Background: 31, American. Worked in Japan at a law firm (patents/IP) in 2020 during the beginning of covid. Have a JD/LLM (not barred, not working as an attorney). Currently working at a B4 in the US doing consulting work in compliance (financial crimes) and have been there for about 1.5 years. I intended to also take night classes for Japanese while I was working in Tokyo, but covid (and a broken leg on top) pretty well ruined that. Despite the “bad” experience, I still really loved my time there and want to move back long-term. My Japanese ability is pretty much nonexistent currently as I’ve been too busy to seriously study (i.e. I know some phrases, but actually understanding stuff is a no). It doesn’t feel like it’s already been 3 years, but with it being so long, I know I want to move back much sooner rather than later. Else I’m afraid I’ll never get the chance.
I currently make $66k base (maybe another $7-9k in bonus and direct benefits). I don’t mind taking a pay cut to move, but some things e.g. teaching English are a huge 25-50%+ pay cut I think I’d regret. Before I was at my current job I seriously considered teaching, but after getting this one I don’t think I would be happy going from ~$70k down to ~$30k. I don’t mind teaching in general, it just has to be reasonable pay more comparable to what I make now. I also don’t mind switching industries. I don’t care about relocation expenses. I’m even fine with various stipulations like acquiring a certain level of Japanese proficiency within one year and such.
Since my background is primarily in legal/compliance, I’ve been mainly looking at those. Issue is everything I’ve seen in those types of positions want either (1) barred + years of law exp, or (2) business-level or higher Japanese. Is there any area in legal/compliance/others related that I’m not considering that don’t have those requirements?
I’ve also considered school (MBA in particular). I have quite a bit of money saved up, but not nearly enough to fully pay for a graduate program out-of-pocket while also living without strong financial support. If I held off for another year and saved as much as possible, I think I’d have enough money to do so. Although, this would also run into the issue of only being able to take classes presented in English which, from what I understand, would limit my studies.
Another option is again to save up for another 6-12 months and take a leave of absence from my company at 20% pay rate for a couple of months. In that time, I’d live in Tokyo while attending language school. I’d also continue looking for jobs in that time, hopefully with more luck since I’d be local.
The school options are certainly not my first choices–after all, they’re very expensive and expenses rather than income–but I believe are my final options outside of simply finding a job.
So it boils down to: Are there any areas I’m missing in terms of the job search? Any tips, guidance, suggestions? Anything would be appreciated.
2 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Been looking for a long time now – am I looking for the wrong positions?**
Background: 31, American. Worked in Japan at a law firm (patents/IP) in 2020 during the beginning of covid. Have a JD/LLM (not barred, not working as an attorney). Currently working at a B4 in the US doing consulting work in compliance (financial crimes) and have been there for about 1.5 years. I intended to also take night classes for Japanese while I was working in Tokyo, but covid (and a broken leg on top) pretty well ruined that. Despite the “bad” experience, I still really loved my time there and want to move back long-term. My Japanese ability is pretty much nonexistent currently as I’ve been too busy to seriously study (i.e. I know some phrases, but actually understanding stuff is a no). It doesn’t feel like it’s already been 3 years, but with it being so long, I know I want to move back much sooner rather than later. Else I’m afraid I’ll never get the chance.
I currently make $66k base (maybe another $7-9k in bonus and direct benefits). I don’t mind taking a pay cut to move, but some things e.g. teaching English are a huge 25-50%+ pay cut I think I’d regret. I don’t mind teaching in general, it just has to be reasonable pay more comparable to what I make now. I also don’t mind switching industries. I don’t care about relocation expenses. I’m even fine with various stipulations like acquiring a certain level of Japanese proficiency within one year and such.
Since my background is primarily in legal/compliance, I’ve been mainly looking at those. Issue is everything I’ve seen in those types of positions want either (1) barred + years of law exp, or (2) business-level or higher Japanese. Is there any area in legal/compliance/others related that I’m not considering that don’t have those requirements?
I’ve also considered school (MBA in particular). I have quite a bit of money saved up, but not nearly enough to fully pay for a graduate program out-of-pocket while also living without strong financial support. If I held off for another year and saved as much as possible, I think I’d have enough money to do so. Although, this would also run into the issue of only being able to take classes presented in English which, from what I understand, would limit my studies.
Another option is again to save up for another 6-12 months and take a leave of absence from my company at 20% pay rate for a couple of months. In that time, I’d live in Tokyo while attending language school. I’d also continue looking for jobs in that time, hopefully with more luck since I’d be local.
The school options are certainly not my first choices–after all, they’re very expensive and expenses rather than income–but I believe are my final options outside of simply finding a job.
So it boils down to: Are there any areas I’m missing in terms of the job search? Any tips, guidance, suggestions? Anything would be appreciated.
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>Issue is everything I’ve seen in those types of positions want either (1) barred + years of law exp, or (2) business-level or higher Japanese. Is there any area in legal/compliance/others related that I’m not considering that don’t have those requirements?
You’re unlikely to find anything in legal/compliance that doesn’t have one of those requirements. Most likely *both*.
Companies hire barred foreign lawyers to advise them about the law in their home countries. (Look up “gaiben” for more info. A non-barred person isn’t qualified to give advice on foreign law.
And if you’re going to work legal/compliance in Japan you’ll need to understand Japanese laws/regulations. Which are written in Japanese. Frankly even “business level” Japanese probably wouldn’t cut it.