Hello, thought to get some feedback from others, and maybe clear my mind lol. Apologies for the lengthy post, trying to squeeze info.
I've been in Japan since summer 2022, on a student visa first, and with an International Services visa since summer 2023. It got renewed for three years this year. Coming to live in Japan was a long awaited dream of mine since teenage years. I didn't come thinking Japan was perfect, I know culture and my Japanese is around N3. Despite not being perfect (what country is anyway?) it has been a good home for the past years and haven't had meltdowns or felt lonely like I got living in other European countries (I'm Italian).
I have very little family in Italy, basically only my parents (mostly my mom as I don't really talk with father) and some distant cousins, some my age, some my mom's age. I have probably one friend in Italy that I grew up with in our small town. When I go back, I spend few days with mom and try to meet with that friend, but I cannot get myself to stay more than about a week. I've been living abroad since 2017. I don't have a big circle of friends in Japan and most come from work (mix of Japanese and foreigners) but am trying to get to know more people through meetups and such.
I'd say Tokyo feels home, and I've experienced this only in the UK for a while. Life is not perfect but it's life, I get to do some things I like and love and it feels safer than in Italy or Europe (I'm a woman).
I've been looking into ways to stay here without having to depend on a job to have a visa. You can say it's early, but I know intentions without a plan are just a dream, so planning ahead it is. Eventually I aim at freelancing possibly with a part time job to balance stability and independence. This would be the same whether in Europe or Japan. I've been consulting with lawyers and I have the idea that trying to switch to a Highly Skilled Professional job/visa now might be more hassle than worth. I will probably only be able to apply for PR one year before the actual 10 years mark, but having to have stricter requirements in the meantime. We joked with mom that it might be easier to get a Japanese passport, so I looked into naturalisation without expecting much, but found that I could already apply from summer 2027 onward, or at least start to collect the documents from next summer. That's also a decent time to up my Japanese and take the JLPT (N3 for sure, but aiming at N2 – and would want to do that anyway since I live here).
It seems such a big deal to renounce Italian citizenship (although it looks fairly less complicated to acquire it back should need be), but I know that I have less opportunities in Italy (that's why I moved abroad as soon as I could) or that I'd have to move from my hometown into a bigger Italian city, which would make no difference in being far from my parents in a place I know nobody (and likely still have less opportunities). I would also like to buy a small house in Japan (sea/countryside) and I noticed that I could actually be able to afford doing so in few years with my current situation, while I couldn't in Italy, and would also need to find money and time to maintain my parents house, which is a lot.
The things that I would like to do in the longer term, personal and job wise, wouldn't change so much (or I can adapt), but it would be easier to be able to do them in Japan than in Italy, and I really love Japanese culture (not in a "I like anime", but in a "I studied aspects of Japanese culture and history" kind). My degrees would allow me to do research more easily in Japan than in Europe if I chose the academic route in the future.
I'm also taking into consideration the expiration time of my current visa in the whole situation (9/2028).
What got me questioning was thinking that citizenship is a big deal and that I would not be able to do things in Italy (I'm thinking mostly practical things like doctors lol), but since living in Japan of course I've been already not doing them for some time. I guess I'm trying to understand if I'm ready for a big change. I feel my life has already started to change and this is one of the decisions I need to make.
by FlatBus4497