Is it hard being 30 and moving to Japan? Q+A v2

[@urouroniwa]

I moved to Japan when I was just about to turn 40, though I didn't have a family at the time. I've lived in a few different places in the world (though all English speaking). I found Japan to be easier for me than other places, which was a big surprise. I wasn't expecting to stay for a long time, but I've been here a total of 8 years (10 years calendar time, but I spent 2 years in the UK in the middle). With respect to making friends, I'm like you in that I don't really need or want a lot of friends. There are a couple of other things that people should keep in mind, though. Making friends when you are older is much harder than when you are younger. I won't try to explain why (you can search the internet and get good explanations). It is common for people who have moved to a new place for the first time to think that the place they've moved to is "unfriendly", but it's really that it's just difficult. When you throw the language and cultural barriers into the mix, it can be exceptionally difficult. I will say that there seem to be some cultures that have more difficulty in Japan than others. I'm also Canadian and I feel like I fit in here really well. I know very few Americans or British people who as much at ease. Like in a lot of countries, there are strong expat communities in Japan. My experience is that people who identify with the expat communities have a lot more difficulty integrating with Japanese society than those who don't. I got married in Japan and I was really surprised at the difference in experience. I am very close with my wife's extended family. It gives me (and other people) a sense of context. I am not a foreigner here -- I'm a member of that family. I don't have children, but I suspect the same thing is true if you integrate well with the other parents at the school (for example getting involved with the PTA, etc). My biggest piece of advice to people who want to integrate well in Japan is to spend as much time living in the Japanese language as possible -- watch Japanese TV, read Japanese books, speak Japanese, spend time with Japanese speaking people. This give you a much better platform for understanding and accepting the culture. The vast majority of the people I know who have difficulty in Japan also do not speak Japanese well. The other main thing is to avoid judging the culture and especially to avoid comparing it to your home culture. Japan is Japan and you aren't going to change it. I think one of the reasons that Canadians have an easier time than some other cultures is that we don't have a very strong cultural identity. It's easier to accept the Japanese way of doing things because you have less of a moral dilemma to overcome. Hope that helps some people! I also love living in Japan and it's my home. I never want to live anywhere else (I had terrible problems with homesickness when I lived in the UK -- something I've never before experienced).

[@TheChestnutBowl]

Interesting! If you don't mind my asking, what brought you to Japan at 40? What sorts of jobs were you working?

[@urouroniwa]

I actually came to Japan on the JET Programme (teaching English at a high school). 40 is the cutoff age (or was at the time). I taught for 5 years and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have no credentials, so teaching is kind of a dead end career -- you are stuck being an assistant. After that I returned to my original career of being a computer programmer. I work remotely on contract and live in the same rural city where I taught. As to what brought me here... I think it's another reason for the success I've had settling in here. To be completely honest, I came here because I was studying Japanese. It's a stupidly long story, but the gist of it is that I was living in Ottawa, Canada and I had a mental block for learning French. No matter what I did, I just couldn't seem to learn to speak French. Because I'm a computer programmer, I solve hard problems all day and sometimes when you are stuck it helps to solve a similar problem and see what the issue is. I fairly randomly chose to learn Japanese -- I had no interest in Japanese culture at all. I just thought to learn Japanese to unstick myself from learning French. But... I didn't have time to learn Japanese (or so I thought) because I worked stupid hours at my job (I'm a computer programmer... did I mention that?) Then I thought "What if I had a job where learning Japanese was part of my job?" Happened to meet a JET programme alumni at a conference and decided to go. I naively thought that 1 year in Japan would be enough to make me "fluent". (This post is already too long -- I could write a book about learning languages... probably I should). Anyway, I moved to Japan with absolutely no expectations at all. Within 3 months I sold my house in Canada (remotely -- extremely no fun) and decided to stay in Japan forever. I felt like I was home -- like I've never felt before. I've lived in a lot of places before in my life, so I've always felt a bit disconnected. Suddenly I got connected when I was here. But to be honest, I think it was just time for me to settle down. Having absolutely no expectations meant that I was accepting of strange things and pleasantly surprised about good things. Most people I know who really get disappointed about Japan were originally *really* into Japanese things before they came -- and the reality was a let down. Hope that was interesting!

