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Some Techies Are Shunning Silicon Valley for the Japanese Dream

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Re: Some Techies Are Shunning Silicon Valley for the Japanese Dream

#111

Post by RobertRoberts »

ericdykstra wrote: post #8

I love living and working in Japan, but I wouldn't recommend moving here unless you're committed to becoming fluent in Japanese and integrating into the culture. This is probably mostly true for any country one could move, but Japanese is one, if not the hardest language to learn for native English speakers. I do, however, recommend everyone visit! Japan is a beautiful country with a unique culture and has something…

I really think any techie would appreciate the consitency of two of the three alphabets in Japanese. (Hiragana and Katakana) The very fact that both of these alphabets are the exact same phonetic pronunciations, but written slightly different to visually distinguish them, is the only complication. But that they are designed specifically to distinguish between Japanese and foreign words is just brilliant.

Their Kanji script/written alphabet is a travesty left over from cave paintings and Chinese. But the spoken language is easy, easy to learn. The variations with polite (public or hierarchical relationships) vs common speaking, seem to mainly affect verb conjugations.

But their sentence structures are reversed from ours, but many languages seem to be, but they have fewer words, and make a number of a assumptions about context that make speaking actually less complicated, but require more understanding.

Also, they don't have any exceptions in pronunciation like English, which is huge. The extra effort saved on this alone can balance out the other complications.

This is my limited experience with a few years training in the language, family members learning it and a few relatives that lived there for years. (one permanently now)

Feel free to correct any errors I've thrown out.

My point is that Japanese can be easier to learn than other languages, but for reasons that may not be obvious.

Re: Some Techies Are Shunning Silicon Valley for the Japanese Dream

#112

Post by tokyoHacker »

laum wrote: post #95
xaranke wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you comment on whether racism is still a thing in Japanese society?

It’s still there at an institutional and cultural level - I think the most glaring example of this is the amount of landlords who either openly or discreetly (with a phone call to your realtor) will not rent property to foreigners.

I think this has more to do with the fact that the landlord is not comfortable dealing with someone who doesnt speak the same language. Also I have heard ( no citations) from my Japanese collegues that the laws are heavily biased in favor of the tenant. Its very hard to evict them. So a Japanese home owner ( conservative as they are) wouldn’t want to take a risk for no additional advantage.

Re: Some Techies Are Shunning Silicon Valley for the Japanese Dream

#113

Post by throwaway-jp »

ArtWomb wrote: post #104

Sugoi! I'd be interested in hearing the price breakdown for living in Tokyo at current exchange rates ($USDJPY = 110.00)? For a moderate two bedroom in a cool neighborhood? As well as office space. And how is the availability of gigabit residential fiber options. Say, comparable to Verizon FIOS (~$150/mo)? In short, if anyone has set up a remote office for 2-3 months or even permanently I'd love to hear their experie…

Fiber to the home (ftth) is dead cheap here, only about US$50 (¥6500) for 1Gbps unmetered. Rent for a cheap 2LDK really depends on how far to the station, how new, etc. As a bachelor you could get a nice 50-60sqm 2 room plus Living/Dining/Kitchen in Yoyogi for ¥150,000-200,000 per month. The hard part will be getting a landlord to accept your lease application without being hired by a local company. Rent guarantee companies can be used to avoid having to find a Japanese guarantor. Serviced apartments run by foreign companies will be large and well positioned, but start around ¥500,000 per month.

A short term stay in an AirBnB of 2-3 months might be possible, but you’ll only be able to get a tourist visa, so no earning an income locally and be really careful of overstaying.

Investor visas are not so hard to come by compared to US (lower monetary bar) but you’ll still a handsome sum to get one.

Re: Some Techies Are Shunning Silicon Valley for the Japanese Dream

#114

Post by WhompingWindows »

Aeolun wrote: post #110
ArtWomb wrote: post #104

Sugoi! I'd be interested in hearing the price breakdown for living in Tokyo at current exchange rates ($USDJPY = 110.00)? For a moderate two bedroom in a cool neighborhood? As well as office space. And how is the availability of gigabit residential fiber options. Say, comparable to Verizon FIOS (~$150/mo)? In short, if anyone has set up a remote office for 2-3 months or even permanently I'd love to hear their experie…

* 2 bedroom in cool neighborhood: $2100/month * office space (3 people) somewhere central, shared facilities, private office: $2000/month * residential gigabit (min 1 year contract): $60/month * food for one month, either eating out or buying decent groceries and cooking: $800/month --- Those are off the top of my head. I'm not very interested in living in a cool neighborhood and rent where I live is more like $1400…

Sounds similar to Providence, RI regarding expenses. I'd wager a similar lifestyle in Boston, MA would go for $1k more than what you've listed, finding a 2 BR in a cool neighborhood of Boston area is probably going to be $3k or more.

