So most of the questions that I’ve come up with I can answer with a simple google search. I know that I need to get a degree for a work visa and it’s pretty much mandatory to know Japanese so I can work on that while I’m in schooling, but does a culinary degree count?
I’ve been a chef for going on 6 years. My current restaurant will pay for me to go to the CIA (culinary institute of America) and get my culinary arts degree. However, I remember my old executive chef telling me that the Japanese wouldn’t even let a white boy like me touch the rice, I’m 90% sure he was fucking with me, but when I do a google search about it, it tells me that yes, you can use a culinary degree to get a work visa in most instances, but no, you can’t use it to work at Japanese restaurants, because there’s no shortage of actual Japanese chefs. Once I complete said schooling I’ll have 10 years of work experience, so I’ll meet the criteria for the work visa either way, degree or 10 years experience.
So like, what kind of restaurants would I be looking at? I’m stuck between Tokyo and Osaka. Tokyo has the higher end restaurants, but Osaka is a lot more chill from what I’m reading, I’ve never been big into big city life. Nikko is also catching my eye, lots of hiking to do around there. Which would you prefer to live in?
Finally, I actually expected to be able to find this answer pretty easily online, but I can’t. I’m married, both of us are American, will that make the transition harder and in what ways? Ultimately, my wife and I want to go to Japan to become bhuddist monks, but I’m just gonna focus on GETTING to Japan and gaining citizenship for now, then I can start working toward that. As much as I would like to simply drop everything and go to Japan, life is not that simple.
by Serious-Speaker-949