Job Discussion Forums

[GWUstudent]

I'm just interested in hearing stories from those of you who left Japan and returned after some time. Was it easier to re-adjust to Japan? More difficult? Did you return to the same place you had lived before, or moved some where different? And finally, how long did you stay?

I may end up moving back to Japan for a while after grad school, and just trying to get a very general sense of other's experiences:)

[Glenski]

FWIW, I spent 5 months in Tokyo working for a non-teaching company back in 1985-86. Came back in 1998 this time to Hokkaido for a teaching career and have been here ever since.

Life here since '98 has been much easier to adjust to.

[ava77]

I left in /august coming back on Friday. i didn't think I would miss it.

[ripslyme]

Did JET for 2 years, liked it enough to get an MA-TESOL and come back.. This time around it's been another 2 years but have decided it is far too much of a pain in the ass to settle down as a foreigner in Japan. I'm returning to the USA for good at the end of the month.

Nice place to visit, but I don't want to live here.

[User N. Ame]

I did 3 years on JET, went back to home country for a year, came back to Japan and did one year of privates. Upon my return to Japan it was initially very easy to blend back in, and I quite enjoyed it for the first 3 months or so, but I found that this time around the thrill was gone, so to speak. It was now more about working in Japan than experiencing Japan. I never came to Japan in the first place for money. I was making far more back home. I came for the experience and cultural learning. About 3 months into my return to Japan the prospect of grinding it out under the rigid, rules-based Japanese work/business ethic for a long long time really turned me off. I left, but like ripslyme, very much look forward to returning as a tourist someday. In my experience, there's a lot of great stuff about life in Japan, and you absorb that during your first sojourn. There's alot of negative stuff, too. I seemed to get hung up on that more my second sojourn. In the end, I'm glad I left Japan before I grew to be bitter and cynical. I left on a high, not a low.

And personally, I was never just interested in Japan alone. If I live/work in Asia again, I want to broaden my Asian experince and try HK, Korea, China or maybe Vietnam.

[Apsara]

I came on a WHV for a year in 1995-96. Two years later I was back on a work visa with the object of paying off my student loan- mission accomplished. After 2.5 years I left, not planning to come back, but nevertheless returned only 7 months later (early 2002) planning to stay a year or less, and 5 years later I am still here. Not as sad as it sounds because in the meantime I have found my true calling (not English teaching, as it turns out) and got married to a Japanese guy.

Each time I came back it was indeed very easy to settle in- I was having serious deja vu on the train from Narita and quickly felt like I had never left. I was also soon able to improve on my previous situation as far as work and accommodation goes each time I came back.

[Yawarakaijin]

I've been to Japan three different times. First was on a working holiday visa when i was 22. Did not make the greatest money and lived in a pretty boring little city. That said, it was probably the greatest year of my life. Came back 3 years later with my gf who was Japanese. Spent about a year living together and the moment came to get married or go back home. I opted to go home ( best decision ever ) Spent almost 5 years at an ESL school in Vancouver and loved it but it was time to move on. I was on my way to Brazil when I got a call from a friend inside a Japanese engineering company that was looking for a teacher.

So now its my third time back. It's pretty strange. Easily the best job I have ever had in terms of hours and salary. I have now, by far, the best apartment I have ever had in Japan. Strangely though, something is lacking. I've experienced all the typical "Japan moments" and travelled most of the country. As previous posters have noted, It's somehow different when it comes to settling down here. It seems I spend most of my time worrying about the yen, planning trips home to see old friends and family and trying to decide if its worth the hassle to really get settled in. I dont know if I have changed or Japan has changed but, for all the good things about coming back more mature and knowledgeable, I am surely not having as much fun as before.

[TK4Lakers]

[kdynamic]

I was here for a year, went back to the US for a year, and have now been back in Japan for almost 2 years. I found the second time around to be a completely different experience. The first time I came, everything about Japan was fascinating. I was in an awesome city and made good friends. I was studying hardcore and felt really good about my progress. I dealt with some negative stuff too of course, but I loved every day I was there.

The second time around, some of the newness had worn off. I was not in a small kind of boring town, and dealing with workplace stresses. The pace at which I was learning new things just by being here slowed down a lot. However, I still never questioned my decision to come back. Sure, some of the novelty wears off, but that means you're starting to dig beneath the superficial layers and experience real everyday life in Japan. Now I am more mature and have a better understanding of what's going on with my personal and work relationships, and a much deeper understanding of Japanese culture.

Now I am sure that I don't want to stay here long term, but I am glad I came back and found that out. I know I can hack it on my own in another country, and I want Japan to just be one stop in the long run.

[ripslyme]

[Seibu]

I'm just three weeks away from returning to Japan for the third time in ten years...and can't for the life of me figure out why.

This time....sans visa. The more I research, the more I realize it's not going to be easy landing a gig.

If all fails, may end up in Bangkok or Phnom Penh or Hong Kong or....and quite honestly, I find that more appealing. Would be interesting to work in a new environment. However, connections are connections.

[Eva Pilot]

I'm 21 years old, here in Japan on a WHV. I can't imagine leaving, but I've only got until November.

I have to back to Australia and go through University, what are the odds of me making it back here?

I can't imagine living in Australia for the long term now I've been here. I'm a little worried about the stories of people saying their second spell in Japan has been disappointing, or not the same.

[canuck]

[southofreality]

Eva, just to add to canuck's comment, you may have to take an entry-level job if you come back after uni. I'm sure working an entry-level job for a year or so won't be too bad if you really want to be here, though. I had to do it.

[chinagirl]

I was here for a year around 2000 at a small family eikaiwa, and then came back about a year and a half ago. I am now teaching at a private JHS/SHS. In the interim I completed a masters in TESOL and got my public school teaching certification. That made a huge difference in finding a good job with a higher salary.

My return to Japan was unexpected and I hadn't been studying Japanese, so that has been the most difficult thing for me. The cultural readjustment was much easier the second time around. I find that I still like Japan, but that newbie sense of wonder is gone and now I mostly focus on daily living, making friends, studying the language, etc.

I moved back to the same prefecture, about 30 minutes away from my old neighborhood, which has been nice - I have been able to reestablish contact with some old friends. That's made reentry much smoother for me, as well.

I'm sure the OP will find that this second experience will be different than the first, but still rewarding.