Hi
I decided I want to live abroad and the country that seems attractive is Japan.
Background
40 years old, male. Born and live in England – my ethnic background is South Asian.
I have a job that I like in the UK that I want to do for life so unless something crazy happens, there is very little prospect of me wanting to move to Japan forever.
My work will allow me to take 3 – 12 months off unpaid and then go back to my job. So I have a safety net.
I became a bit obsessed with Japan in 2019 and I ended up going for 2 weeks and did a lot of the touristy stuff. To be honest I thought I got it out of my system and never really thought much about Japan afterwards – the only real ‘interaction’ with Japanese since is through watching the odd Japanese movies.
I’ve been travelling to a few other countries recently and have got the travel bug.
Recently I have become interested in Japan again. Initially I thought about just going back for maybe a week to check it out (which I will do later this year anyway). But I’ve been reading all these posts about people moving there and I feel like I want to try an extended stay in another country to see what it feels like to live abroad (or as close as I can). I’ve never lived abroad so I don’t want to regret not doing it.
I’ve read about some of the negative stuff such as racism and isolation. I don’t think I experienced racism last time I was in Japan but I just accepted I couldn’t talk to most people. Isolation is a concern but there is a big international community I suppose.
What I have realised is that I won’t really be ‘living’ in Japan in the sense that I have the return deadline and safety net of going home but I want the experience of living abroad as close as I can.
When I go on holiday I tend to go quite fast paced and get exhausted – I tend to go in 2-3 week bursts and after my last trip I decided to limit it to no more than 2.5 weeks. I am not a ‘slow burner’ so I do wonder if I would get bored after a while. That is a possibility and if it happens then no big deal, I can come home or travel elsewhere.
I am going to look at learning some basic Japanese for my holiday.
In terms of options, I think I have the following:
1 – get a job in Japan. I think my only real option here is teach English as I can’t speak Japanese (yet). I’ve heard mixed feedback about this with the negatives being the job can be boring, low paid, and long hours. I could probably put up with this for the short term but would anyone give me a job for only 3s?
I don’t mind doing something basic like working in a shop etc but looks like these types of jobs may not be open to me due to language barriers.
Also if I go for only 3 months it will be on a tourist visa and I can’t work.
I am inclined to try 3 months first though so the above may not be an option.
2 – go to language school – so I have something to do, but now I am paying to be in Japan.
Unsure how much use Japanese language would be in the UK. Rarely see a Japanese person where I live so I don’t think there is much demand for it.
Do I actually WANT to learn Japanese ? Not sure. But it is something to do. Getting up at 7am to go to school could be a ball ache (harder than what I have to do now for work!)
One benefit seems to be they can provide accommodation so its like an all in one solution. Although some of the ‘apartments’ provided by schools seem to be very small…may be better off renting my own.
The costs I have seen for 3 months school range between £1100 and £1700 – whilst this isn’t cheap its not bad for 3 months school either (especially the £1100 range).
3 – just do nothing and fund the stay from savings. This is basically a holiday. I think I might run the risk of getting bored in one place for 3 months and I don’t really want to travel the whole of Japan. If I wanted a holiday I’d rather explore a new country.
Also I tend to burn money on holiday so I am not sure a 3 month one is feasible.
4 – digital nomad style thing – this is still sort of like a holiday but maybe a better use of my time (work wise). I am dabbling in an online side gig but it may not meet the criteria for the VISA when I need it.
Is there any option I have missed?
I am veering towards the language school. I feel like it will give me some grounding and a link to other people. If I don’t like it I can always cut my losses and come home or just go travelling elsewhere.
I assume another benefit of only going 3 months rather than 6 – is that it might make it easier to get a fully furnished place to live in?
I know a lot of people are desperate to move to Japan. I am probably not as eager. I think I am in love with an idea of what it might be like.
I am fairly open minded to the idea that I may hate it and come home – I don't see that as a failure.
by The-Ghost-84