Hi, on a throwaway account here, but I'm a Filipino citizen currently in my third year at a big 4 university in the Philippines as a business major at the age of 25. I'm also currently N4 level in terms of Japanese language ability. I've already been to Japan many times as a tourist, usually staying here for a month before flying back, and I really like it there. I love how accessible most things are, and how walkable (for the most part) the country is.
My original plan was to graduate here and work for a while while learning Japanese on my own time, then eventually trying to find a way to work in Japan in maybe 5-7 years or so. However, I'm personally not interested in that idea anymore given the current state of the country (it sucks, iykyk), and I was considering the possibility of either applying for transfer to Waseda's SPSE or Sophia University's SPSF programs because it seems like they do accept transfer students. My current idea is that I could maybe get into the country on a student visa, build a network and make friends here, graduate from a Japanese university while taking my time to at least reach N2 by the time I graduate, then go job searching, probably through shinsotsu or applying to gaishikeis. I know I'd probably be delaying myself (especially considering I started college kinda late compared to other people in the PH, and because I've read that some companies do care about age), but my family is willing to financially support me if this is possible. I'm aware that reaching N2 or even N1 in maybe two years is gonna be tough, but if I'm immersing myself in the country I think it would be much more manageable. I'm also aware of the dangers of Japanese work culture, and that salaries can be quite low given the current state of the yen, especially for new grads, but even that is higher than starting salaries for new grads in the Philippines (over here it's apparently around 25-30k PHP per month), so I'm willing to believe that if I put in the work, it'll turn out alright. Is this a crazy idea? Please tell me if it's a good idea or not. I know some people from the Philippines who think that this is a great idea, because of course many here believe that if they leave the country, their lives would change for the better (and anecdotally, their lives did improve financially and they were generally happier after the move), but I'd ideally want opinions from people who actually live in Japan.
Also, I'm a bit curious about the education I'd possibly receive. I've read that a lot of people here think of the English programs in Japanese universities as lower-quality compared to the Japanese programs, or that the curriculum in general isn't that good, but I usually notice that they say this when you compare it to education in the US or EU/UK. But how about when compared to the likes of UP/Ateneo/DLSU/UST? Would it be an upgrade, or of similar quality? If any Filipinos can answer this one in particular, that'd be really helpful.
by SevenYearsInTheDirt