[@TheChestnutBowl]

urouro niwa Thanks for telling me your story! I'm glad things worked out for you.

[@chiakikasai5276]

I interestingly read your story as a Japanese person. Thank you. Hope you had written a book or blog.

[@steve00alt70]

iv wanted to think of living in Japan but the thought of leaving my family and friends and mybe seeing them once a year prevents me from making the decision. I could never do that, but others can takes a lot to do that.

[@kyraarts]

Although this is unrelated to the video, I'd love to see a video on how the Japanese treat those with mental disabilities. I know you did a short mini documentary on living with _physical_ disabilities in Japan, so I'd love to know more about the mental aspect as well. Like how do they treat those with autism? What kind of support is there for someone who's in a permanent vegetative state? How do they treat depression? Etc

[@LifeWhereImFromX]

I might just have to do this one day. People have asked about it a bit. I'd say it's more of a 2019 project, as I already have a few big ones planned for 2018.

[@kyraarts]

Life Where I'm From X Okay, thank you! ^^

[@soulsearcher9530]

I’m so glad someone asked about being in your 30s, having a family and moving to Japan. That is EXACTLY my situation. I’m 33 now, we have a 10 year old son, and we plan to move to Japan next spring. We’ve lived there before, and have reached a part of our lives which we crave a change, and we immediately thought to return to Japan. We are very excited! Thank you for your input Greg!

[@TechCarnivore1]

Woah... think about your kid, that would be a hard move.

This comment is now 2+ years old. How's live going?

[@iduncan91]

The title is misleading. I expected more discussion about being 30 and moving to Japan.

[@awdrifter3394]

@Chance Zaid it didn't work. Got a visit by the FBI.

[@elizabethduplat5835]

Hi Greg, I just discovered your videos a few weeks ago and I'm addicted! I love learning about every day life in Japan. You and your family are so lucky to have the cross-culture experience. I'm American, married to a French, and living in France (with two kids). I never see my life reflected anywhere because what sells in the US is always wealthy people living in Paris or something. Definitely not my normal life. Anywho. Just wanted to thank you and say keep up the good work! Oh, and have you heard of Adam Beck? He's living in Japan and has a blog and book about how to raise bilingual children. He's been a big help for me.

[@LifeWhereImFromX]

Thanks! No, I've never heard of Adam Beck.

[@antoinem.al-aziz3521]

I'm 50 and just recently moved to a suburb of Osaka. I find it cheaper and the quality of life is better. My children love their schools, teachers and friends and our neighbors are friendly and respectful of our privacy. We walk everywhere, using a car only when we have to go to a big box store more centrally located but otherwise we buy local or jump on a train to get to where we have to go.

[@peshmerge44]

You are one of those youtubers who deserves as much patreons as possible

[@syphuse]

As a american over 30 moving to Japan with his family appreciated your insite on the experience. Would love to see a more in-depth video about this topic. Love the channel and keep it up!

[@Magnivincentw]

Thank you so much for answering my question! :)

[@XSpImmaLion]

