Hey all,
Me and my wife might be relocating to Japan. We both lived in Japan between 2008 and 2018, and moved back to the UK.
My wife has just been offered a job in Tokyo, and we’re quite excited to move back. However, since moving back to the UK we’ve built our life and settled down. Meaning we have a home and nice furniture etc.
I’m in my late 30s and my wife is in her early 40s. I work for a Silicon Valley startup and can work remotely anywhere.
My wife would return on a highly skilled visa, which would allow me to work in Japan too. Hopefully allowing me to continue working for this American company over there.
The issue is, they’ve only offered:
1. 500,000 yen (taxable) for getting settled (basically for flights, and maybe a week in a hotel.
2. Plus 700,000 yen (non taxed, must show receipts and use their own designated company) for moving.
We plan to bring our the most expensive furniture we have (large corner sofa, expensive bed etc) plus about 60 boxes (20 large, 20 medium, 20 small).
And this is after negotiating. Originally they only offered 500,000.
They won’t be offering assistance with housing / accommodation for the first month or so, which we had expected. Plus, I’m not sure 700,000 is going to be enough to move essentially a 2 bedroom home (minus non essential stuff we can throw away) to Japan.
What do y’all think? We’re excited to move back, but not at significant expense to us.
We also have a cat that we’ll need to bring with us. Confident we can get that sorted, but it’s another point of stress.
Does anyone have experience doing this recently? My wife will be senior, but not director level at the company. Salary will be about 14,000,000 including bonus / revenue share.
My salary will be about 22,000,000. So very sure we’ll have a good life in Japan, but we’re a little shocked at the relocation package.
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This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Relocating to Japan**
Hey all,
Me and my wife might be relocating to Japan. We both lived in Japan between 2008 and 2018, and moved back to the UK.
My wife has just been offered a job in Tokyo, and we’re quite excited to move back. However, since moving back to the UK we’ve built our life and settled down. Meaning we have a home and nice furniture etc.
I’m in my late 30s and my wife is in her early 40s. I work for a Silicon Valley startup and can work remotely anywhere.
My wife would return on a highly skilled visa, which would allow me to work in Japan too. Hopefully allowing me to continue working for this American company over there.
The issue is, they’ve only offered:
1. 500,000 yen (taxable) for getting settled (basically for flights, and maybe a week in a hotel.
2. Plus 700,000 yen (non taxed, must show receipts and use their own designated company) for moving.
We plan to bring our the most expensive furniture we have (large corner sofa, expensive bed etc) plus about 60 boxes (20 large, 20 medium, 20 small).
And this is after negotiating. Originally they only offered 500,000.
They won’t be offering assistance with housing / accommodation for the first month or so, which we had expected. Plus, I’m not sure 700,000 is going to be enough to move essentially a 2 bedroom home (minus non essential stuff we can throw away) to Japan.
What do y’all think? We’re excited to move back, but not at significant expense to us.
We also have a cat that we’ll need to bring with us. Confident we can get that sorted, but it’s another point of stress.
Does anyone have experience doing this recently? My wife will be senior, but not director level at the company. Salary will be about 14,000,000 including bonus / revenue share.
My salary will be about 22,000,000. So very sure we’ll have a good life in Japan, but we’re a little shocked at the relocation package.
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Sounds like you can afford to make up for the low relocation package. It is what it is and doesn’t sound like you will not move even if they don’t offer more.
>can work remotely anywhere.
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> My wife will be senior, but not director level at the company. Salary will be about 14,000,000 including bonus / revenue share.
My salary will be about 22,000,000.
You’re going to have to navigate that very carefully. If you are in Japan on a dependent visa, you can only work at most i believe 28 hours and you should not be earning more than your wife or it will look like you are the one supporting her, even with her large salary and can cause a lot of problems.
It sounds like you might be making considerably more than your wife, which might cause issues with regards to your status as a dependant.
You’re whinging about having to decide whether to move and picking up on a couple thousand yen when you earn 36MM as a household? Surely you can pay someone to stress about packing things up for you and it not hurting your wallet.
Also have to say Tsian, Dalkyr82, Rajivpsf. THANK YOU for all your help so far in this thread! 🔥
Can anybody suggest a good immigration attorney?
In the grand scheme of things it’s not a dealbreaker is it?
About moving furniture, I would try to sell while you can and buy new stuff locally (preferably second hand). You never know what apartment you’ll be getting and how your current furniture will fit (physically and esthetically).
(After moving around 7 times in the 11 years that I have been in Japan I’m trying to adopt a minimalist stance w.r.t. stuff involved in moving including furniture.)
Oh no, they only offered you $8k to make the move? Whatever will you do?!
Read through your comments. We’re about the same age. Don’t move. Clearly your risk tolerance isn’t there. Just take frequent holidays to Japan. You’ll still enjoy it.
In your situation I’d say just really try to focus on what itch you want to scratch.
You’ve already lived in Japan so have a great idea of everything you could do and accomplish there.
I’ve only spent about half the time you have there, but if I was in your situation it is a no brainer that I would go.
You can always leave if you feel like it.
Can you just rent a storage unit to hold a majority of your belongings in, and just start fresh when you get to Japan?
You don’t need to buy super expensive furniture but just do a basic furnishing then add to it over time.
That way, if you feel like you want to go home you don’t have as much of a problem moving stuff twice.
Not sure how much that would cost you but in the US I store a 2 bedroom apartment worth of stuff for like $150 a month.
Honestly don’t bring large bulky furniture. Even with transport support. It’s pointless. Sell your bulky furniture and spend some of the relocation on the cat, which will cost quite a few thousand.
You make good money, and have no dependents. Buy a new couch and bed in japan and put your UK furniture in storage or sell it. A few grand spent buying a couch and bed set up that works properly with your new Japanese house will be forgotten within a month or so.
Also shipping takes ages leaving you in a shit situation with no furniture for a good few weeks.
>We’re excited to move back, but not at significant expense to us.
Then don’t do it? It sort of comes across that you’ve already made up your mind, and you’re looking to others to validate your decision.
>but we’re a little shocked at the relocation package.
Bro your salary alone is 22mil yen. Most people in IT in Japan will never hit over 10mil. I’d worry more about what color you want to paint your walls.
Jeezus 60 boxes?!?Why bring so much furniture? Seems like a hastle imo, probably would be better to just sell most of it and buy new stuff in Japan.