171–180 of 224 posts
Good luck finding a place to rent.
It's really not hard at all these days, and Tokyo rent is wayyy cheaper than NYC or SF.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
wait, as a non-citizen of Japan you are allowed to sponsor yourself for a work visa? That sounds, uhh, strange.
It's about ensuring you have money, not that you need an invite. So if you're a freelancer with a bunch of active contracts they let you in.
Japan's immigration system seems heavily set up to encourage young people to come, work and then leave. This startup visa is good for getting a toe-hold on Japan but only targets people out of country. If you live in Japan already (so you might already speak the language and have helpful local knowledge) there aren't any great paths to starting a business without permanent residency. You can't start a side business o…
This is incorrect.
A friend of mine started a businesses on a work visa and I myself have even started a business on a student visa [1]. No legal problems. I just recently switched from "Student" to "Manager" visa, and immigration had no problems with the fact that the business was already running for over a year before I applied for my residence status to be changed.
[1] http://marui-plugin.blogspot.jp/2016/11/starting-company-as-...
This is quite something because traditionally Japanese culture has been fairly close to foreigners and probably for a good reason. Japanese people are likely the most courteous and honest people in the world. You can leave your luggage in the middle of the road and come back to find it still there. These folks have little experience with foreigners and often even western culture would be too harsh and rowdy for them.…
That's quite a roundabout way of saying "foreigners are criminals"... Seriously, I'm extremely deferential to the local customs when I'm abroad. But I felt being pushed into a subway car during rush hour to be quite "harsh and rowdy". Not to mentioned the drunk guys who spit in my faced an laughed.
This is quite something because traditionally Japanese culture has been fairly close to foreigners and probably for a good reason. Japanese people are likely the most courteous and honest people in the world. You can leave your luggage in the middle of the road and come back to find it still there. These folks have little experience with foreigners and often even western culture would be too harsh and rowdy for them.…
This is pure exoticization. Japan is fairly safe in certain ways - you’re not at risk of getting shot like in the US, sure. But the police and justice system is very dysfunctional, with crime statistics being under reported, and many murder cases being tossed aside as “suicides” or “heart attacks”. Even without taking this into account, crime rates in Japan are comparable to those of safe European countries. And this…
[1] http://www.newsweek.com/child-pornography-and-child-abuse-ja...
Japan's immigration system seems heavily set up to encourage young people to come, work and then leave. This startup visa is good for getting a toe-hold on Japan but only targets people out of country. If you live in Japan already (so you might already speak the language and have helpful local knowledge) there aren't any great paths to starting a business without permanent residency. You can't start a side business o…
From reading this policy, it seems there are two competing issues at stake: - It seems necessary to attract the young & creative types. First, because everyone is doing it. And, second, because Japan has has a rather huge problem, not just with age, but with a general lack of anyone doing anything new and/or different. - But Japan happens to be off the charts when it comes to the desire not to mingle with foreigners.…
Point out that Israel or Japan have immigration policy that are highly exclusive: wind blowing, tumbleweed..
Same story as always: you take the risk, invest your time and break up your life. If it works you are welcome to stay. If it doesn't work you get cut loose and you likely will take years to recover whereas the other side hasn't risked a thing. These kind of propositions only make sense if you have nothing to lose.
If your passport isn't from the right country you might have nothing to lose. If you have decided to move to some other country, and are looking for the place with the least legal headaches for immigration, _and have a college degree_, then Japan is probably the best on that metric. You don't have the uncertainty of the green card lottery (the permanent residency requirements are pretty well defined), no employer-bas…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Silicon valley -> Tokyo expat here. It took me Just like anything, there's right and wrong ways to do it. If you do it the traditional way with a japanese speaking landlord who mistrust foreigners, yes it can be hard. That is a significant portion of the market. One thing I will say, there are real estate companies that actually cater to foreigners. This has been my landlord for a year and I just renewed: http://toky…
I've read getting a place to stay has become easier, but I still hear people complain about getting a bank account without help from an employer.
Slightly off topic. But this Japanese program sounds totally dressing and covered in tape. If you work remote and are completely self sufficient is there any country that will just let you live there?