. Spend a year in japan and see if you want to stay. Average salary in Tokyo is 30k usd. You can live like a local for a minimum burn down of your savings. You’ll be hard pressed to get such a high paying job in Japan and they’re only getting more and more lenient for highly skilled worker visas. Earn that money while you can then take a break and enjoy japan. You’ll always find a way in with your credentials. Most people asking for advice on this sub have no skills and have no way in other than being English teachers. You are the 0.1% here, congrats.

3. > Is it possible I’m romanticizing the city, and it’s just the novelty?

   I mean I don’t even live in Japan and I can tell you this is true based on the wording of your post…

   That said, realistically, the only way you could get this plan to work is to get a visa. Has that startup said they will sponsor a visa for you? Until you have an offer in hand this entire thing is moot.

   To be honest though, I’d say take the finance job and make a bunch of US dollars first, THEN consider moving to Japan with that nice bunch of savings.

4. Do it dude.

   If I were you though I would work one year in the US and save every penny while applying for jobs in Japan. You could count have a one year countdown about moving to Japan which is still very reasonable and a bit tempered compared to dropping everything now, and you won’t regret not building a little nest egg down the line. Plus the cash would make the move smoother I imagine. But that’s only me, if you don’t have money concerns at all then make the move

5. You’re probably romanticizing it considering it’s only been a week and your time here right now is for vacation.

   As someone who has vacationed in Japan often growing up, being here for fun vs being here to live and work is very different can take a long time to adjust to. Some people never do and go back to their home countries.

   My suggestion would be to keep the NYC job, work a few years and visit Japan every now and then and if you still feel that strongly about it at that time, then consider moving. You are 22 and have plenty of time to move to Japan if you really think it’s best for you. Making big life decisions after a week of running around Tokyo is not a good idea.

6. I strongly suspect you’re romanticizing Japan and/or in a honeymoon phase. It’s commonly said that living in Japan is far less idyllic than visiting. However, as long as you’re *fully prepared* that there will be hard times especially after the honeymoon period ends, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with giving it a try for a couple of years. On the other hand, I’d strongly urge you to spend some time thinking about why you feel the way you do in Japan. If escapism or anything like that is a factor, those feelings can easily follow you into your new life abroad.

   Edit for clarity/wording.

7. >I’ve loved every second of being in Tokyo

   You have loved every second of being in Tokyo ***as a tourist***.

   Right now you’re in Japan with no expectations or requirements. You’re not forced to ride the trains during rush hour. You don’t have to deal with the endless bureaucracy. You’re in “visitor mode”, so you don’t really experience much of the frequently alienating “otherness” that comes with living in Japan as a foreigner.

   I’m not saying that you won’t enjoy living here full time. But as a tourist you’re not getting the full picture.

8. I know everyone is saying the opposite, but it took me 3 visits to Japan to realize how much I love it and want to move there. That said you should listen to your gut as long as you’re being smart about your money which sounds like you’re realistic about it and job opportunities.

9. When you said people were impressed, I’m 99% sure you got jyouzued, it gave me a chuckle.

   Be careful romanticizing it. You are visiting with no attachments and virtually unlimited funds and time. Track your finances and see if you could live that life with 80k as salary. I would also suggest looking at possibly remote working from the country side if you like the quiet cicada lifestyle. 100k USD is 13.5 million yen or more right now. In the country side you can find homes that went back to the municipality for 1million yen or less.

   I would suggest job seeking but hold out for the job you really want or one that allows remote work, save up a little more money, and then just straight up buying a house in the countryside 10-30 minutes from a hub station near a local station or near an airport that can fly you to Tokyo on the cheap.

   If you like the quiet country side just as much as the city, you can have a house with a little land to work from home from with 10 years worth of income in savings to just sit on while working. It would take a lot of stress out of the normal moving to Japan and dealing with landlords if you can just purchase the house in cash.

10. While I understand you can romantasize japan like others are saying, you may truly love Japan like I do. I dropped everytbing and moved here. Its amazing and I still love the country and people.

