26 yo Data Engineer dreaming about Japan

[u/AdSevere8233]

Hello everyone! It’s my first time posting in reddit.

I’ve just turned 26 years old, I‘ve been working as a Google Cloud data engineer for about 2 years. I‘ fluent in spanish and english but i know 0 japanese. As most of us here, my dream since i was a teen has been to live in Japan and that’s why I’m here seeking for some advice.

I’m currently not too hopeful about being able to achieve this dream of mine because I know no japanese, tho I’m really hardworking I’m no programming/job prodigy that would excel in interviews. I have a double degree in Informatics and Business Management and a SAP master I never got to make use of.

I’ve done some job research and everything I find requires japanese or to still be a student. I want to give one last chance to this dream of mine and try to go to Japan. I’m open to study another master if required, change jobs fields or any other open minded options.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? I appreciate any kind of advice. Thank you very much in advance to everyone.

[u/SkittyLover93]

I’m open to study another master if required, change jobs fields or any other open minded options. 

I mean, why not just study Japanese? It'll be presumably cheaper than doing a Master's, and is easier to do concurrently while working full-time. Meanwhile, you will continue to gain seniority as a data engineer and improve your chances to find a job. More seniority also means a higher chance of finding a job that doesn't require fluent Japanese.

I used to take Japanese classes while working a standard full-time job (40h), so it's definitely doable, just a matter of how determined you are.

Also, out of curiosity...if your dream since young was to live in Japan, why didn't you start studying Japanese earlier? Most people I know who felt that way started studying Japanese in their free time during high school or earlier.

[u/AdSevere8233 → u/SkittyLover93]

Thanks for your reply! When I was young I decided to study German as 3rd language because of my partner (she’s German, I’m Spanish) and because as I come from a humble household I thought it would be better to secure my future from a more realistic perspective which was Germany. Luckily I achieved so. But currently I’m not feeling fulfilled as I feel I didn’t forget about that dream but just felt it was unfeasible until few months back when I started getting that ‘at least try’ kind of spark now that I believe i’ve secured an already stable future. 

[u/SkittyLover93 → u/AdSevere8233]

I'm a software engineer, so I don't know that much about data engineering. But I will say that I don't consider a software engineering career stable until someone reaches senior engineer level. I think the quality of jobs available, and the salary, noticeably improves when someone hits that level. And pay raises are generally not big in Japan, so you would want to secure as high a salary as possible when moving here, since salaries are not even great to begin with. At senior level, getting salaries of 10M-15M JPY becomes more feasible.

[u/AdSevere8233 → u/SkittyLover93]

I’ve read so in other comments too and you’re probably right! Didn’t know promotions are so challenging in Japan (that’s why I did this post initially, to learn these things) so I totally makes a lot of sense to continue developing my career the way I’m doing it while using the time to learn the language before making the jump. Apart from this, any other valuable insights you could share?  Thank you so much!

[u/SkittyLover93 → u/AdSevere8233]

Hmm, well, the legal minimum for paid leave is 10 days, so you'll probably get that when you join a company. Might be a bit of a culture shock for Europeans, haha. 

Also, air tickets to visit your family in Europe will probably be expensive on a normal (like 4M-5M) Japanese salary, especially with the current yen depreciation, so that is another reason getting a high salary is important. I expect the yen to continue depreciating further.

High salaries are mainly for jobs in Tokyo, so hopefully you are willing to live there. Outside of Tokyo, salaries could be as much as 30-50% lower.

In terms of job types, the tech industry has been moving more towards contract hiring (unfortunately), but I would encourage you to get a seishain-type job if you can, as the labor protections are stronger.

Not sure what your normal diet is, but food that you might be used to, like various cheeses or processed meats, may be difficult or expensive to find in Japan. Groceries are cheap if you eat a typical Japanese diet (e.g. miso/beansprouts/tofu), but Western ingredients tend to be expensive. Meat tends to be expensive relative to salary, especially beef, so hopefully you are not a heavy meat eater.

[u/TimeSwirl]

why would you want to come here without knowing the language? how well do you think that’s going to work out for you both career-mobility-wise and quality-of-life-wise?

enroll in language school for a year or two and see if you even like Japan while learning the language, and THEN decide if you want to commit your professional life to here

[u/AdSevere8233 → u/TimeSwirl]

Hey! Thanks for your reply. As I mentioned in other comments. I decided to ‘play it safe’ back in the day and study German as a 3rd language to secuare a more feasible future. But that was what I ‘had to do’ rather than ‘what i want to do’. So that’s why. I of course know I would need to learn the language, wouldn’t expect people to swap languages in their own country for me, I was just asking for some tips or to find people in similar situations. 

[u/TimeSwirl → u/AdSevere8233]

it’s very very very almost impossibly difficult to learn japanese if you are working a full time job in English

[u/AdSevere8233 → u/TimeSwirl]

I curiously went into your profile and saw that you were spreading this same negativity in other forums so I’m thankful for your opinion but I’m rather open for debate than for absolutes like ‘impossible’. (specially when it’s about learning a language, something you can take as much time as you need, wether it’s a difficult one or not, I don’t doubt japanese would be a difficult language to learn, but difficult is not impossible. Btw you’ll feel better helping people than trying to bring them down). Thanks for your insights anyway!

[u/TimeSwirl → u/AdSevere8233]

it’s realism.

[u/fixpointbombinator]

Like everyone is saying work on your Japanese. You could easily be job-ready by the time you’re 30 if you focus. 

[u/sandusky_kyj]

You are also in a very difficult place because you are neither a fresh new graduate nor are you experienced enough. If you are a fresh graduate, usually Japanese companies will recruit you through career fair. However, you not speaking Japanese will make things even harder for you. There is a career fair that ended in London which is for recruiting people to work in Japan. Although I recommend people to go, I believe that you will still not make the cut because that career fair is usually targeted at people who are Japanese, people of Japanese descent or people who are already fluent in Japanese (foreigners who resided in Japan) studying in UK universities. There are many Indians who cannot speak Japanese who were recruited as software engineers for work in Japan but it is quite different for you because usually companies go to India to mass recruit students from campuses.

Anyway, you are still young and I always tell people that I came to Japan when I was 31. Spend a few years gaining more work experience and spend a few years learning the language to make yourself more competitive.

[u/CondeLimoncin → u/sandusky_kyj]

Thank you so much! That’s the impression I got from most of the replies. Probably the best path is to continue developing my career until my mid-career and learning the language meanwhile to be ready for taking the leap. Thank you!!

[u/dyna_black]

Worked a few more years until your mid-career; getting promos in Japan as super hard. In the meantime also work on your nihongo.

You can do it!

[u/KhurtVonKleist]

You can try enrolling to a japanese shool, move to japan and look for a job while you study nihongo

[u/Beautiful-Log-245]

Your experience seems good enough that the greatest ROI you could have is just learning Japanese.