Re: Some Techies Are Shunning Silicon Valley for the Japanese Dream

#115

Post by kazagistar »

ericdykstra wrote: post #106
laum wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s still there at an institutional and cultural level - I think the most glaring example of this is the amount of landlords who either openly or discreetly (with a phone call to your realtor) will not rent property to foreigners.

If foreigners are perceived as being higher risk, and they probably are, then I don't see any problem with landlords discriminating against them in general. It just means that the standard will be higher to offset whatever the risk is. There are some landlords who probably won't rent to foreigners at all, and that's fine, too. There are plenty of places available. If this kind of thing would bother you, I would stron…

> perceived as being higher risk

Yep. That's what racism is.

Re: Some Techies Are Shunning Silicon Valley for the Japanese Dream

#116

Post by rc_hadoken »

Aeolun wrote: post #110
ArtWomb wrote: post #104

Sugoi! I'd be interested in hearing the price breakdown for living in Tokyo at current exchange rates ($USDJPY = 110.00)? For a moderate two bedroom in a cool neighborhood? As well as office space. And how is the availability of gigabit residential fiber options. Say, comparable to Verizon FIOS (~$150/mo)? In short, if anyone has set up a remote office for 2-3 months or even permanently I'd love to hear their experie…

* 2 bedroom in cool neighborhood: $2100/month * office space (3 people) somewhere central, shared facilities, private office: $2000/month * residential gigabit (min 1 year contract): $60/month * food for one month, either eating out or buying decent groceries and cooking: $800/month --- Those are off the top of my head. I'm not very interested in living in a cool neighborhood and rent where I live is more like $1400…

Way more affordable than I thought. I'm guessing the office space is split and a 1bedroom is 1300~?

Re: Some Techies Are Shunning Silicon Valley for the Japanese Dream

#117

Post by instakill »

codesuki wrote: post #63
lmiller1990 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

30-50 ppl size org. branu.jp

You could probably get more where I work (CyberAgent) or similar places like Line, Mercari. Applying is free :)

tried finding a careers page, do you have a link?

Re: Some Techies Are Shunning Silicon Valley for the Japanese Dream

#118

Post by anjc »

glandium wrote: post #78
anjc wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see this argument frequently, that it's actually a rare occurrence, and that foreigners are just misinterpreting a reasonable request to speak the local language. Well I've tested this. When you're confronted by owners saying "Japanese only!" while shooing you out of an establishment before assessing your speaking ability, it's clear that it isn't a misinterpretation. This isn't out in the sticks either, busy parts…

Congratulations, you've found the goose that laid golden eggs. And now you say all geese lay golden eggs. BTW, I'm not sure this isn't actually illegal. But as always, it's not because it's illegal that a holes won't do it.

> Congratulations, you've found the goose that laid golden eggs. And now you say all geese lay golden eggs.

I mean I saw these signs frequently. Although yes, on the whole, people are pleasant and accommodating. This 'discrimination' will not ruin your life. It's a mild inconvenience and personally I don't care about it.

Essentially my point is that you're probably not going to move to Japan and integrate yourself into society. You'll always be an outsider, and you may sometimes be shunned in an explicit way, which is quite shocking.

And I believe you're right that it's illegal to discriminate on this basis there.

Re: Some Techies Are Shunning Silicon Valley for the Japanese Dream

#119

Post by ericdykstra »

kazagistar wrote: post #115
ericdykstra wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If foreigners are perceived as being higher risk, and they probably are, then I don't see any problem with landlords discriminating against them in general. It just means that the standard will be higher to offset whatever the risk is. There are some landlords who probably won't rent to foreigners at all, and that's fine, too. There are plenty of places available. If this kind of thing would bother you, I would stron…

> perceived as being higher risk Yep. That's what racism is.

If they are a higher risk, it's just risk mitigation. If English teacher foreigners are 25x more likely to break their lease than a Japanese person making the same salary, then it's not worth renting to them for the same price.

You can call it whatever you want, but it's part of being a foreigner. If you don't like it, then stay in the country of your citizenship/heritage.

Re: Some Techies Are Shunning Silicon Valley for the Japanese Dream

#120

Post by m3at »

ArtWomb wrote: post #104

Sugoi! I'd be interested in hearing the price breakdown for living in Tokyo at current exchange rates ($USDJPY = 110.00)? For a moderate two bedroom in a cool neighborhood? As well as office space. And how is the availability of gigabit residential fiber options. Say, comparable to Verizon FIOS (~$150/mo)? In short, if anyone has set up a remote office for 2-3 months or even permanently I'd love to hear their experie…

Personal breakdown in an area at cycling distance from a big banking center (Otemachi):

- 1 bedroom in a quiet neighborhood, small designer appartement: $1100/mo

- 1G fiber: $23/mo (special 1 year price, need to change vendor yearly, ~$40 otherwise. Search on kakaku)

- monthly expenses: $400 restaurants & groceries, $100 subway

(Source : I've been living in Japan for two years)

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