    But for 300k, you can take some awesome vacations here and save up till you can comfortably move.

    But if you feel mentally better and more at peace in Japan like I do it may be worth more than the money and other comfort. If you can get high paying work here even better.

11. [removed]

12. I think visiting Japan is super great and fun but living and working here is definitely different. It sounds like you’re romanticizing Japan from your post and I don’t blame you because it really is fun as a tourist! For context, I’m from Canada and I‘ve been here for a few months on a research grant. The work culture can be pretty intense and people often work long hours with much less pay (esp compared to 300K in NYC!). Like other commenters have mentioned, you may not have the time to enjoy the same things you have time for, as a tourist. Additionally, there are a lot of cultural expectations and nuances that aren’t prevalent in the US. You probably won’t notice them as a tourist but there will be some more pressure when living here, and especially in the work place.

    That’s not to say you shouldn’t consider moving, but do take more time to think about it. If I were in your place I would start the job and save up in NYC. In the meantime, you can take more and perhaps longer trips to Japan to see if it’s really for you. The day to day really is different from being a tourist, as many other commenters have pointed out.

13. Everyone has offered good advice: Work a year (or two) in NYC, save as much as you can and then come to Japan (unless things change for you by then). Sounds practical. Or, if everything is telling you to move here now to pursue a dream and you have 100k saved up, then do that. It will be more challenging but possibly more rewarding. Life is full of risks and rewards. We never know how it will shake out.

    I will say just this, IMO, having lived in Tokyo for a few years now and well past the “tourist” stage (just got PR) and having lived in NYC for many, many years (I still have a place there) in terms of quality of life, expenses, transportation, healthcare, social culture, etc. there is no comparison. Tokyo hands down. It’s a remarkable city in an amazing country. It puts NYC to shame in every way.

14. >? Is it possible I’m romanticizing the city, and it’s just the novelty?

    Almost definitely. You are a tourist on vacation. Your year and a half of college Japanese is going to go great for touristing, it’s gonna not go so great when you have to go to the city office to do paperwork.

    That’s not to say it’s necessarily a bad idea to try if it’s what you want. But don’t expect the tourist high euphoric period of culture shock to last more than a few months before you go into stage two.

15. Do it.

    You’re young, probably have little to no responsibilities financial or otherwise yet and so really, why not? Even if you decide Japan isn’t for you later, losing five years out of your 20s is not a big deal, and in tech Japan still has a certain glamour.

    The only thing I would say to think about is, how much money if at all will you need to be sending out of Japan? Given the weakness of the yen, paying for student loans or mortgages overseas with Japanese-sourced income can be problematic.

16. You definitely could get in with a job at a robotics company — that’s how I got in (signed offer, haven’t moved there yet as I’m still getting all the documents and stuff) and yeah $80k USD is about right, which is low by US standards but should be a very comfortable salary in Tokyo. I did 8 years at big software companies in the US though before getting this job and the experience there probably helped my application.

    (And hahahaha, I wanted to get a NYC finance job but I couldn’t get past their interviews this year! So instead of going to NYC, I’m going to Tokyo.)

17. I mean what’s stopping you. You were privileged enough to make good money and it’s piss easy for foreigners here to get a decent CS job with little JP ability.

18. I moved here at 32 and regret not trying sooner. You’re in a good field and you’re already testing the waters with some interviews. Sounds like you have a solid foundation with some room to risk a bad experience working abroad. If it were me in your shoes, I’d go for it. Just make sure you thoroughly research the difficulties of life in Japan. Make note of things you may personally be impacted by (healthcare, medicine, debt, taxes, language limitations, housing, communication with loved ones back home, etc). The better you prepare for these things, the less likely they will be to ruin your vision of living in Japan. They may also help you realize that life here isn’t as incredible as you’ve experienced as a tourist.

19. My recommendation is: enjoy your stay, eat good food and don’t think about work. Return home to NYC and calm down before making such decision.