Hey Greg, thanks for the Q&A! So... I returned from my trip to Japan last weekend, here's some stuff related or semi-related I'll input on the topics. If you are looking for yet another place to buy clothing and some other stuff like pillows, bedding, bags, etc... Shimomura is the place. We've also been to Ito Yokaido, Aeon Mall and Shisui Premium Outlet (for shopping I mean), which are also great, but Shimomura was probably the best one in terms of discounts. Dude, I live in Brazil which is supposedly an exporter of clothing goods and whatnot, and I cannot find prices to match those even here, even considering that our currency is way less stable and valuable. We went to the one in Chiba, it was a tip from a relative who lives there... can't remember the exact name of the neighborhood, but it's one of the stops of the train between Narita and Tokyo. Big medicine university there, as well as an Ito Yokaido nearby. To give an idea, the first thing I bought there was a pack with 5 plain white t-shirts for 700 yen (around 7 bucks). Kinda crazy. About smoking... I'm a smoker myself (sorry), but let me tell people this: I dunno if it was because of the place we were staying, or because of it just being how fast things are changing, but at least all the places we visited - smoking was stricter than pretty much anywhere we've ever been. That includes the US, several European countries, and of course here in Brazil. Smoking on the streets was not allowed apart from some enclosed corners and booths, and all the restaurants and cafes we visited it was either completely forbidden (most of them were), or they had a designated smoking area - but in an enclosed and separate room. We didn't go into any restaurant, bar, or whatever that had a smoking area that had contact with non-smoking areas. It was either very isolated, or they didn't have it. And let me tell you, we visited quite a few places, from fancy restaurants to small corner ramen shops. On the hotels we've stayed it was either inside a smoking room which was always in a floor that only had smoking rooms, or the hotel had a dedicated room for smokers in the lobby that again, was completely enclosed (sometimes by double doors), and had specific ventilation systems with filters and all. Though we only stayed at 3 different places really, but it seemed to be something all hotels do. In all the malls we visited it was also like that. The Ito Yokaido we went had only one smoking room on the basement. In local trains it's already forbiden throughout, in express trains too (you can't smoke anywhere), and on the shinkansen you had to go to... again, smoking booths. There were no seats for smokers, no car for smokers, it was a booth in between cars that was isolated and enclosed - like a restroom. We were there for 20 days, me and other 7 family members, and really - there wasn't a single day family members (who are not smokers) complained about smokers or had to endure second hand smoking. And me, as a smoker myself, had trouble finding places to smoke in multiple occasions... which I really don't mind, because it's a bad habit. But for instance, in Akihabara I could only find a couple of places to smoke - a bigger booth hidden in a corner outside one of the multiple station exits, it was the one harderst to get to - it wasn't the main exit, it was an exit going to the bus terminal station if I'm not mistaken. And another at the basement of a mall that I stumbled upon once and never found it anymore. :P Most shops, combinis and other places you just didn't have a place to smoke. Some tourist maps include information on where you can smoke, but most don't. Lots of people don't know where the booths are. The onsen we visited (Kusatsu) also had an isolated booth for smokers, in Kyoto it was also forbidden to smoke in public spaces (but there, most of the booths were open instead of enclosed), in the airport it was also forbidden... In fact, I think Kyoto was a bit more lax on it... not in the sense people could smoke on the streets, but most places for smokers were open - just isolated in some corner. Every now and then I caught glimpse of someone smoking while trying to hide or run fast, but it was really rare... for a good reason. There were huge signs everywere and anywhere, specially in tourist spots, clearly stating that smoking in public was strictly forbidden, some of them stating the fines you'd get for it. Here in my city there are multiple smokers at every block, it doesn't even compare. Again, this is potentially because the places we've been and visited have already changed, or worked differently from where Greg lives and whatnot... but things really didn't look that bad for non-smokers. I'd question Greg if perhaps he's not basing his complaint on past bad experiences more than what is really happening there nowadays, but my stay was too limited and too little time to tell. I heard that things have changed recently and very fast in preparation for the Olympics. But it was my perception, as a smoker. :)

[@cheronroggen9638]

Cool video. I am over 30 and considering staying for a bit in Japan. So these answers are definately useful!☺

[@scrambledegg81]

As a 36 year old American who's been riding the fence on moving to Japan, your commentary actually helped quite a lot. It's frustrating trying to find something that doesn't require college-level education (health issues prevented me from completing my coursework), but if a dad of 2 can make it happen, I have hope. :)

