I worked in the US for 113k TC, as a fresh out of college with some good internships and research experience under the belt. I recently dropped my job, moved to Tokyo only to get low ball offers, the pay is absolutely shit here (14M yen) and I was afraid I would seriously regret it. Turns out I've never been happier in my life. TOKYO: - Food is seriously amazing and insanely cheap, housing is affordable and I can already make plans to buy something with my girlfriend. - Talking about girlfriend, she is the most lovable woman in the world, she makes dinner every single day because she likes it, supports me in my nerdy hobbies, wants to have sex often, helps me with house chores, also wants to work to cover some expenses, literally can't ask for anything else. - People are serious about sports and hobbies, I can enjoy my super niche nerdy hobbies in Ikebukuro and these jiraifuku girls will still approach me, i'll still befriend the yankees and cool skateboard kids, I'll still have fun at the karaoke with people, I'll be accepted because some places are simply dedicated to your interests without any shame. - I can dress however the hell I want in Shibuya or Shinjuku and no one will stare at me twice. - I can play soccer with people daily and have fun evening games in any damn neighborhood I want because people actually enjoy sports everywhere and don't simply sign up to the gym so they can get laid CALI: - I could work from home for a stupidly high salary doing bs all day, but I was miserable - couldn't feel safe walking alone past 9, couldn't even imagine buying a house - food was trash, unhealthy and crazy expensive - the only people you meet are rich privileged kids going into CS for the "lifestyle" with zero interests or hobbies outside leetcode and job hopping - the only sports people practice is lifting weights so they can scape 1 or 2 matches on tinder, and going on fucking hikes for the weekly instagram post lmfao - it's all about appearances - girls have insane, and I seriously mean INSANE standards with nothing to provide in return, dated twice there, absolutely terrible experiences, they want the world and are simply never satisfied, but won't do 20% of what you do for them - cities are depressing, unsafe, boring and unwalkable.
Yes Tokyo is better than the US, probably some cities in Europe too. Most stay in the US because their family is here
One of the most autistic posts in recent blind history
Housing in Tokyo is affordable? Are you sure about this? Isn't it one of the 5 most expensive cities in the world? Or my memory is failing me.
I actually live in Saitama, the transportation network is very well planned so you can always find something very affordable that is no more than 30minutes away from your job inside Tokyo.
It's "affordable" because it's just straight up less. We could build 2/1 condos the size of a standard one bedroom pretty cheap but nobody would bite.
Sounds like a white guy with an Asian fetish
Most dorks like him and myself can’t date at all in America, I imagine it’s considerably easier in Asian countries.
5 inch goes a longer way out there
Pretty on point about students going into CS for the "lifestyle", cracks me up every time I hear about it
Cringe weeb
How do you find a job in Tokyo?
Return offer after an internship.
Aren't half the houses haunted in Japan, that's probably why it's affordable /s
Some houses are actually super cheap simply because someone died in there. Depends on what you believe, they can be superstitious at times which drives the price down.
I lived there a couple years for grad school and considered staying permanently. While job hunting, I was able to talk to a pretty high level foreign professional at toyota and he gave me some pretty sage advice. He was at basically the highest position a foreigner can ever hope to climb in Japan, while not an internal transfer at a multinational, and he laid it out as follows: Japanese health care, food, and day to day living is pretty sweet, housing outside (and even inside) major cities is increadibly affordable. The country is safe and clean with a very high standard of living. The culture and history is rich and you will never run out of things to see. Decades of economic stagnation have stabilized cost of living. But if you ever start to make any kind of real money, Japan straight up sucks for any kind of investing and wealth building. The NISA and Nikkei225 returns are abysmal compared to IRAs and the sp500. Capital gains and income taxes are very high, there is inheritance taxes you will be subject to if you are a tax resident when you inherit, and this counts for global inherited assets. Investing in the states in tax advantaged accounts will still get you taxed in Japan as the tax is on global income and IRAs are not recognized as tax protected in Japan. Expat taxes are a headache. Real estate is not an investment with all the good and bad things that entails. The japanese bureaucracy is myopic and backwards and you will cry when you try to do anything complicated like get married, change address, change company, have a baby, or god forbid you live outside the established norms of society as an entrepreneur. Japanese society always expects you to have a handler, and follow the predefined structure for things, whether its your parents, your uni, or your company and they get weirded out when you dont. Seriously, most major applications require a gaurantor even when you've been there for years. It felt infantilizing at times. For most things they are very inflexible, and really struggle to think critically especially when it comes to (stupid) rules just because it has always been done that way. Institutional racism is built into processes, not because they are trying to exclude you, but because the processes were built by dinosaurs that simply didnt understand that foreigners or people not following the japanese standard life plan actually exist. You get into alot of circular bureaucratic situations like this and it can be immensely frustrating. Get used to signing and stamping everything on paper and using fax machines and snail mail. They have never heard of docusign. Most online retailers only take japanese credit cards which are harder to get. Website and app design is from 1993 and are merely interfaces for paper processes. If your name is long at all, on many web forms and applications your name will just not fit, and this causes untold headaches applying for things. Bank ATMs close on nights and holidays for reasons. Xenophobia is real and 70% of landlords will not rent to you. Of the remaining 30%, half will try to take advantage of you with absurd fees on move in and move out. Expect to spend several months rent when you move into a place. There is no anti-discrimination laws for renting and employment. Buying property is better because who in their right mind would turn down a bag of money, but good luck getting a mortgage. You might have a better experience if your partner is japanese, but depending on them for everything can cause relationship strain. His advice, climb the ladder in the states or europe. Come as the privileged foreign expert and companies will kiss your ass. Dont come at the beginning of your career or you will have to work 3x as hard and as long for the same return on your career as the average tanaka-san. If you must come earlier, go with a multinational or american company as an internal transfer. Japan is by no means a bad place to live. And money isnt everything. These problems are real but you dont face them every single day. If you put in the effort to learn the language you can in fact live a very good life there, but you have to be prepared. IMO go to japan when you can either be transferred by a american or european multinational, have a self sufficient remote business, or can work 100% remotely from a foreign company with the PR or spouse visa. Or have enough money to retire after doing all your investing abroad. Then retire there early, like 15-25 years early. Work 2-5 years at an easy job to get permanent residency, then go to the deep inaka where it costs next to nothing to live and fuck off in a big traditional japanese house for the rest of your life. To OP, you are coming in with a privileged opportunity. 14m yen is amazing for japan and CEOs in some companies make less. If you are happy with your life there, to each there own.
The xenophobia part is real. I call them the “Aryan” of Asians. While many welcome tourists and visitors as soon as you want to settle down their attitude will change. A fanous YouTuber literally asked random folks in Japan in Japanese of course, how to solve the dying population problem. Many are reluctant to welcome foreigners. So let them die off if that’s what they want.
This is unfortunately true. But it is not insurmountable. If you are willing to jump through all the hoops you can make a life there. But the juice may not be worth the squeeze. Still the fact that Japan is a deflationary economy means some serious geographical triage opportunities for those willing to bide their time, do their research, and think outside the box.
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Nice, get me a partner there