My life in JP started as a JET in 1988. I went on to grad school and have since taught English in tertiary institutions across Asia Still working now in S Asia and still have JP-PR.
I have a JP spouse and I imagine in not too many more years we will move back to JP to live out the last years of our lives.
I don’t aspire to teach ever again in JP and I’m not up to sitting at home everyday. I’m wondering what I might be able to do with my limited JP ability that might be helpful in whatever community we retire to. I can get by in day-to-day conversations, mostly transactional stuff at train stations, the market, restaurants and bars, and the bank.
Wedding officiant used to be a thing but really not intetesed in theatre.
Editing is sitting at the desk reading someone’s crappy writing and getting a sore back. No thanks.
Love being outside, cycling, walking, hiking, photographing, dogs, kids, young people, beer, baseball, football, jazz…
Not sure where we might live but to avoid the worst of winter likely west Japan.
If you were me and could move anywhere to start again in JP in your mid-late 60s, where would you go and what would you do?
2 comments
>still have JP-PR
Do you, though? If you leave the country without a re-entry permit, or a “special re-entry permit” you forfeit your PR status.
You could get a spouse visa and regain your PR pretty quickly, however.
>I’m wondering what I might be able to do with my limited JP ability that might be helpful in whatever community we retire to.
You’re going to have PR (Or at least a spouse visa)… You can do *whatever you want to do*.
>If you were me and could move anywhere to start again in JP in your mid-late 60s, where would you go and what would you do?
Being blunt: I would learn make my own decisions.
If at 60+ years old the best I could muster is “Where do I go? What do I do?”, without any indication that I had done some basic research or even remembered anything from my previous time living in Japan, I would frankly be ashamed of myself.
I get that you’re looking for discussion, but… Jebus, dude. You’ve got “I don’t wanna do these couple things” and “Maybe west Japan”, and that’s it. We’re not you. We don’t know where you want to live, or what you want to do. You’ve got to give us something to work with.
You may feel a little behind the ball, but for what it’s worth I have known dozens of people who wanted to move when they retired, and not one was sure where they wanted to live out retirement even when retirement was upon them. So in my experience, you are in good company.
I don’t have any specific locations to recommend, but would suggest that if you plan is to buy a house that you rent first and be prepared to move a couple of times before settling down and buying. I know a few retirees who had regrets buying before they got to know the city and neighborhood.