    Moving to ~Japan~ or another country isn’t easy decision and requires a lot of consideration. As someone who lives here for nearly 10 years I can say it’s not as romantic and nice as it looks on vacation. With your background you can easily change jobs *anytime* so give it couple months, maybe years, start doing research how it will look like money wise, if you really want invest in learning language, etc.

    Btw. I am SWE working in finance too and I bet any established fintech company from NYC has local branch here so chances are they can make your move easier by transferring you. Esp. if we talk about big three.

20. I lived in Tokyo for 3 years. Some of the best moments of my life. Life is different living there compared to visiting however. You have an incredible offer lined up for you, I don’t think you should throw it away just from a week spent in Japan. If you feel miserable in the job, you can save up a bit, leave and find another job in Japan somewhere down the line if you still want it! CS definitely gives you options!

    And if I may ask, where did you find the job listings over in Japan?

21. I assure you it is much different living here. Chews up and spits out plenty of people who were “in love” with japan. Get a few years of work under your belt, learn Japanese, then look for a job here. You are thinking backwards

22. Been here 2.5 years and I still absolutely love it, my 2 cents is to spend a few years working in the US and padding your resume and saving a good chunk — its much easier to get a nice job in Japan when you’ve got good experience rather than trying to do it from scratch. Work on your Japanese in the meantime because so much really opens up when you can speak the language. I think with a few years of experience under your belt and enough money in the bank to not necessaily make salary your prime consideration, you can move here and secure a job with great working conditions on your own terms.

23. Don’t do it! Keep the NYC job, build a portfolio with passive income. Later on come to Japan. Japan ain’t going anywhere. Take your time. When you are financially free you can be free of time restraints as well. Then come to Japan. Even so just take a vacation if you really want to come . This is coming from someone who moved to Japan straight after college. Not to say it ain’t worth it but really Japan isn’t going anywhere. Take your time .

24. OP please, do not do that.
    Trust me, EVERYONE loves Japan as a tourist. Living here is a whole other issue.

    Your finance job will pay enough that you can visit Japan every year for long periods of time. DO NOT give up everything you’ve worked for to live in Japan. The cost of living is very high, and salaries are very low.

    I’ve lived here 5 years and am desperately trying to move back to the US I work in finance here also, and my salary is absolute dog sh*t. My same position pays almost triple back home.

    You’re just in a honeymoon phase and that’s fine.

    But do not let it cloud your judgement, young one.

    Solution: use your high salary to visit Japan for extended stays once a year.

25. Oh my god, do not waste this important time to build your career and create a really nice financial nest egg. Wages in Japan are SO MUCH LOWER. You would be making 2-3x as much in the States. Get work experience, save your money, learn more Japanese (get to N2 level), then come here and retire early. Don’t start your career here.

26. I’m also 22 and have been working remotely in Tokyo. It was a fairytale at first but reality kicked in quickly bc I was just at home most of the time working. The little things build up and annoy tf out of you. I cook often and grocery shopping is a pain compared to the U.S bc people walk so slowly and block the tiny aisles with their carts. Coming from NYC, I can’t get over how little self-awareness people have here. Cyclists squeeze and weave through people on the sidewalk, pedestrians will randomly stop in front of you, people take up the entire sidewalk and walk so slowly, people almost never give a solid yes or no answer, bureaucracy is ass, trains are almost always crowded unless you live near the first stop, everything has a line on the weekends. It’s infuriating.

    That being said, I love east Asia and will def spend a few more years here. It feels so good to be able to walk around at 3am without having to look behind your shoulder every 10 seconds. It’s your youth so take advantage of it (that’s what I’m doing!). I could def have a higher paying job but I won’t give up my freedom to work remotely. Perhaps you could work remotely? The U.S salary is just so hard to pass up

27. [removed]

28. Perhaps you could look into Cultural visas and the like as an 1-2 year trial (depending on the scheme). That may extend your “tourist mindset” for all we know, but a year might give you more of an idea than what you’ve experienced thus far.

    Perhaps return to NYC for a bit, take stock of your daily routines, of issues you care about, etc., and compare that with Japan when you try out/stay there for realsies.

