[Nyororin]

I think that the two of you need to sit down and put all the issues on the table. Have a big discussion about it and figure out what you two want from this relationship. You say you are staying together until whenever, but have you put all the concerns you have up on the table for him to see? Have you tried to get him to do the same?

I have been through the finishing-university-job-hunt thing with my boyfriend (now husband), and I get the feeling that you are taking it a bit lighter than it really is. If he finds a job, chances are it will be his job for a LONG time. Lifetime employment dipped for a bit there, but with the current economic situation people are tending to hold on to any job they can get.
Another very important thing to consider - skills and the market for jobs in a certain area. It isn`t a part time position. This is a career he is hunting for, not something he can quit if it doesn`t work for him. Taking the first thing that comes along is NOT a good idea. The company that takes him on as a new graduate will do the majority of his work-skill training, which means it will be VERY hard for him to enter another company unless it is pretty much the same thing as the first. Applying for anything you think you can get pretty much guarantees that it is all you will be able to get from there on out.

You also seem to be forgetting the importance of location.
You are in a foreign country. Anywhere is going to be similar for you. But this is his home country. He has friends, family, sentimental attachments, a childhood to look back on, etc in a specific area. Moving long distance inside Japan is going to carry a different meaning to him than it will for you. He may have very strong feelings about moving away and leaving his mother all alone to deal with his father.

You need to keep these things in mind when looking at his choices. What may look to you like "not trying" is likely a whole lot more that he isn`t coming out and saying... And he may actually believe that you understand where he is coming from so be somewhat hurt that you are pushing in the direction you are.

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When it comes to religion, I can make no comments. But if this is a very important thing to you, it is likely to remain an important issue as it has very little chance of going away.
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I started going out with my husband when I was 19 and he was 20. We stayed together through the job hunt, and I actually vetoed some places because he was more willing to take anything but I didn`t want to see him stuck in some unhappy position just to support us. After he got his 内定, we got married.

Being happy in Japan seems to be a balance of language skill and how much you depend on friends with similar backgrounds. I was already fluent when I met my husband and had moved around quite a bit in the time before I came to Japan (and had been in Japan for a while before we met) so didn`t really feel a need for a strong web of close friends. I have never had any trouble with life here, and we plan to live here for life. Plus - my husband speaks virtually no English.