[@urouroniwa]

Without a degree, it's hard to get a visa. There are a couple of ways that I can think of off the top of my head (I am not an immigration lawyer and this is not legal advice!!!). The easiest (assuming you have money) is to sponsor yourself with a business visa. You need to start a company in Japan that has about $50K capital (the money doesn't have to come out of your own pocket: you can get investors). It's a big topic, so I can't give you much advice in a comment... The other easy(ish) way is to get a cultural visa. To do that, you need to be a recognised expert in some cultural field (like music, religion, etc, etc) and have a job offer. So if you are pro baseball player, it's not a problem ;-) For the average person, it's probably best to try to finish your degree part time. Working and going to school is hard, but I know several people who have done it. I actually worked mostly full time while going to school full time when I was young -- I don't recommend that! ;-) Once you have a degree, then because you are a native English speaker you can be an assistant language teacher in a school, or work for a private language company. Having worked as an assistant language teacher before, I would recommend trying to get an education degree (since you have to go back to school anyway). This will allow you to work as a regular teacher in a private school -- the pay, benefits, advancement opportunities and security are *definitely* worth it. Assistant language teacher/english tutor is a literal dead end job. If you can get an engineering degree (or the equivalent), you can also work as an IT worker if you get a job offer. There are startups in Tokyo and Osaka that don't need Japanese language ability. There are also foreign companies who work in English. One easy way to get a visa is to work for an American company that has an office in Japan and get transferred. You need a degree to get the visa, though I think. Without a degree, the only other easy way to come here that I know about is to get married to a Japanese national. I don't recommend aiming for that visa if you are not already in a serious relationship for obvious reasons. One last warning: DO NOT accept a job as an English teacher in Japan from companies who claim that you don't need a degree. Those are scams. You need a visa and to get the visa you need a degree. Full stop. By passing that requirement means almost certain horrible results to your life. The only reason to hire you is so that they can treat you like crap and throw you away when the immigration police figure out what's going on.

[@HealthyFather]

Hey, pardon me for my ignorance but I didn't know about this channel lol. I'm subscribe to your other one and wasnt aware that you have a 2nd. I suggest you do another info blast to let people know. Now I have more video to watch... yay ^_^. Thanks!

[@sheikahchic]

Pretty insightful! Great questions were asked, and helpful answers! ^.^

[@abhijithis9424]

I love your content , both channels. If you haven't , please do a video on Natural Calamities in Japan and how japan bounce back. Also their mentality towards these things, like the workaholic nature, depression , increasing suicide rates but yet how people are very efficient and lovely . I am just putting it out there , I m sure you can get better ideas than me about said topic. Keep up the good work

[@MastermindStrategies]

Not sure how I feel about the narrow depth of field in this one but love your videos! Keep up the awesome work!

[@LifeWhereImFromX]

It was a new lens and I wasn't doing the focusing. I think it was slightly out a bit. When I looked at my hands they seemed to be perfectly in focus, so it was probably set 15cm in front of me.

[@dazdragon445]

the "smoking thing" in Japan is MUCH better than it used to be. I've been going to Japan for about 15 years now and used to get headaches from all the smoke going to eat some place. So much better now days. They still have a ways to go, but you're lucky you didn't show 10-15 years ago.

[@eatadakimasu945]

Greg looks like he's about to drop the hottest disstrack of 2018 in the thumbnail

[@drew-andresvogt652]

Thank you for your vids.... Love the content, and you're pretty wonderful too.

[@mikeshomegardening8150]

We have Uniqlo here in New Jersey malls. Also got to shop there while visiting Japan. They're pretty good.

[@gentle3880]

Probably late on this one, but could you do a short video on japanese slang? e.g the way younger people speak on LINE, general abbrevations, etc.. Thanks for the content!

