I know the title is low effort but please bare with me.
I am currently looking to relocate to another country due to reasons that I won’t bore you with. I have a few countries in mind, but lately I have felt like Japan feels like the RIGHT one. So I am not relocating because I want to move to Japan. I need to relocate and Japan seems like a good option.
I have long wanted to live in Japan. Fell in love with Japan through Japanese literature, movies, anime and more… I started learning the language on my own back in university and got decent enough at it to meet Japanese people where I live and make friends with them. Although I have gotten quite rusty in Japanese in the past year, especially in reading, I think I can pick it back up rather quick.
From both my native Japanese friends and other friends who have tried living in Japan, one major complaint I have heard is that the work culture is horrible. A lot of them have told me it’s just a downright bad idea to move to Japan which is making me feel discouraged.
Personally I don’t think the work culture would be an issue for me, not long term in any case. I work within Cybersecurity and have a source of income that is completely remote, and I don’t actually need a job in a Japanese company. Not for the first year at least as I can stay in Japan on working holiday visa for a year.
But if I want to stay long term, obviously I would need to get a job in Japan at some point (let me know if there is any other way actually), so that I can get a more permanent visa. So I’ve looked into it and it seems like I would qualify for “highly skilled professional visa” as well, so in theory all I would need is to work in Japan for a few years at some point and I might qualify for permanent residence permit within 1-3 years if I get a highly skilled professional visa.
My point is, I don’t actually have to work a Japanese company and be exposed to the work culture, not more than a couple years anyway until I get a residence permit that doesn’t require me to have a Japanese job. **So I feel like the main concern that I have heard from my friends doesn’t really apply to me?**
That being said, I think I can also pass N2 with a few months of a studying at my current level, so the language isn’t going to be a big problem either.
These two are the two main concerns I hear, so I wanted to ask, knowing my situation and the fact I know a lot about Japan from my Japanese friends (so I am not just some weeb who idolises Japan) and would love to live there, what are some other things I should think about before making a decision like this?
Are there any other big risks that I am not thinking about?
​
2 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Are there any big risks to moving to Japan for someone who doesn’t have to worry about work culture?**
I know the title is low effort but please bare with me.
I am currently looking to relocate to another country due to reasons that I won’t bore you with. I have a few countries in mind, but lately I have felt like Japan feels like the RIGHT one. So I am not relocating because I want to move to Japan. I need to relocate and Japan seems like a good option.
I have long wanted to live in Japan. Fell in love with Japan through Japanese literature, movies, anime and more… I started learning the language on my own back in university and got decent enough at it to meet Japanese people where I live and make friends with them. Although I have gotten quite rusty in Japanese in the past year, especially in reading, I think I can pick it back up rather quick.
From both my native Japanese friends and other friends who have tried living in Japan, one major complaint I have heard is that the work culture is horrible. A lot of them have told me it’s just a downright bad idea to move to Japan which is making me feel discouraged.
Personally I don’t think the work culture would be an issue for me, not long term in any case. I work within Cybersecurity and have a source of income that is completely remote, and I don’t actually need a job in a Japanese company. Not for the first year at least as I can stay in Japan on working holiday visa for a year.
But if I want to stay long term, obviously I would need to get a job in Japan at some point (let me know if there is any other way actually), so that I can get a more permanent visa. So I’ve looked into it and it seems like I would qualify for “highly skilled professional visa” as well, so in theory all I would need is to work in Japan for a few years at some point and I might qualify for permanent residence permit within 1-3 years if I get a highly skilled professional visa.
My point is, I don’t actually have to work a Japanese company and be exposed to the work culture, not more than a couple years anyway until I get a residence permit that doesn’t require me to have a Japanese job. **So I feel like the main concern that I have heard from my friends doesn’t really apply to me?**
That being said, I think I can also pass N2 with a few months of a studying at my current level, so the language isn’t going to be a big problem either.
These two are the two main concerns I hear, so I wanted to ask, knowing my situation and the fact I know a lot about Japan from my Japanese friends (so I am not just some weeb who idolises Japan) and would love to live there, what are some other things I should think about before making a decision like this?
Are there any other big risks that I am not thinking about?
​
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A few brief points since it’s 3:30 AM here in Tokyo and I’m tired.
– Don’t hedge your future on the possibility of getting PR, particularly not via the HSPV which in itself makes assumptions about your eligibility (have you looked into how the point system for it works?) There are way too many ways that this could easily go wrong, and shooting for PR before having even lived here is putting the cart far before the horse.
– You are likely overestimating your Japanese language ability if you are self-evaluating.
– There are more issues than just work culture when moving to an entirely different country. They’ve been covered on this sub ad nauseam so I’ll just encourage you to do some more research about that before attempting to progress any further with this plan.
– You will be required to pay taxes for all work performed while physically located within Japan.
– Expect a **very** substantial pay decrease when you do ultimately have to work for a Japanese company, particularly if you plan on sending any money abroad. Likely 30-50% or more *before taxes*.