My strong desire to live in Japan

[bluecrystal550]

Hi everyone,

I am a newbie to the forum. My husband and I are very curious about Japan and we would like to move there and live for a few years. I would like to know if it's possible for us.

My husband's american and I am Chinese, (hope I don't get eggs and tamatoes thrown on me). He is working as a general manager in a small american company based in China. His company mainly produces ball bearing. He has a MBA or PHD degree from a famous university in america(I don't exactly know what's his degree and subject though :P). I worked as secretary in some top american and german companies. Currently I am a full-time housewife. And we have a 8 month old baby girl.

Here are my questions:
- Is it easy for him or both of us get a job in Japan?
- Is there schools & kindergartens especially for English speaking kids? What about the yearly cost?
- I always feel Japan's such an expensive place. Is it better to buy or rent a house? What about the price? I idealy want to live in a place like 2 bedrooms, 1 living room, 1 bathroom and 1 kitchen.

Oh I feel like I want to know so much more about your country. Any input will be really appreciated! I would also like to be a friend.

Best Regards,
BC

[Akakage]

Hello bluecrystal,

Welcome to the forum. I don't know that much but I will try to help. Someone
like Nyororin can provide much more detailed information for you.

Is it easy for him or both of us get a job in Japan?

With a degree you husband can teach English in Japan. I don't know if he wants to do that but it's an option. May I ask why you want to move to Japan? Do you have a degree yourself?

Is there schools & kindergartens especially for English speaking kids? What about the yearly cost?

Yes, they're international schools. I'm not sure how much they cost. I do recall
Nyororin said that daycare wasn't that expensive.

I always feel Japan's such an expensive place. Is it better to buy or rent a house? What about the price? I ideally want to live in a place like 2 bedrooms, 1 living room, 1 bathroom and 1 kitchen.

It depends upon where you want to live. Obviously Tokyo is going to be expensive but I'm sure you can find reasonably priced housing. As far as buying or renting...it really depends on how long you want to stay.

For renting you can take a look at this place:

Rental house in Japan - Leopalace 21

They're designed to make it easy for foreigners to rent apartments.

Do you or your husband speak Japanese at all? If not start learning.

Side note: Are you Chinese-American or Chinese? Just wondering because your English is great.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by bluecrystal550

My husband's american and I am Chinese, (hope I don't get eggs and tamatoes thrown on me).

Don`t worry - Unless you do something to deserve it, you`ll be fine. Contrary to what a lot of media sources say, Japan is actually quite friendly toward China and Chinese people. Unfortunately the situation with Korea is not so good...

Here are my questions:
- Is it easy for him or both of us get a job in Japan?

You say that he has a degree, so he shouldn`t have much trouble - of course, this depends upon the type of job he is seeking. Anything other than teaching English will require him to have very good Japanese skills, which I doubt he has.
You will be able to come to Japan as his dependent, but not be able to work unless you have a degree and are able to secure a working visa... Which as you are Chinese is very hard to do. Japan limits the number of workers from each country, and the applicants from China always far outnumber the slots. I know that they have raised the number of student slots, but I don`t believe they`ve done the same for working visas.

- Is there schools & kindergartens especially for English speaking kids? What about the yearly cost?

If you are in a big city, yes. If you are outside of the main cities, almost always no... Unless you are lucky enough to have a "bilingual" kindergarten or preschool nearby. They`re aimed at Japanese children learning English, but welcome everyone.
The costs can be VERY high though. US$600/month seems to be typical for international kindergartens following US curriculum. For elementary school, I believe it`s quite a bit higher.

- I always feel Japan's such an expensive place. Is it better to buy or rent a house? What about the price? I idealy want to live in a place like 2 bedrooms, 1 living room, 1 bathroom and 1 kitchen.

If you are only going to be in Japan for a short period of time, renting is definitely the way to go. Japan has a very poor resale market for housing. If you buy, expect to get nearly nothing if you try to sell later. If you`ll be here for more than 10 years, then buying a house becomes more realistic.
You can easily find a place to fit your requirements. The price is VERY different depending upon where, how old the building is, whether it is a house or apartment, etc. Anywhere from US$500/month (older building in the countryside) to US$5000/month (New house, in the heart of Tokyo).

[godwine]

Welcome fellow Chinese

I think the best that they will offer is a work Visa for your husband. If you don't already possess a degree of some sort, it will be diffcult for you to find a job, BUT, I take that you are fluent in the 3 languages (Chinese - Mandarin or Cantonese? Deutch, English), so if you know Japanese too, you probably can be considered a skillful multilingual person that they can use you for, so that will MAY be sufficient for you to get a job with your secretary skills.

I would recommend renting a place, only because what is offered to you is probably going to be temporary, it wouldn't make any sense to purchase something there.

[bluecrystal550]

Hey guys! thank you SO much for the responses! I really appreciate!

Hi akakage,
think my husband will be glad to take the option of teaching english in Japan since he'd also like to learn something new at the same time, like engineering or finance! I know it's tough, but he's such a tough learner too. I myself, don't really have a degree. :P I did work in companies like Sheraton hotels, Bosch for a few years though. Why I want to move to Japan? simply because I have so much curisoity about your country, people and the culture, etc. Just feel Japanese are quite different, smart, creative, maybe because you guys eat lots of fish? (sorry don't exactly know if you are japanese)

about the schools, i got the ideas with reading some other threads here. thanks! they definitely cost a lot less than the international schools in china, china's going crazy. i tell you!

the housing, i had a look at the website you suggested. hm, expensive! not too bad i will do some more research too. we plan to live not more than 3 years as we want to get our daughter back to america for schools. so according to you guys, renting is the way to go.

ah, we don't speak Japanese at all. i did learn like a week something during my pregnancy. it was fun to learn, i know a little basics and some words. i am always mistaken as japanese & koreans though i will certainly continue.

side note answer: i am chinese, born in china, grew up in china. i am so flattered & nervous when you say my english is great that i saw so many people on the website including yourself speaking perfect english! i can't tell who's westerner, who's japanese.

take care!

[bluecrystal550]

hi Nyororin,

thank you very much for the detailed information!

about the eggs and tomatoes thrown on me! i did hear from a close friend's bf (he's studying in Japan) saying that some Japanese will come toward you & take away your phone if they hear you talking chinese in public phones. scary, scary! :d but i do believe, most of Japanese are very friendly & sincere!

looks like the only option for my hubby is to teach English according to you. i will tell him and see what he thinks. he's not against it. I think he'd love to take a couple of year break & live some lazy life with studying something new. i don't have to work if i can't, i can only focus on taking care of my baby girl.

schools and housing are not too bad. thanks for telling everything. i can see you are such an expert, will contact you again if i want to know something more.

cheers! take care!

[bluecrystal550]

Hi fellow Godwine,

Thank you for welcoming me!

Ya i think he can get a work visa too! and i am fluent in chinese mandarin and english. :P i generally understand cantonese. i speak only some deutch. ya i should learn more of it and japanese as well. thx! at least you made me see some hope that it's possible for me do something there. i just have to work more on my language skills!

right, renting is the best for us like everybody else told. danke!

have a good day!