My husband [M21] and I [F20] are planning to move to Japan, which is where he grew up and also where he has dual citizenship*. I have finished my school and have a BA in English, and am currently looking for jobs somewhere in Japan (hopefully in the Mie prefecture which is where his family are). My husband is conversationally fluent in Japanese and can read both Kanas, but because he left Japan with his family around grade 5, he does not know a lot of kanji. He is currently in school and has will have competed half his degree by the time we are looking to move (spring of 2026).
My question is: are there any schools that would accept him as a student? He applied to the TUJ Japan campus because he knew his credits would transfer since he is currently enrolled at an American university. What schools should he apply to? How does being an overseas student work and is this a viable option for him? Should we move first and I get established in a job and then he could go back to school? What are your general thoughts on this and do you have any ideas for how we can best move especially when my husband is a current student?
*note: he has passports for both America and Japan. Yes dual citizenship is normally lot allowed and you’re supposed to choose between one citizenship by the age of 22, which is when Japanese dual citizenship ends, but since he’s not 22 yet (he will be in Aug 2026), he still is technically a citizen of Japan, especially since his mom who is fully Japanese and currently resides there.
Additional note for some context but isn’t needed for responding to this post: My husband and I are high school sweethearts and have been together almost 6 years. I am prepared to move and actually am really excited about it; I understand that it comes with a lot of preparation and we are currently saving and trying our best to be the most prepared we can be. Japan is long-term for us; we want to have children there and hopefully buy a house. My husband is studying engineering or some form of science; he applied to TUJ as a computer science engineer (bc that was the only option close to what he is doing Rn and he wouldn’t be mad about having a computer science job at all), but currently is studying mechanical engineering in the states.
Thank you so much for reading and I hope to get some new insight and ideas on our situation and I hope to settle some anxieties about his schooling and about moving to Japan next year in general. 🙂
by AnotherRedhead05
2 comments
Is there a reason why you’re planning on doing all this now instead of waiting until your husband graduates from the University in the US? Unless something has changed in the past 10 years since I went to undergrad, it’s pretty much impossible to transfer to a reputable University in Japan. Maybe TUJ will allow it, but it’s one of the least reputable schools, which may make job hunting difficult since school reputation opens up interview opportunities.
My suggestion is to wait it out another 2 years in the US, graduate, then find a job in Japan. You can go to the Boston Career Forum in his 4th year to get a head start on job hunting.
He should just finish his degree in the US.
Most Japanese schools don’t accept transfer credits from abroad. He would have to start over. He would also have to apply to those schools as a domestic student and since his Japanese isn’t “up to snuff” for college work, he’d be restricted to programs taught in English, which are not always a great use of your time.
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