Hello! I am 19F, half Japanese, and I recently came back home (Canada) after spending a gap year traveling/studying in Japan. I returned with the intention of choosing a stable career path (nursing), since it offers long-term security where I live and I’ve always been interested in healthcare.
That said, after this year in Japan, I can’t shake the feeling that I want to live there someday. I know traveling ≠ living, but a lot of my desire to move comes from personal reasons (family, lifestyle, culture, language, etc.) I’m not fluent yet and haven’t taken the JLPT, but I’m willing to put in the work if it means making this a real possibility.
Right now I feel stuck between two paths:
• Staying in my hometown, building a stable career, and playing it safe
• Or taking a risk and putting real effort into making a life in Japan
I guess I’m struggling with choosing something in University that allows me to utilize it in Japan (International Business, etc.), or just choosing nursing and putting Japan on the back burner. Has anyone been in a similar position? I’d appreciate any advice!
by No_Paper1722
6 comments
You’re so young! If you feel called to move to Japan go for it.
If I’m not mistaken, if you are a child of a Japanese national, you can qualify for a special visa that allows you to stay in Japan without restrictions if you have proof and documentation.
However, that said, are you set on doing healthcare if you are going to Japan?
You can do both~
I’m 36: I lived in Japan for a year in 2012, loved it, knew I’d come back. But I’m in tech, and Japan is… behind, to put it kindly. So I spent a decade building my career in the US, and am now loving back full time: but instead of taking some entry level job, I’m able to walk in as a CTO, and not have to climb some shitty Japanese corporate ladder.
Of course I would have loved to spend the last decade there too, but ultimately: I’ve enjoyed a comfier life: spent the last 10 years working and traveling to over 40 countries on western PTO standards (wouldn’t have been possible with Japanese PTO or salary), and now I’m ready to enjoy one place more deeply so I’m returning.
At 19, things feel permanent, but honestly: life has phases, enjoy them and try to be intentional rather than reactive~
Good luck! Cheers!
Canada has a better future. More opportunities etc. Economy not looking good for Japan
half who was faced withsimilar choices eons ago, although different circumstances made my decisions not necessarily decisions but japan is also lacking in nursing and medical staff so you could pursue that but also look in to how itd transfer over. a few filipinas who have found visas do some but in the end you should do your passion,maybe nursing? and see how itd fit in that environment. to be honest if you have residency, a degree is seeming less and less useful these days
however work aside you should consider the social aspects of stuff too. it aint all rainbow and skittles in tokyo and without ppl friends or fam, gets dark real quick without control- personal experience.
What about doing nursing in Japan?
There’s a school in Hiroshima for caregiving – my thought process for bringing this up is it’s a language school, since you don’t have any of the visa timeline problems, you could do the language course portion and find a nursing school, they might even be able to help find one for you above just caregiving.
(I also found some around Tokyo, so there are lots of options if you search around)
Actually looking more there are a lot of these programs in Hiroshima and the international Red Cross college of nursing.
I think this is the one I was initially looking into myself, their language program is specifically to move onto their “nursing and welfare track”:
[Hiroshima Fukushi](https://hiroshimafukushi.ac.jp/department/nihongoka/)
Comments are closed.