What is my best option to join my boyfriend in Japan, and how can I set myself up for employment success?

Hi everyone,

My boyfriend is doing a PhD in Japan for the next four years, and he hopes to stay in his field there after. We met while I was on vacation in Japan. I am Canadian, and he is Korean on a student visa. (He is fluent in Japanese.)

Due to our ages (late 30s), we’re hoping to start our lives together sooner rather than later. Currently, I work in a dying field due to AI (freelance copyediting), so I was looking to retrain/go back to university anyway.

Is ESL teaching pretty much the only possible route? Are there any alternative paths I might not know about, or a list of in-demand skills I could pair with learning Japanese? (Moving to Japan hadn’t been on my radar before this, so I am slightly overwhelmed!)

Thanks for your time and assistance! 🙂

by wanderingpathless