Hey everyone, long post incoming but I'd really appreciate any honest input from people who've been through this.
I finished my CS degree in 2025 and my original plan was to move abroad after graduation. Australia was my first choice but the visa requirements have gotten really tough and it's just not realistic for me right now. I explored a few other countries too but kept hitting walls with requirements, costs, or competitiveness.
So now Japan is on my radar and the more I research it the more I think it could genuinely work. But I want to make sure I'm not planning this the wrong way.
Here's the path I've been thinking about:
1. Attend a Japanese language school to get my Japanese to a functional level
2. Apply to a Master's program in CS or a related field — ideally while targeting a scholarship like one you can get after enrollment
3. Use the degree + language skills to land a tech job and eventually settle here
My questions:
- Is this path actually viable or am I overcomplicating it? Would going straight for a Master's without language school first be better?
- For scholarships you get after enrolling in a Japanese university — how competitive/accessible are they really for international students?
- Is Japanese genuinely necessary for tech jobs or can you get by with just English?
- Anything important I should know that isn't obvious from just Googling this?
I know this is a long-term plan and I'm okay with that. I just don't want to be two years into language school and realize I made a strategic mistake early on. Any experience or advice would mean a lot. Thanks 🙏
by Fun-Goat1377