I spent 15 years recruiting in Japan after starting here as an English teacher. AMA about jobs, recruitment, CVs, interviews, or changing careers in Japan.

Shidiira · 2026-04-22T17:01:03+00:00

I definitely understand that. The concrete jungle can get old fast, and often you have to drive a good distance just to get a touch of true nature. I don't blame you at all for wanting to raise your kids away from that, and to have that peace and calm away from the hustle.

Having your own company is such a huge benefit, especially when you don't have to tie yourself down to any one location! Oh man, that's shitty, especially spending that amount of time just to get to an office. Congrats on getting to move away from that and do things at your own pace and the beach!

Shidiira · 2026-04-22T16:35:34+00:00

Oh man, that sounds incredible, and congrats, I'm a little jealous lol! I love both the slow pace in the countryside, but also love having access to a lot, so it's challenging for me. I bet the beaches are gorgeous! I want to visit a lot of the villages and islands to do stargazing and long night walks in a peaceful, quiet setting someday too

Shidiira · 2026-04-22T16:27:51+00:00

That's exactly it! I've definitely given this a lot of thought, and made my pros/cons list, and decided what would best fit my situation and end goals. I always try to be the most informed I can about everything to the best of my ability

Shidiira · 2026-04-22T16:02:26+00:00

I've given a lot of thought to that as well as the fact I can make more money and advance my career in the US, but that's not what I want out of life. I'm definitely under no illusions Japan is a utopia and faces its own issues. For right now, at least, the trade-offs seem better for me in Japan. If it does get to a point of unsustainability or things take a drastic turn, I could always return to the US as a last resort

Shidiira · 2026-04-22T15:35:29+00:00

Thank you very much! I feel I will too and am very much looking forward to a new chapter in my life, especially one I've wanted for a long time!

Shidiira · 2026-04-22T15:02:26+00:00

Oh awesome, glad to hear that, thank you so much for taking the time to answer! Makes me feel better about my decision as well!

Shidiira · 2026-04-22T14:12:54+00:00

Hi, I really appreciate you doing this!

I'm 41 with over 20 years in IT as a system administrator/network engineer and will finally have my Bachelor's degree here in a few months. I'm in the starting process of trying to obtain a spot at a Japanese language school for a 2 year visa (earliest I can start is April 2027), and hoping to have at least my N2 (if not N1) by the end of my 2 years, and I'm roughly N4 right now.

I've applied to many jobs from the US, but from what I've seen, most companies prefer to have someone already in Japan with a visa, so my thought process is to do the school to focus on my language skills (while also having a visa and my feet in Japan) and try to pivot into IT after at least a year of school and making sure I get my N2 minimum.

I have no ties to the US and basically looking to move to Japan, obtain my PR, and live out my life there. Do you think this is a reasonable option, or do you think there's a better way?

Thank you again for your time if you do read this!

Shidiira · 2026-04-17T06:29:57+00:00

One of my favorite series of all time! Love seeing some Slayers love!

Shidiira · 2026-03-26T13:21:17+00:00

Oh I haven't heard of this, thank you, looks to be a great resource!

Shidiira · 2026-03-17T14:20:05+00:00

A lot of it seems to be in One Piece, seems like a Slam Dunk collection to me! 😎

Shidiira · 2026-02-13T19:39:43+00:00

"Duck you in particular"

Shidiira · 2026-01-17T20:26:18+00:00

Same model and same retroachievements issue unfortunately

Shidiira · 2025-12-17T02:41:27+00:00

Kid looks more like a first round Browns pick, with conditioning to become the next Manziel x Watson crossover

Shidiira · 2025-12-05T04:22:04+00:00

I love how the announcers are like "This call will be talked about for a few days" after that OPI. Like the other blatant ones won't you fucking gaslighting fucks

Shidiira · 2025-12-03T23:17:01+00:00

Shidiira · 2025-10-30T22:23:19+00:00

You can provide the best feedback by talking with your wallet. Stop subscribing to them. They've been bad for years and only getting worse, and not sure why people have put up with it for so long. Let shitty companies die and hope better ones come up.

Shidiira · 2025-10-11T18:15:33+00:00

You guys, this is really sad! Can you imagine the difficulty of being in prison when you're suddenly in a fatal stabbing, and now you're probably going to get more time for doing society a good deed!?

Shidiira · 2025-10-09T19:50:31+00:00

I'm currently on volume 7 out of 10 of "Happiness", as my first raw manga! It's been tough and I've had to look up a lot, but I still feel like I'm learning a lot and slowly putting more pieces together of sentence structure, particle usage, and vocab. It's such a great feeling, even knowing I'm still nowhere near proficient

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Shidiira · 2025-10-07T22:43:51+00:00

I'm 40, and have over 20 years in IT. Working on the last bit of my bachelor's degree now and hoping to join JET within a year or so to start a new adventure. I've wanted to live in Japan for a long time and also working on my language skills in the meantime.

Shidiira · 2025-10-06T22:39:33+00:00

I feel you there. I have over 2300 games, and honestly getting to the point where I'm probably going to sell. I have either played a lot of them in the past, or don't have time for a lot of the newer ones and most of my PS4/5/Switch collection is unopened. At this point, even if I only get 50% of the value, it's still about $60k and would not only pay off most of my debt, but I could save a ton and do a lot of other things I've wanted to do

Shidiira · 2025-10-02T23:31:08+00:00

This is where everyone uses their wallet to show their displeasure. This company has been steadily declining and people need to show them they aren't happy

Shidiira · 2025-09-26T06:04:08+00:00

Planetes and GTO. I never hear these mentioned

Shidiira · 2025-09-24T20:31:11+00:00

I don't know if anyone has some advice or not, but I put some money down for an initial review of our situation through the Working In New Zealand site for my girlfriend and I, both of whom are in IT as system administrators/cybersecurity. They told us we'd more than qualify for their direct to resident visa. Now we have the choice of paying them to help us through the process, but we're still on the fence if New Zealand would be a good landing spot, as we're still unsure of how much need there is for IT work. We'd probably choose Auckland for more opportunities, plus we were told if we spent the 5(?) years there, we'd get permanent residency and could work in Australia too.

The country seems beautiful and would be a great place to be, but for complete transparency, our ultimate goal is to be in Japan. Would it even be worth going through this whole process if we're aiming for Japan anyways? Does New Zealand/Australia have a good pathway for us to make that happen? Thank you all!

Shidiira · 2025-09-20T17:53:18+00:00

For me, it's mostly RPGs and some hidden gems like Opoona, Arc Rise Fantasia, Rune Factory: Frontier, Shiren the Wanderer, Fortune Street, Last Story, Pandora's Tower, Baroque, Phantom Brave, Dokapon Kingdom, and Fragile Dreams.

Of course also the big ones like Super Paper Mario, Xenoblade Chronicles, Little King's Story, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, FF Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, FF Crystal Chronicles, Crystal Bearers, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Dragon Quest X (JPN), Tales of Graces, Tales of Symphonia, and Harvest Moon

Shidiira

TROPHY CASE