[@wayne8120]

The chimes at 5pm sound in many places in Japan. I don't know why, it's not as though it's home time for workers.

[@kanami2530]

Hello. I'm planning a trip to Japan and I have a few questions about clothing. I've heard that people should avoid jeans. Is that true? And if yes, why? Also, as a young male, what kind of shoes would you recommend for the trip? I don't seem to have any easy to slip on/off shoes, and I'd rather not spend hours tying shoelaces. Thank you very much to anyone that answers. And if you see this Greg, perhaps you or your kids can make a video on this subject, I'm sure there are more people that don't know what what clothes to pack for Japan!

[@thedattilografia]

I love your shirt. cute :)​

[@jTempVids]

What kind of work do you do online? I'd love to work from home. I can see how advantageous it would be if you relocate or visit a different country.

[@LifeWhereImFromX]

My work was quite niche. I used to run a blog about small business bookkeeping, so I was able to get freelance work off of that. Some of it was reviews, some research work, and some technical documentation work. I got work based off of my online blog that I had been running for 2 or 3 years, so it wasn't something I all of a sudden walked into.

[@tokyoyojohanna2989]

Always nice to get honest answers to questions about life in Japan. Do you think you would have wanted to move to Japan if you didn’t have a Japanese wife/family there? I just moved back to Sweden after 2 years in Tochigi prefecture, and although I love Japan life there can be pretty hard.

[@LifeWhereImFromX]

No, I would never have moved to Japan on my own. In fact, before I met my wife, I was more interested in going to the United Kingdom, as I have family over there.

[@ainikolasanbuenaventura5062]

TOKYOYO Japan-Johanna Could you give examples how it become difficult for you? My fiancé and I are thinking of moving in Japan few years from now.

[@Philson]

What kind of work did you do? Also approaching 30 and considering moving there...

[@parttimeninja28]

((you're watching it))

[@azulnightshade3532]

Although I'm not that person's nd I'm not in patreon, I'm kinda happy for that anime question and your answer :'')

[@Justaddsaltt]

Dear Greg I have 2 questions I's it hard for America people to move to Japan and the other one can I buy a houe before arriving

[@keveli3338]

USA should have holiday work visa with Japan, and Japan should change 4 year degree requirement for work visa, but I guess they have a reason to choose it that way, because of competition. I'm 25 and still in community college, since I'm stuck with math and science :( I'm good at English though :D

[@anyanyausagi]

Where did you get that shirt? It's so cute:D

[@danielgjorgjievski4555]

Hi Greg, I have to tell you that you videos are very informative and you can learn a lot from them, in this video for me especially very interesting the question above 30 and moving to Japan cause I am planing to do that. The thing is that I am married, employed with daughter 1 year old and as you said I have doubts if I will be able to handle there and find a job (although I had the possibility to live in Japan for 2 months as a trainee) my wife for example speaks 5 languages so for here it may be easier to find a job but me...well who knows. So not to make it to long, I would be very thankful if you could advice or give more tips about the mission " Moving to Japan". Thank you.

[@arizona_iced_out_boy]

As a smoker, I totally agree, nothing is worse than trying to eat food when someone is smoking a cigarette near by. It's really gross. I still love that I can smoke in bars though. Don't change that :( Also I think it's an interesting comment, but most of my Japanese friends are people who I've met in America or who have traveled/interested in traveling outside of Japan. They tend to be much more open minded and out going of people. Less aimai ambiguity you have to go through. They're more open to giving their opinions and straight up saying "no".

[@LifeInJP]

I might want to move there at 26. I really want to go there so badly again, I cant understand how some people move there at 19 since you need to have a certain amount of money. I just want to get married in Japan and I hope its not too late for me

[@moeystar2325]

I like to think that he's secretly obsessed with this channel and this is Shin's soccer game and his wife is crying in the background begging him to pay more attention to his children. Just a thought.

[@AlanJOCasado]

Very informative videos as always! It would be really interesting to watch a video about piracy (if there's any) and how much impacts on society.

