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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by New-Theory-1053