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>It's not especially easy to bring people to Japan because of all the other administrative barriers around housing, bank accounts, etc., as well as the language

>It's not especially easy to bring people to Japan because of all the other administrative barriers around housing, bank accounts, etc., as well as the language requirement. As can be seen from the low immigration rate. Wrong. It was really easy for me. The low immigration rate is because it's not a terribly popular place to live, and because of the language barrier. It's also historically been not very immigration-friendly (legally, the immigration laws were strict), but that's changed radically in the last decade or so. Now if you have in-demand skills and a company wants to hire you, you're in. Housing and bank accounts aren't a problem. I got multiple bank accounts pretty quickly after moving here. Housing is pretty easy: some (individual) landlords won't look at you if you don't speak Japanese, but the corporate landlords don't care, as long as you have a guarantor and a job that pays enough for the rent. The language is the biggest barrier, but that depends on your job. Companies that try to recruit skilled foreign professionals have strong English-language support.

robin_reala 2y ago
Having been tempted in the past but put off by Japanese work culture tropes, would you say that that has also changed radically?
- red-iron-pine 2y ago
  it has, but not a lot. industry and location also matter, but chances are you're not being recruited abroad to be a fisherman or noodle-maker in a 2nd tier city.
- shiroiushi 2y ago
  It depends on where you work, like any place. If you work in a western (or westernized) company that uses English internally and where all your coworkers are expats, it's probably not too different from a typical US tech company.
Suppafly 2y ago
Your own comment kind of proves the fact that it's only easy if you have corporate sponsorship though. Getting housing and bank accounts is essentially impossible without it, that's not really something that happens in western nations.
- shiroiushi 2y ago
  Huh? How exactly do you propose to emigrate anywhere (such as the US) without a job? You can't just show up in some country, get a bank account and an apartment, and start living life there. If you want to move to the US, you need corporate sponsorship there too, to get a work visa, which is the same in pretty much every developed nation. There are some ways around it, such as "investor's visas" (for very rich people), and spousal visas, but we're not talking about those kind of people. (Also, unlike the US with its EB5 investor visa, Japan doesn't have any such thing. There is a new "digital nomad" visa I think though, but it's very new and I don't know anything about it.)
  - Suppafly 2y ago
    You might need a company to sponsor the job in the US, depending on your visa, but you don't need them to help you deal with basic contracts and services like renting an apartment or opening a bank account. That's just comparing to the US. People move all around Europe without needing a company to help them get an apartment and setup basic accounts for utilities and bank accounts.
    - shiroiushi 2y ago
      You don't need a company to sponsor you for a bank account in Japan either, but if you just moved into the country, they do want to know who your employer is. Same for landlords: why would anyone rent you an apartment if you don't have an income? Where did you get the idea that you need your company to help you set up a bank account? I was able to do it easily at 2 banks all by myself.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]

robin_reala 2y ago

Having been tempted in the past but put off by Japanese work culture tropes, would you say that that has also changed radically?

red-iron-pine 2y ago
it has, but not a lot. industry and location also matter, but chances are you're not being recruited abroad to be a fisherman or noodle-maker in a 2nd tier city.
shiroiushi 2y ago
It depends on where you work, like any place. If you work in a western (or westernized) company that uses English internally and where all your coworkers are expats, it's probably not too different from a typical US tech company.

Suppafly 2y ago

Your own comment kind of proves the fact that it's only easy if you have corporate sponsorship though. Getting housing and bank accounts is essentially impossible without it, that's not really something that happens in western nations.

shiroiushi 2y ago
Huh? How exactly do you propose to emigrate anywhere (such as the US) without a job? You can't just show up in some country, get a bank account and an apartment, and start living life there. If you want to move to the US, you need corporate sponsorship there too, to get a work visa, which is the same in pretty much every developed nation. There are some ways around it, such as "investor's visas" (for very rich people), and spousal visas, but we're not talking about those kind of people. (Also, unlike the US with its EB5 investor visa, Japan doesn't have any such thing. There is a new "digital nomad" visa I think though, but it's very new and I don't know anything about it.)
- Suppafly 2y ago
  You might need a company to sponsor the job in the US, depending on your visa, but you don't need them to help you deal with basic contracts and services like renting an apartment or opening a bank account. That's just comparing to the US. People move all around Europe without needing a company to help them get an apartment and setup basic accounts for utilities and bank accounts.
  - shiroiushi 2y ago
    You don't need a company to sponsor you for a bank account in Japan either, but if you just moved into the country, they do want to know who your employer is. Same for landlords: why would anyone rent you an apartment if you don't have an income? Where did you get the idea that you need your company to help you set up a bank account? I was able to do it easily at 2 banks all by myself.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]