Visa rules, taxes, housing, career moves: the path to Japan is a maze of half-truths and outdated forums. I've spent 8 years figuring it out so you don't have to.
Every source says something different. Forum posts are years out of date, blog articles contradict each other, and well-meaning advice from friends rarely applies to your situation. One wrong step early on can cost you months of backtracking.
When I moved to Japan, I spent months piecing together contradictory advice from forums and blogs. Eight years later, I've built a life that's perfect for me, and I know exactly what I'd do differently.
Japanese taxes and social insurance are complex. Plug in a target salary and see your real disposable income.
Set your priorities and we'll rank Japan's top tech cities for you. Every combination gives a different answer.
Senior role density, compensation ceiling
Rent, daily expenses, how far your yen goes
Daily life without fluent Japanese
Restaurants, bars, events, variety
Schools, parks, safety, space
Outdoors access, less density, slower pace
Adjust your priorities to see a recommendation
A hands-on engagement built on 8 years of navigating life in Japan, not a course, not a Notion template.
Visa type, target city, language strategy, timeline. The decisions you make before you even start job searching shape everything that follows. I help you think through the preconditions so you're not backtracking six months in.
From finding roles that match your goals to understanding what's actually in a Japanese offer (base, bonuses, relocation, housing), I'll help you navigate a job market that works nothing like what you're used to.
Ward office registration, bank accounts, apartments, health insurance, finding your community. The hundred small decisions that compound. I've done this across multiple cities so you don't learn the hard way.
Every situation is different. I'll help you weigh the trade-offs for your specific goals, whether that's Tokyo, Osaka, or somewhere else entirely.
Three phases, start to settled. The whole engagement typically runs 3-5 months depending on your timeline.
Weeks 1-2
Weeks 3-10
First 90 days in Japan
I moved to Osaka as a senior engineer and immediately felt lost. Every forum post contradicted the last, the paperwork felt endless, and I spent weeks figuring out things that should have taken an afternoon: the right neighborhood, the right bank, the right ward office process.
Over the next eight years, I learned by doing. I’ve lived in Osaka and Tokyo, navigated jobs across the spectrum from "black companies" to top-tier firms, secured Permanent Residency without a lawyer, and figured out how to actually build a life here, not just survive one.
Today, I have a life in Japan that I genuinely love. I didn’t get lucky; I learned how to navigate a fragmented, opaque system and the culture behind it.
The information that makes a great Japan life possible exists, but it’s buried in outdated Reddit threads and hard-won experience. I built this service to jumpstart that learning for people just like I was 8 years ago.
This is a premium, hands-on engagement, not a course or a group chat. I work with a small number of people to make sure your move to Japan isn’t a leap of faith, but a plan.
Eight years of mistakes, corrections, and hard-won pattern recognition - distilled into the specific edges that change outcomes.
These aren't generic tips - they're the specific details that separate a default outcome from an optimized one. I share them with clients, not on the internet.
This engagement pays for itself before your first quarter is over.
I limit Rebase to 3-4 engineers per quarter. If you're seriously planning a
move to Japan, apply for a strategy call — I'll tell you honestly if I can help.
Free 30-minute strategy call. No obligation.
Can't find a time? Email me directly