That’s it, the title. I’m an American who goes yearly to Japan on a tourist visa, and I absolutely adore the country. I feel very at home with Japanese customs and lifestyle, and always wish I was still there when I return home. But it seems so insurmountable to immigrate to.
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I immigrated to Korea. It’s not quite as hard as Japan (which I’ve been to many times, since it’s like 3 hours away) but I have some thoughts.
You can almost always get what you want. You can even become a Japanese citizen. You just have to work really, really hard for it. But to a certain degree, that protects the culture that you like.
As a Canadian (who loves how easy it is for people to immigrate to Canada), I’m well aware that we don’t have the culture of the aboriginal people, or the colonists who came after. That is in large part because of our immigration policies.
Lastly, Japanese and Koreans are kind of racist. I’m actually surprised how well some visible minorities get along in Japan, but I wouldn’t be surprised if their day was filled with microaggressions.
I’m not terribly sensitive to microagression, though I did once get called “white devil” by someone who didn’t know I understand a bit of Japanese.
What’s the biggest hurdle with moving there?
Not OP, but I live in Asia and am sporadically changing countries. Japan either requires you to have a job offer prior to moving, or show sufficient funds to live there indefinitely (around 2k USD/month; though that won’t get you far in Tokyo for example). Remote work does not qualify, it’s either a domestic job or income from pension or investments.
After 10 years of living there legally you qualify for a residence permit.
The alternative would be through marriage.
You technically qualify for citizenship after six years, but you’ll never pass the test.
As far as I’m aware there is no test, they only check your employment history, tax status and criminal record?
They also go to your house to judge whether or not you have sufficiently adapted to the Japanese lifestyle.
There are also places that won’t rent to foreigners
You need a degree to get a work visa. You need a job offer willing to sponsor your visa, or proof of independent income. You need to speak and read/write very good Japanese for almost anything other than teaching English.
hard to land a job unless you have a job and chose to work in the japanese branch there or have considerably helped japan financially (aka rich). you also must renounce your citizenship with your previous country (which is a huge dealbreaker in cases)
