What can I do during university (AU) to increase my chances of moving to Japan in the future?

5 comments

1. This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.

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   **What can I do during university (AU) to increase my chances of moving to Japan in the future?**

   Hi everyone,

   I’ve just graduated from high school in Australia, and next year I’m going to be studying Computer Science and/or Medicine at an Australian university depending on how my applications go. I have N1-2 Japanese (self-assessed, will take the N1 test next year) as well as a Japanese citizenship since my mother is Japanese.

   After graduating from university, I’d like to spend at least some of my life living in Japan, and I was wondering what I could start doing now to ensure that I have the best chances of moving there and and having a good job (decent WLB + pay), as well as what sort of career pathways I should pursue within my chosen degree/s for this.

   Any other advice/tips would be really welcome too – and please let me know if I’ve missed any important details about my situation.

   Thank you so much 🙂

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2. In Australia it is sometimes difficult (depending on the country of training) for overseas Doctors to get licensed. I do not know what the requirements are in Japan but if you pursue medicine here you may find it difficult to get licensed there. You may know more about it than me but I thought I’d mention it. Otherwise, it sounds like you’re in a good position.
   I’m sure you’re well aware of University exchange programs but Japanese universities also offer English language postgraduate courses so you may like to consider one of those.

3. Make sure you go to a university that is in the top 300 in the world according to QS World/THE World/Academic Ranking of World Universities, and you feel reasonably confident that they will able to remain in that Top 300 ranking in the future. If you can get into one that is in the Top 100 it is far better since you are also eligible for the J-Skip visa in the future (if you also get a Masters degree which is what I recommend) if you decide you want to come to Japan later in life (after 30) by sponsoring yourself.

   Most companies will not go through the effort of sponsoring a visa unless you have prior experience, and for Highly skilled professional visa you’ll want at least 3 years of experience.

   https://kuiso.oc.kyoto-u.ac.jp/filesdir/files/visa/en_point_calculation_table_2023.pdf

   This will make it far easier for you to get the HSP visa in the future. It is a better visa than the Engineering Visa (if you do Computer Science degree that is normally what you get) which will give you more flexibility when in Japan on what you can/can’t do.

   The wild card is the J-Find visa, if you graduate from a Top 100 University (UniMelb/UNSW/USyd/ANU/Monash/UTS/UWA/UniversityAdelaide/UQ) you can spend 2 years job searching in Japan straight out of university.

4. If you choose medicine, then you must go into research. Your bilingual abilities will be priceless and if you are talented (published), you can easily find a cozy well paying job in a world class institute after doing a postdoc or similar research position through university. Practicing will be a completely different topic and forget about WLB.

5. OP has Japanese citizenship; /thread. You have a 100% chance of being able to move to Japan and getting a job as you are a citizen of Japan who speaks Japanese.

   Try to find a grad program; employees start in April and applications open 6-12 months before. Most companies don’t often look for foreign graduates but as a citizen it’s quite possible; you will just need to do some leg work to hear about the programs.

   Or just move here and work whatever job you want because you’re a citizen and that is your right.