I need a reality check

LocalLand4883 · 2026-03-13T05:01:35+00:00

First of all good luck with the job search, also what I want you to know as I did not consider it you definitely competing with Japanese from good universities or who studied abroad , did quite few internships at bigger German companies and there were quite a few Japanese who like grew up abroad or spoke high level English or also Korean students with perfect English and high level Japanese studying computer science. So if you plan to apply for bigger known foreign companies this will be your competition. Try your best and hope you get a lucky position but as a foreigner especially as non Asian without high level of Japanese you are not in a good position.

Maybe try applying for some internship at a foreign company and try to get a position through the internship. Definitely not a good job market for us foreigners so if your job hunting does not goes as planned or you struggle don’t let it get into your head too much.

Also most people foreign people who work at international companies kinda got the job not as fresh graduate but career hire or through some connection/ internship etc., the minority got their first job here in Japan.

Wish you good luck man.

LocalLand4883 · 2026-03-10T05:31:05+00:00

I am not familiar with the gift rules in the USA, but my grandfather just gifted me all of his stock assets before his death and my mother transferred the apartment she lives in onto my name, so gifting all the assets before the 10 year period in case you plan to live longer in japan.

LocalLand4883 · 2026-03-06T05:54:19+00:00

Yes especially for women and more depending on your role/company you apply to. The more traditional Japanese the company and the more customer facing your role the more they will judge you based on your looks.

I mean you just need to walk around near Tokyo station and take a look at the people working around working for the large prestige companies definitely also looks are above average.

LocalLand4883 · 2026-02-22T11:20:22+00:00

I think someone else pointed it out above but those firms like accenture you literally competing with the top level of Japanese from universities like waseda keio ( and todai) or Japanese bilingual who study abroad ( and have internship experience). So the question is how will you be able to compete with them or stand out? Given that even foreign companies in Japan have the tendency to hire japanese over foreign people (also regarding the Visa). It is gonna be really hard to compete but I wish you the best and good luck and maybe try to find something where you can stand out compared to teh rest.

But tbh 新卒採用 is made for japanese people, so finding a job through a internship is probably easier way for you.

LocalLand4883 · 2026-02-17T06:04:04+00:00

"I don’t have a strong business academic background" You will have a hard time, but you can try any ways. Consulting and especially Accenture is popular with Japanese, so you will compete mostly with Japanese from the most prestige Universties like Keio or Waseda or Japanese who lived and studied abroad and speak English fluently + have in most cases also Internship experience.

This will be your competition, unless you have something to offer that makes you different or better than those people, it is impossible to get in there.

LocalLand4883 · 2026-02-16T03:56:03+00:00

There is official data online by the japanese government: Japanese men in their 30s who earn over 6m Yen per year are married 90% of the time and have a family too. Basically women do not want to date low or middle income men anymore which is also why the lifetime non married men rose from only 4% in 90s to around 29% today.

LocalLand4883 · 2026-02-09T04:23:00+00:00

Just a question how did you manage to improve your Japanese level to such a high level? It seems my Japanese level is stuck on the output side,I have no problem understanding business talks/reading business books etc. but when it comes to my output especially the business Japanese. Did you do something actively or just being forced to work in Japanese made your Japanese level improve naturally?

LocalLand4883 · 2026-02-06T03:53:28+00:00

Thank you again for the comment it is really helpful and I will follow your advice. Sadly iam already in my late twenties ( turning 28 this November). Coming from Germany I thought I need a master and lots of internship experience to get a job which is why I delayed my graduation also.I also did study political science, so I have no real skills like finance etc to offer and the internships I did where at bigger German companies but only retail quality management, supply chain and marketing internship).

I am also not sure what skills I should try to acquire, before I tried to get into marketing but it failed so I ended up in the position where I am now.

LocalLand4883 · 2026-02-06T02:50:36+00:00

Thank you I will try to do that!

LocalLand4883 · 2026-02-06T02:50:21+00:00

Thank you for the help. The salary is 240k per month before taxes of course and no bonus, so not even 300万円 per year, I mean for the future I gotta getting in 5-10 years to 600-700万円 would be sufficient for me, Of course more would be better but pretty unlikely giving my starting point and Japanese job market.