[@logan8308]

What work do you do online?

[@StitchyArpeggio]

I'm curious, does Aiko have a cell phone and is it common for children in Japan to have one? My brother bought my nephew a cellphone and he's 11 which I think is too young. I'm really interested about Japan and social media.

[@LifeWhereImFromX]

Aiko officially got one very recently. Most of her friends already had one. So, I think it's quite common. Line is the popular messaging app.

[@TheKiwiJobes]

I think it's probably more common in Japan due to kids having more freedom from a younger age? like going to school on their own at age 7 etc it seems safer to have that form of communication

[@VoidVerification]

I love UNIQLO. I am basic like that. 👍🏻

[@queen_xxqueen6042]

Life Where I'm From X Do you know If Foreigners can stay at a Japanese nursing home??? For example if I were to move my parents to Japan is it possible for them to get care/ Stay at a nursing home ??

[@awdrifter3394]

10k more subs until the silver play button.

[@rodyinjapan]

Great QnA 👍

[@mmughal]

All my trips suitcase full of uniqlo

[@preetidas4911]

Where is your kids please make them part of your all videos they both are so cute

[@stphzIRL]

Since you are working primarily through online means, i wonder how you report for tax to the local government in japan?

[@LifeWhereImFromX]

Yeah, I report my income in Japan.

[@giancolbyticzon4473]

Cool......

[@takigan]

By $60 I'm assuming that's CAD, not USD?

[@LifeWhereImFromX]

Actually, that $60 figure would be USD. We just switched up, or will be switching, our providers, so that cost may go down a little bit, like to $50. It's unlimited fiber internet. Latest speed test shows Ping 11ms, download 99Mbps and upload 150Mbps. So, it could be faster for being fiber, but I generally don't have any speed issues.

[@harshgupta1999]

Life Where I'm From X hey that’s pretty good

[@arceus54321]

hey greg, which city in japan do you live?

[@tokk864]

Saad Ehsan Tokyo

[@macboerTV]

You know life is good if second hand smoke is the top complaint.

[@nandkishorenangre8244]

In India we pay 2$ for 1 month plan===> 1.5 GB/day + After 1.5 gb 128 kbps + Live TV for free + Unlimited music download + .......

[@ger13nunyah56]

Nice

[@zam023]

What?! No one asked about your cats?

[@cherylmedeiros6287]

What happened to the kids? I notice most of your videos are of you now. It still stays within the Life Where I'm From but not su much the kids anymore.

[@cyberexplorer4118]

Uniqlo is expensive here :-(

[@SayeeswarAnirutho]

How is university life in Japan? I have been literally asking you this in both Facebook and KZbin comments?

[@LifeWhereImFromX]

Okay. I most likely didn't answer because A) I get a LOT of comments and B) I've never been, so I don't personally know. I may interview some people in the future, but if you'd really like to know search KZbin as I think some people have made videos about it.

[@SayeeswarAnirutho]

Thanks sir As a student seeking higher education in Japan i was just curious about student life and academics over there. And i am you subscriber since the beginning i was just thinking you could know anything.

[@Rturbo_]

i need online work =/

[@para39gt]

smoking is not so much a problem compare to China

[@davidchuang4608]

CAN I ASK ONE QUESTION? WHAT DO YOU DO IN JAPAN FOR LIVING? I HOPE THIS IS NOT TOO PERSONAL.

[@CaptinHoot51]

👀

[@blaze617]

I just come here i look at the like it was 666 likes

[@laurenttolgaalemdar2273]

a third thing you would change in japan...hmm.. maybe a human rights institution ?

[@bettywhite2694]

This guy is so nervous, is this his first face reveal video? I’ve only been living in Japan for 2 years and already it seems like I know more about Japan than this guy. He may be like a lot of Gaijin here and just follow his wife/gf’s decisions on everything.