I Moved to Japan in My 20s. Would I Do It Again?

SUMMARY

Ozzy, a Canadian expat YouTuber, reflects on his multiple moves to Japan from 2003 to 2022, sharing the adventures, personal growth, loneliness, career delays, and family pulls that shaped his life without regret.

STATEMENTS

• The speaker moved to Japan in 2003 as an escape from a stagnant life in Canada, fresh out of university with no clear career path and recent heartbreak.
• Living in Japan initially provided complete independence, transforming the shy speaker into an outgoing teacher, though he remained trapped in an English-speaking bubble without learning Japanese or integrating deeply.
• After four years, the capped career prospects in English teaching led to regrets about wasted time, prompting a return to Canada in 2009 to pursue a real career.
• Reverse culture shock upon returning to Canada felt disorienting, as life seemed familiar yet altered, exacerbating feelings of disconnection from old friends and routines.
• Watching YouTube videos of other expats in Japan reignited nostalgia and a desire to document his own experiences, coinciding with dissatisfaction in unfulfilling office jobs back home.
• The second stint in Japan from 2011 via the JET program in Hokkaido allowed deeper cultural appreciation, extensive travel, and building a YouTube channel to 23,000 subscribers.
• Subsequent jobs as a kindergarten teacher and ALT in Chiba offered a comfortable lifestyle but ultimately wore the speaker down, leading to a sense of unfulfillment after years abroad.
• Family obligations in 2022, particularly his father's rapid dementia and passing, forced a final return to Canada, balancing grief with gratitude for timely presence.
• Japan delayed aspects of the speaker's career and sense of belonging due to repeated relocations and readjustments, yet it prevented greater regrets from a smaller, unadventurous life in Toronto.
• The experience fostered healthier habits and personal qualities like patience and awareness, though reintegration into North American culture proved challenging after adopting a more reserved demeanor.

IDEAS

• Moving abroad accidentally, based on the first response and currency strength rather than passion, can still lead to profound life changes.
• Independence abroad transforms introverted individuals into confident leaders, flipping classroom dynamics from back-row student to front-line teacher.
• The "English bubble" among expats hinders language learning and cultural integration, perpetuating isolation despite immersion.
• Reverse culture shock can feel more acute than initial adjustment, as personal growth clashes with unchanged home environments.
• Social media like YouTube evokes powerful nostalgia for past expat lives, inspiring belated creative pursuits amid career stagnation.
• Deeper cultural understanding on a second abroad stint amplifies appreciation for non-touristy locales and personal fulfillment through content creation.
• Family crises abroad highlight the invisible costs of prolonged expat life, pulling individuals back for irreplaceable moments.
• Living abroad delays professional milestones but enriches health and character, trading immediacy for broader wisdom.
• Romanticized views of Japan ignore the readjustment struggles upon return, making long-term stays riskier for reintegration.
• Age brings wisdom to expat decisions; older movers can evaluate fit more realistically, turning potential regrets into closure.
• Repeated relocations create a hybrid identity, blending cultures but complicating social connections in any single place.
• Japanese lifestyle influences subtly improve interpersonal skills, fostering patience over North American assertiveness, with lasting effects.

INSIGHTS

• Accidental choices in life pivots, like selecting a destination for practical reasons, often yield unexpected personal rebirths through forced independence.
• Cultural bubbles in expat communities reveal how comfort zones sabotage true immersion, underscoring the need for deliberate boundary-pushing.
• Nostalgia amplified by digital media can trap individuals in idealized pasts, but channeling it into creation bridges gaps between eras.
• Prolonged abroad experiences sculpt enduring traits like resilience and empathy, outweighing temporary career halts by expanding life's narrative scope.
• Family anchors reality amid wanderlust, reminding that relational ties evolve independently of geography, demanding periodic realignments.
• Maturity reframes regrets as experiments; later-life moves allow discerning authenticity, transforming "what ifs" into informed peace.

QUOTES

• "Moving to Japan was an adventure, a journey, and a once in a-lifetime experience that a lot of people never get the chance to have."
• "I was the shiest kid in the school. I always used to sit in the back of the class. Most people didn't even know my name. But once I moved to Japan, I lost my shyness."
• "Reverse culture shock is definitely real. Even though I was gone for only four or 5 years, I could feel it. Life felt familiar, but something was different."
• "If I'm doing a job that I don't like, I might as well do it in a country that I do like."
• "Japan gave me exactly what I needed at the time each time I went."

HABITS

• Embracing complete independence by managing personal apartments, bills, and schedules without external guidance to build self-reliance.
• Staying out late and traveling spontaneously to seize opportunities and foster adventurous living.
• Documenting daily life through YouTube videos to process experiences and connect with others retrospectively.
• Prioritizing healthier eating with Japanese cuisine to sustain physical well-being long-term.
• Cultivating patience and group awareness through cultural immersion, leading to a more reserved and empathetic demeanor.

