Bit of backstory, I had my daughter at 17 years old (I’m 21 now) and I’ve always wanted to live abroad but always felt like I couldn’t due to my circumstances until a co-worker of mine pretty much drove me to go for it (or at least to look into it). One thing he said which stood out was that living abroad can be the best education for a child.
I do have family in Japan (Gifu) and I’ve visited them once so I somewhat remember what it was like to live there for that very short time. My grandmother’s sister runs a successful english teaching business out of her home, teaching kindergarten age children and one of her children was also a teen mother so I have someone I can relate to in that sense. They have offered to let me and my daughter live in their home as well as consider a teaching job for me.
One thing I am concerned about is what this will be like for my daughter who would be at school age and also what education would be looking like seeing as English would be her first language (assuming she would be taught Japanese over time before moving)? Also what this will mean for me financially considering I’ve got accommodation, potential job, etc.? I don’t know where to begin!!
TLDR; Young single mother wanting to move to Japan where I have family and potentially a job in place.
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**Single, young mother wanting to move to Japan from Australia**
Bit of backstory, I had my daughter at 17 years old (I’m 21 now) and I’ve always wanted to live abroad but always felt like I couldn’t due to my circumstances until a co-worker of mine pretty much drove me to go for it (or at least to look into it). One thing he said which stood out was that living abroad can be the best education for a child.
I do have family in Japan (Gifu) and I’ve visited them once so I somewhat remember what it was like to live there for that very short time. My grandmother’s sister runs a successful english teaching business out of her home, teaching kindergarten age children and one of her children was also a teen mother so I have someone I can relate to in that sense. They have offered to let me and my daughter live in their home as well as consider a teaching job for me.
One thing I am concerned about is what this will be like for my daughter who would be at school age and also what education would be looking like seeing as English would be her first language (assuming she would be taught Japanese over time before moving)? Also what this will mean for me financially considering I’ve got accommodation, potential job, etc.? I don’t know where to begin!!
TLDR; Young single mother wanting to move to Japan where I have family and potentially a job in place.
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I’m sure you’ll get a lot of naysayers in this thread, but I think you actually make a pretty strong case here, with one possibly major exception.
– You have support from family
– You have a perfect in for accommodation
– You have a job opportunity that can even sponsor you for a visa in a good area for your experience
– Your child is 4 so they can still learn Japanese through osmosis, and there won’t be any real negative impact if you decide to head home in a year or two
HOWEVER unless you have a generic four year college degree it will be almost impossible for you to get a visa, even with support from your relatives. This is the big hurdle IMO. Maybe there’s a workaround. If you can find one I’d go for it.
Having familial support definitely helps a lot.
I can’t tell from your post but are your family members or parents Japanese nationals?
The only issue is getting a visa, but if at least one of your parents is a national (or maybe under extraneous circumstances you have enough JP relatives) you could be eligible for a Long term resident visa.
Your daughter will be fine, small kids adapt quickly and absorb information like sponges. Don’t bother trying to “teach” a 4yo a language, they will just learn it organically.
The only real question here is about what visa you will be able to get to live in Japan, and in your case that is likely to have been determined by your parents’ status when you were born.
First up, are you Japanese yourself? At least one of your parents would have had to have been Japanese at the time of your birth, and (assuming you were not born in Japan), they would have had to register you with the Japanese consulate within 3 months of your birth. If they did this, and as long as you have not voluntarily naturalized elsewhere (getting other nationalities by birth is fine), then you are Japanese and you can get a Japanese passport. You’ll have to jump through some hoops first.
If you are not Japanese…
Were either of your parents Japanese nationals *at the time of your birth*? If so, even if they are no longer Japanese nationals today, you should qualify for a “spouse or child of Japanese national” visa.
If your parents were born as Japanese nationals but had already lost their Japanese citizenship at the time of your birth, you should still qualify for a Long Term Resident visa.
Getting this sorted out is the most important thing for you to do. Assuming you aren’t Japanese with a Japanese passport, you can’t just “move to Japan” and start living & working there.
Participating in a Uni-exchange program in Japan was the best career decision I made. I set goals for myself at around 24 years old and it took me 26 years to reach the pinnacle objective. Over a 30 year career, I’ve worked in Japan for 10 years. I returned for like the 5th or 6th time just before the pandemic. Been here ever since. The pandemic proved many things. Firstly, Japan is the most free country in Asia. There were no lock downs and no mandates. Your liberty was never under threat. There is a 1,500 year tradition of property rights, no threat to wealth. It’s a peaceful place to live. You really don’t have to worry about security. So what can you do with that? You can work. What I love the most about Japan is the work ethic. I can work. I can work hard. I can focus and enjoy my work, make money, enjoy eating real food, live in a huge city with practically no crime and have a fun hobby. I play golf. Golf is fantastic in Japan. I network. I go to business and political events. I don’t have many Japanese friends but I don’t care. The foreign community is a Keiretsu of it’s own. Down in Gifu the foreign community is not as big as Tokyo but there is a foreign community. As long as Japan can resist the garbage imports of the World Economic Forum and the ESG nonsense, Japan will remain the best country in Asia. You can tell me all day long about how low tax and regulatory environment is the success of Singapore. But Singapore is just an island bank, police state. There is nothing to back it up. With that in mind, consider that at the moment, Japan needs people and capital. Japan will not be taking in refugees. You can bank on that statement.
Therefore, once you are able to get a visa to live here, chances are you won’t ever have to leave. That’s the point. Why would you leave? Right now Japan is in the sweet spot. The decoupling from China positions Japan at the top of the list for foreign direct investment destinations and the government is encouraging the investment. In other words, there has never been a better time in history to come Japan if you can qualify to live and work here. So take the plunge. Set goals and chase them. You will not find a better place to implement a career dream in Asia.
I would go for it. Young ones learn new language like a sponge. Commit to it for 1 year and see how it goes.