Hello reddit,
I spent 10 years in China (from birth to Grade 5) and 11 years in Canada (Grade 5 to end of University) and am currently working in the US as a software engineer at a big tech. I wonder what's it like to move to Japan as a Chinese Canadian? The main reasons why I want to move are
- I don't like American individualistic culture. Many aren't considerate of others. Lots of highways have tons of trash and even queuing on the subway. I prefer a more collectivist culture. Personally I try my best to be considerate of others and not to give others headaches.
- Food in North America (NA) is pretty mid compared to food in East Asia.
- NA no longer feels safe. Drugs, homelessness etc… are way worse than they were 10 years ago.
- As a former urban design enthusiast, I like the neighbourhood layouts in Japan. Lots of buildings have nice lightings.
- Trains are crowded but they are always there. Compact cities mean there's always so much to do after work.
Concerns
- What is racism like towards Chinese Canadians? I don't think I will reach native Japanese fluency (and pronunciation) within the next 10 years.
- How "depressed" is Japanese culture for [East Asian][North Americans]? Lots of posts made by people who spent the majority of their life in America complain about this (e.g. people commenting on your clothes, people faking their invitation, getting weird looks for accidentally breaking a rule).
- How hard would it be to find a software job in Japan that pays somewhat decent (10M+) for someone with international big tech experience? I did some research and it seems like even 7M is pretty high for senior devs for Japanese companies.
Other things
- I'm not planning to move back to China because the overall societal order is still worse than Japan's. Taiwan is slightly better but I didn't like the Taipei for its architecture.
- I'm ready to learn Japanese from scratch. I learned 3 new languages (English, French and German) after moving to Canada.
Thanks!
by Icy_Drummer_1508