Re: Choosing between a life in Japan and Germany
Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 11:30 am
Japan or Germany? Difficult question. But I understand your worries. When first moving here more than 30 years ago, we had similar concerns as you do but we don’t regret our choice. What I have learned about Japan is there is usually a workaround to many problems.
Education
Education was a great concern for us too. Our children went to the local elementary school, it wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great either. For the next 6 years they got into a unicorn: a relatively cheap private school with enormous freedom (students had freedom of hair color, skirt lengths, clothing, etc) and an advanced English curriculum right up to English native speaker levels since many were returnees. Sadly, the school has since closed down. Cram schools appear terrible but they really aren’t. Our kids themselves wanted to attend from age 15-16 to get help with the subjects they felt less confident in, and couldn’t get individual attention with at school. Ultimately, our kids did very well at school, got into their first choice universities, got first choice jobs and now earn great salaries - one is still only 26 easily out earns either of her her tenured professor parents at their earning peaks.
A warning: take gaijin opinions, including mine, with a grain of salt. I have seen/heard long time residents moan about the Japanese recycling system, food, public transportation - some of the very best reasons to live here! Regarding education, most parents I know are quite happy with the overall results of their children’s experience, although it may not have been perfect. Gaijins are amazingly opinionated about a system they have no experience of. Please ask them why their more ‘enlightened’ western education with critical thinking skills has led to anti-vaxxers, QAnon believers or pious idiots who believe that the world is only 6000 years old. Not just a dozen crackpots either, there are literally millions of them.
Housing
Detached houses here definitely depreciate in value over time. We built a new, high quality family house but when appraising it for sale 30 years later, that still wonderful home with little wear or tear, was assessed by real estate professionals as having basically no value, although the land value had risen some. Here’s the workaround for you: Buy a good secondhand house and let someone else take most of the depreciation for you. Maybe do what the guy who bought our house did. Line up your builder before buying, and get him to house hunt with you to assess the structure of houses. Then he can renovate a good house and you can save a lot.
What is not so well understood about Japanese real estate is that if buying into the same system, there’s little disadvantage (unless you want a brand new place). Sure, that house I could have bought 30 years ago in London or LA would have tripled or quadrupled in price - but then so has every house around it. So there’s no real ‘gain’ unless you are willing to leave that city for a cheaper locale.
But there is the very real worry that buying here you will lose out of ever returning to Germany to buy. So if possible, buy property in Germany so that you can keep up with market growth there and return if desired. (We did that too but have now have no desire to leave Japan.) Given the likelihood of future appreciation in Germany and depreciation in Japan, it would be more financially prudent to buy property in Germany and only rent in Japan. But as I think was noted by the RetireJapan guru himself elsewhere, a home is an emotional as well as a financial decision.
Disasters
Earthquakes concern everyone but they are unpredictable. You can plan ahead to minimize unpleasant surprises but ultimately can only control what you can control. Certainly you can investigate the geological stability of areas where you want to live. That information is out there in public hazard maps.
Sure, Japan has its faults. And it’s not for everyone. It’s my home, by choice. We made good lives here in Japan. While it does not guarantee your successful transition, our experience can serve as an example that moving to Japan can work out well, and that your worries are not insurmountable ones.
Education
Education was a great concern for us too. Our children went to the local elementary school, it wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great either. For the next 6 years they got into a unicorn: a relatively cheap private school with enormous freedom (students had freedom of hair color, skirt lengths, clothing, etc) and an advanced English curriculum right up to English native speaker levels since many were returnees. Sadly, the school has since closed down. Cram schools appear terrible but they really aren’t. Our kids themselves wanted to attend from age 15-16 to get help with the subjects they felt less confident in, and couldn’t get individual attention with at school. Ultimately, our kids did very well at school, got into their first choice universities, got first choice jobs and now earn great salaries - one is still only 26 easily out earns either of her her tenured professor parents at their earning peaks.
A warning: take gaijin opinions, including mine, with a grain of salt. I have seen/heard long time residents moan about the Japanese recycling system, food, public transportation - some of the very best reasons to live here! Regarding education, most parents I know are quite happy with the overall results of their children’s experience, although it may not have been perfect. Gaijins are amazingly opinionated about a system they have no experience of. Please ask them why their more ‘enlightened’ western education with critical thinking skills has led to anti-vaxxers, QAnon believers or pious idiots who believe that the world is only 6000 years old. Not just a dozen crackpots either, there are literally millions of them.
Housing
Detached houses here definitely depreciate in value over time. We built a new, high quality family house but when appraising it for sale 30 years later, that still wonderful home with little wear or tear, was assessed by real estate professionals as having basically no value, although the land value had risen some. Here’s the workaround for you: Buy a good secondhand house and let someone else take most of the depreciation for you. Maybe do what the guy who bought our house did. Line up your builder before buying, and get him to house hunt with you to assess the structure of houses. Then he can renovate a good house and you can save a lot.
What is not so well understood about Japanese real estate is that if buying into the same system, there’s little disadvantage (unless you want a brand new place). Sure, that house I could have bought 30 years ago in London or LA would have tripled or quadrupled in price - but then so has every house around it. So there’s no real ‘gain’ unless you are willing to leave that city for a cheaper locale.
But there is the very real worry that buying here you will lose out of ever returning to Germany to buy. So if possible, buy property in Germany so that you can keep up with market growth there and return if desired. (We did that too but have now have no desire to leave Japan.) Given the likelihood of future appreciation in Germany and depreciation in Japan, it would be more financially prudent to buy property in Germany and only rent in Japan. But as I think was noted by the RetireJapan guru himself elsewhere, a home is an emotional as well as a financial decision.
Disasters
Earthquakes concern everyone but they are unpredictable. You can plan ahead to minimize unpleasant surprises but ultimately can only control what you can control. Certainly you can investigate the geological stability of areas where you want to live. That information is out there in public hazard maps.
Sure, Japan has its faults. And it’s not for everyone. It’s my home, by choice. We made good lives here in Japan. While it does not guarantee your successful transition, our experience can serve as an example that moving to Japan can work out well, and that your worries are not insurmountable ones.