FACTS

• The speaker applied to teach English in Taiwan, Japan, and Korea in 2003, with Japan responding first and offering a stronger yen, influencing the choice over perceived safety.
• Nagoya, where the speaker first lived, has limited English speakers, contributing to the isolation of expat "English bubbles."
• YouTube was nascent during the speaker's initial 2003-2009 Japan stay, mostly used for pirated content rather than expat vlogs.
• The JET program placed the speaker in Hokkaido for the 2011 return, enabling deeper Japanese language learning and off-the-beaten-path travel.
• The speaker's father's dementia progressed rapidly within two years, underscoring the urgency of family returns in 2022.

REFERENCES

• Classmate's journal from teaching English in Korea, which inspired the initial abroad application.
• JET program for cultural exchange teaching in Hokkaido.
• Eon conversation teaching job in Nagoya.
• YouTube platform for expat life documentation, growing the channel to 23,000 subscribers.
• ALT position in Chiba after kindergarten teaching.
• Ebook "Only Regrets" on ghostyourjob.com.
• NordVPN for travel security and streaming.
• Suno AI for royalty-free music creation.
• Instagram @theozzyawesome for updates.

HOW TO APPLY

• Assess your current life dissatisfaction, such as job stagnation or loneliness, and identify abroad opportunities as an escape mechanism without deep prior knowledge of the destination.
• Apply to multiple programs or countries simultaneously, prioritizing quick responses, financial incentives like currency strength, and safety perceptions to make a practical decision.
• Keep your plans private until committed, booking tickets first to build momentum and avoid external discouragement from family or friends.
• Actively seek independence upon arrival by handling all personal responsibilities alone, using the freedom to experiment with late nights, travel, and social invitations.
• Combat isolation by recognizing expat bubbles early; force interactions outside comfort zones, like pursuing language classes, to foster genuine integration despite language barriers.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Moving abroad, even repeatedly, enriches life profoundly despite delays, turning potential regrets into irreplaceable growth.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Start with short-term abroad living, like one to three months, to test immersion without full commitment and ease potential readjustment.
• Document your expat journey via social media from day one to capture unfiltered experiences and mitigate later nostalgia.
• Build basic language skills before or during your stay to break free from expat isolation and enhance cultural depth.
• Regularly evaluate career ceilings abroad; pivot back home proactively if growth stalls to avoid prolonged stagnation.
• In your 30s or 40s, pursue delayed abroad moves with accumulated wisdom to confirm fit and dissolve lingering "what if" regrets.

MEMO

In the dim glow of his parents' Toronto basement in 2003, Ozzy stared at a life that felt like a dead end: a university degree gathering dust, a breakup still stinging, and a secretary job that involved more coffee runs than ambition. At 22, with no passion for Japan—no anime marathons, no sushi obsessions—he applied to teach English abroad on a whim, inspired by a classmate's Korean journal. Taiwan, Korea, Japan all accepted him, but Japan's swift reply and strong yen sealed the deal. It wasn't a dream; it was flight. Two weeks before departure, he broke the news to shocked parents and skeptical friends, boarding a plane not for destiny, but deliverance.

Nagoya welcomed him with concrete anonymity and a tiny apartment that became his first taste of unbridled freedom. No curfews, no hovering advice—just bills, late nights, and the thrill of saying yes to every whim. As a conversation teacher for Eon, the once-shy backbencher emerged as the classroom's charismatic lead, shedding inhibitions like old skin. Yet beneath the adventure lurked shadows: an "English bubble" of fellow expats insulated him from Japanese fluency, leaving him adrift in loneliness after four years. The job's capped pay and stalled growth gnawed at him—Am I wasting time?—until 2009, when he fled back to Canada, chasing a nebulous career in public relations.

Reverse culture shock hit like jet lag from another dimension. Friends had aged into mortgages and milestones; he felt like a ghost in familiar streets. YouTube, barely a blip during his first stint, now brimmed with expat vlogs that twisted the knife of regret: I lived this, but never shared it. Office drudgery—data entry in a soul-crushing cubicle—mirrored his old woes. Why suffer here when paradise beckoned? In 2011, the JET program whisked him to Hokkaido's snowy expanses, where prior lessons bloomed into real Japanese skills, hidden gems of travel, and a YouTube channel swelling to 23,000 subscribers. Kindergarten chaos and ALT stability followed in Chiba, lulling him into thoughts of permanence—until 2022, when a sister's call shattered the illusion. His father's lightning-fast dementia demanded return; two years later, he was gone. Grief mingled with gratitude: Ozzy had made the last chapters count.

Japan didn't just delay his life—it reshaped it. Careers faltered in the bounce between borders, belonging fractured by reverse shocks, yet it spared him a shriveled existence in Toronto's grind. Sushi and serenity honed him healthier, kinder, more attuned to the collective hum over North America's roar. Romanticizers on YouTube gloss over the toll: the longer the stay, the thornier the return. For twentysomethings pondering the leap, Ozzy urges a trial run—not vacationing, but living it raw. Thirtysomethings nursing regrets? Wisdom is your ally; go now, discern, and find closure. No, he doesn't regret it. Nostalgia, yes; peace, absolutely. Japan delivered precisely what he craved, each visit a perfect, imperfect chapter.