Misawa, Japan
 

Anyone live around this area? is it really out in the middle of no where?

I may be getting a job offer to work in Misawa. I'm currently trying to consider the advantages and disadvantages of living in such an area.

here's what I came up with so far.

Advantages:
1. I'm going to get a lot of hands-on experience and expand my knowledge for my career. I'm going to be doing a lot of new things if I take this job. Very good for my resume.
2. cost of living seems to be much cheaper compared to where I live now.
3. It may open up doors for me to work in other areas of Japan, such as Tokyo or Osaka.
4. Even if I decide to go back after a year, having international experience on my resume makes me look really good when applying for jobs.
5. We will be able to visit my wife's family more often, and for less money.
6. I'm looking at a decent raise if I take this job.
7. If I decide to stay longer, there's a good chance I could make even more money.

Disadvantages:
1. Its out in the boondocks as far as I can tell?
2. My wife may not be able to find a job in the area. If we can't find work for her, then its not an option to go. She's a graphic designer. Does anyone know graphic design/web/print shop companies in the area?
3. I'm wondering if the trains going to come by frequently, or is it very scarce.
4. Not much to do from what it seems like. We were thinking to possibly offset this by creating a plan to tour around the area ahead of time so we don't get bored out of our minds.

What do you guys think? Ideas?

I really need your input on this. I admit, this is my first offer for a job in Japan. Its very hard to apply for jobs from the US as you probably already know. I'm not sure if I should let this one go or not.

Thank you for your time!

I don't have any knowledge about this, but I just want to wish you good luck :)

Thank you! I appreciate it.

Misawa is in Aomori, its not that bad, Aomori is not CLOSE to Tokyo but it doesn't make it "remote".

Graphic design jobs will be difficult, these are mostly in Tokyo and Yokohama area

Thats good to hear. So its not really out in the country side is it?

As for the jobs, do you think she has a better chance of finding a job after we move? or is it too risky?

WAY too risky, unless your new job pay you enough to feed 2, otherwise i will advice against it.

Not exactly city, but not country side either, its COUNTRY ENOUGH..... but definitely not like a remote place where there is nothing.

There is a US/Japanese air base there, so there has to be something...

Most likely we will be fine on a single salary, but I just don't want to stain her resume with unemployment. I also forgot to mention that my wife is Japanese, so it might be easier for her to find a job than a foreigner would in that area.

I am not sure how it would stain her resume. She would just say "I moved to a small city for my husband's work".

As long as she is willing to go outside of graphic design, I bet she could find work.

I suppose you have a point. I just want to make it clear though - You mean until she can find a graphic design job right? Won't it hurt her career if she starts working in something outside of graphic design, and then tries to get back into it later?

I have experience with the resume gap thing -- simple solution:

Elance.com

Incorporate your own small business (sole proprietorship is the easiest, but LLCs are very popular), and have her do contract work on sites like E-lance. It's far easier than it sounds. Graphic design work is one of the most common work requests on there, and if she's really good with handling business, you can actually make a decent living off of it regardless of where you live.

For employment verification, she can either have the business registered in her name (running your own business can be attractive, or bad, depending on the position you're applying for), or registered in a trusted family member's name (that typically will not match her own, to avoid misinformed, knee-jerk reactions from HR folks who have never run a small business) who will function as the employer.

Easy peasy.

Just make sure to name the business something professional, like "Tacoma Design Solutions," as opposed to "CRAZY BITCHZ' GRAFIX", for obvious reasons.

Too bad if godwine gave you that impression. It IS in the country side. Make no mistake about it. I've been there. There isn't much up there except for the U.S. Air Force base. For shopping, dining and other activities, many Misawans go to Hachinohe, a much more populated town to the south. I find Hachinohe quite livable. If Hachinohe doesn't satisfy your needs, you can go to the City of Aomori on weekends.

I did reply indiciating that it is country side but not to a point where there has absolutely nothing.

Just an update:
I'm currently waiting on an offer, and they may even hire my wife too. My wife said she would only agree to go if its in graphic design. She doesn't want to have unemployment on her resume and she refuses to do anything thats not related to her field even temporarily. I feel like we're asking for too much. Most people don't get offers like this, and its even more rare with this economy.

What do you guys think? am I wrong?

Is it true that employers in Japan view any kind of unemployment as a bad? It seems to me that if you specified that you left for spouse's job, that you would be ok. I'm young and don't have alot of job experience, so this might just be something everybody knows :o

You are definitely right about not getting offers like that. With current economy, most consider themselves lucky to get an offer as a foreigner, let along a company that will even offer a job to their spouse

I am not going to suggest whether you should try to convince her, but you have to remember that, everything in life is a trade off, if this is something that you 2 really want to do (to live in Japan), then some personal sacrifices need to be made

Another issue with graphic design is that, its a matter of the subjectiveness in people's judgment towards creativity and art. She really will need to find a company whose product is to be sold outside of Japan, as I am sure that the material your wife was trained in is better suited for wherever you guys are. Just a matter of cultural difference and taste. For graphic design she probably have better luck in the 3D area with the gaming world

Kresin, from what I learned from my uncle, it is a big deal for locals to be out of work. But in the case of a foreigner, it is always a valid reason that the spouse is out of work.

Well I talked to her a bit more. We may be going after all. We're waiting to see what kind offers we get. Wish us luck!

By the way, godwine - are you in Japan/have been in Japan? I was kind of confused.

Also, thank you for the tips. my wife has been reading this thread as well.

Hello

Good luck with it! Its definitely a dream come true for most people on this forum.

I live there when I was a kid. My father had some business going on, so he was working there with my uncle, who is native Japanese (I am Chinese.. very very distant relative). Since making my own income, I have been going back regularly, like yearly since 2004 or 2005.

SOOOOO, that said, my 2 cents is purely from my limited knowledge of the country and its culture.

Hope that helps!

Bunch of US Navy stuff there if that's any help.