    Edit: out of the Visa deals, I was really thinking of [this scheme](https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/fna/page22e_001037.html)!

29. Of course you’re romanticizing living in Japan, but you’re 22, there’s not going to be a better time to just go try something like this.

    I took a 6 month break in college to come stay in Japan and it was the best summer of my life. Granted I was totally a bum and basically couch surfed, but it was so fun.

    I still had that culture shock moment when you realize how drastically different things are and how isolating it can feel, but even that is something worth experiencing.

    Maybe at a minimum you extend your vacation several more weeks?

30. Definitely romanticizing it, don’t get me wrong I have lived here for a bit now and still find little moments where I still can’t believe I live here but they aren’t as often as they were when I first arrived. I love living here but it has its struggles. It seems as though you are looking for advice so to give you my opinion I would maybe keep that NYC job and save up for a few years. In that time continue to study Japanese and visit when you can. After a few years, if you still want to move here, pull the trigger and do it!

31. On the contrary to most posters hers I say do it!

    You are young and you have lots of valuable credentials but little real world experience. Get a job in a startup here in Japan that allows you to play around in a lot of different fields to gain experience and find a subject you want to become an expert in.

    Enjoy Japan while your young and make some good memories. If in 2 years or so the rose tinted glasses get foggy then take all that experience and go back stateside. You are far from being trapped.

    You have plenty of time to make money. Enjoy the ride and follow your North.

32. I’ve lived in Japan, been a tourist in Japan, and lived in many places in the USA. There are pros and cons, not all parts of Tokyo are good, and living there is not a utopia 24/7. Definitely not a slam dunk to live in Japan.

    So, first save up a million dollars, then decide if you want to move. With your salary it will take only a few years. If you find it’s not for you, you can always move back without jeopardizing your retirement. I know it seems like a long ways off but it’s one thing you don’t want to mess with early in life.

33. Work hard for 5 years, be as frugal as possible and then move. You will be set for life

34. Not worth it at all, take the money. I lived there 3 years and had a great time but that’s a crazy amount of money to reject…

35. Just to provide a counterpoint here: I did exactly what you are suggesting after I finished my undergrad degree 20+ years ago. I was working for a large company and they restructured, moving the main R&D office to another part of the country. I had a choice to go there (to a city I had no interest in living in) or do something else. I quit, packed one bag, bought a one year flex round trip ticket to Tokyo and said my goodbyes. I had no plan, a couple soft leads, and a major taste for adventure.

    I ended up living in Tokyo, Osaka, Nara for 10 years, doing my PhD, cofounding a company, working, living, meeting my wife, making friends. I loved and still love Japan. Then I got a job in Switzerland, we popped out a kid and another 10 years passed. We still make yearly trips to Japan and the US.

    I know for a fact I would have shriveled up and died if I’d moved to that other city in the US. That crazy move was the catalyst for every other major turning point in my life. Twenty two is also a great age to take a year to be wild and find out. You’ve finished school. You (hopefully) have no debt or major obligations, and a year isn’t going to realistically hurt anything.

    You need to look into yourself and make sure you’re ready for an adventure that may have lots of ups and downs, and could end with you unhappy and moving home. But it could also be life changing and affirming.

    At the very least make sure you make the decision yourself and not simply on the basis of the fears of those around you.

36. Wish I could go there with you! I’ve dreamt of living in Japan ever since I visited in 2019. It’s such a beautiful country, fantastic food, tons of cute/fun things to do there. My personal favorite is Tokyo. You’re going to love it there.

37. Why not? You only have one life, and the only person who can decide what’s worth it or not is yourself. If you don’t end up liking Japan in the long run, then you can always move back to the US.

    Also, 80K USD doesn’t sound a lot in comparison to your US salary, but it’s a very sizeable chunk of money for Tokyo standards, and you’ll definitely be living comfortably with that money.

38. Take that finance job… But only temporary..then find a job that allows you to be a digital nomad. Work from Japan for a few months. See if that romanticism wears off.