I lived in Japan from 1999-2004 when I was stationed in Sasebo, while I was in the Navy, which is when I met my girlfriend who eventually became my wife after she came to the US on a student visa several years after I had gotten out of the Navy and moved back. We've been married and living in the US for 19 years. Now, for the obvious reasons of recent years, we want to move back to Japan. My concerns are mostly with the language and Japanese work culture.
I do speak some Japanese, but it's very colloquial Hakata-ben, and I can only read hiragana, katakana and about 100 kanji characters, mostly denoting cities and trains-stop I frequent while in Japan.
If we move to Japan, my wife could keep her current job as long as she lives near Haneda airport. In my Career, I am somewhat of an expert on a very specialized kind of medical equipment, which is used all over the world, including Japan. My current employer is a regional (in California) healthcare provider, so I would have to find a new job in Japan. Even If I can find a job in my current field, I can't see myself working 12 hours/day, and then going out for obligatory drinks with the boss every night. (I’m too old for that shit!)
I have a decent amount of Savings, and I have a paid off house in California that I could either sell, or rent out for some income (for as long as American Dollars are still worth something) I don't know if I might be better off just trying to start my own business and/or doing freelance work giving private English lessons.
I wonder what kind of luck other people have had transferring skills (other than teaching English) from a career in the US to Japan.
Also, We have two Dogs. I know there is a quarantine period before we can bring them over. How difficult is that process?
by petalmasher