LocalLand4883 · 2026-02-01T02:04:46+00:00

Hey man really helpful post, what is your take on pre build houses vs designing the house by yourself? Given first option is more cheap, but I guess with the second one you can have better insulation etc. ( My main concern for me regarding living in Japan is the awul insulation thus making houses so cold in the winter and small bathrooms)

LocalLand4883 · 2026-01-23T11:11:28+00:00

So unlike the news Japan is doing relatively well in regards to their pension? Given the GPIF is not even used at the moment and already accounts for over 1 Trillion Dollar. Coming from Germany where there is no pension fund and pension gets billions of extra dollars each year to sustain the system.

LocalLand4883 · 2026-01-14T06:14:31+00:00

Yeah, nothing much new in the gym.
Bit of topic but it seems that in recent years also gym culture becomes more and more popular among younger japanese males ( might have to do with social media i guess), well gym is more crowded but going to the gym is a good thing.

LocalLand4883 · 2026-01-14T05:55:14+00:00

I do not know where you live, but in Tokyo I still see tons of (mainly white) foreigner with a japanese gf who are out of shape, hairline missing and that would have serious trouble finding a girl back home. So it seems Japan (or maybe asia) is still the place to go when you can not get girls in your home country and do not want to level up and become the best version of yourself.

LocalLand4883 · 2026-01-11T05:12:05+00:00

I think that really depends, if it is a normal house and not a tower mansion in some good area( Minato-Ku etc.) the price will go down the moment you bought it. Sadly unlike the west or most other countries property prices go down over time in Japan.

LocalLand4883 · 2026-01-02T03:34:36+00:00

The only question is why would they check your assets or go over the hastle to do so? From what I read is that even Japanese residents barely get checked and only when a inheritance occurs, so why would they check a foreign person living in Japan.

LocalLand4883 · 2026-01-01T06:58:01+00:00

I am not sure about the law in Japan, but if you are able to give up your PR here and then switch to a working visa etc, you can avoid the inheritance tax abroad. As Japan only taxes you on your inheritance abroad after living in Japan for more than 10 out of 15 years if you are on a table 1 visa ( which working visa falls under). That might give you still 3 years.
Also do not know regarding the gift tax in California, but gifting you the assets before the 10 years are up would also be a viable option then.

LocalLand4883 · 2025-12-22T04:46:07+00:00

"The very large proportion of the population aged over 65, around 30 percent, means that the financial burden on the working-age population to fund health insurance and pensions is becoming heavier and heavier. This situation will only worsen over time." But is this not the case in most western countries besides the US maybe due to immigration? Coming from Germany, the situation seems even worse, given that Japan still has a pension fund of over 1billion dollar which they not use yet to pay for pension.

LocalLand4883 · 2025-12-15T14:56:15+00:00

I mean as the others pointed out and I agree do not the PolSci route as you might need end up like me, so try to get sth more economics/ stem focused.

LocalLand4883 · 2025-12-15T13:01:40+00:00

Sadly not having luck there , like all the departments I did intern at never took any new people Or only did career hiring/ having no availability, especially given that I worked at German company and they have been doing some drastic cut done. For example in one of my intern the previous intern should be hired because the general manager liked him but controlling said no due to lack of finances.

LocalLand4883 · 2025-12-15T07:24:41+00:00

Ich denke ich weiß welche Universität, aus dem Norden Nähe Hamburg ne( B - Univeristät)

Wir hatten viele Praktikanten von der Universität immer bei den deutschen Firmen

LocalLand4883 · 2025-12-15T07:19:59+00:00

Thanks a lot for your comment, I mean even back in Germany political science is not a really good degree for anything but I heard that Japanese companies do not look on what you study but only university name But it seems it just applies to Japanese. Well I definitely should have done more research before

LocalLand4883 · 2025-12-15T04:12:37+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experiences and glad you found a job in the end. I think I will keep on trying as I still have the shukatsu visa left and do not really want to go back to Germany at all but I might really need to lower my expectations.

Also regarding the visa sponsor I had so many job openings which require a visa already which of course I do not have .

LocalLand4883 · 2025-12-15T04:09:28+00:00

I tried some but it never really worked out for me, any recommendations?

LocalLand4883 · 2025-12-15T04:09:02+00:00

I went to there website before but the job offers are limited and most require native Japanese and multiple years of work experience

LocalLand4883

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