At 30, I made a big decision

In 2023, I made what might be the most significant decision of my life: to move to another country. This year, I finally get to implement it.

When I left Shenzhen, I naively thought about settling in Chengdu. I transferred my household registration and social security balance there and never considered moving to another city in China. I even looked at new apartments in Chengdu.

Back then, I saw a community under construction near the First Ring Road, right next to Yulin. For just over three million? I thought, once I qualify to buy, I’ll buy! (At the time, my household registration was in Tianfu New Area, and my social security in the High-tech Zone wasn’t enough per regulations to purchase a house there.)

Later, Chengdu largely lifted its purchasing restrictions, and I could buy in the High-tech Zone. But things were changing. Personal setbacks and many worrying developments in the country made me reconsider.

I have to especially thank Chengdu’s poor job market. If it hadn’t given me a harsh wake-up call, I would’ve been stuck trying to buy at the peak property prices, already deep in debt without even owning a house.

Thankfully, my life has been relatively unsuccessful, so I didn’t have the confidence or ability to leverage my future. If I had been slightly more successful, I might have forced myself to buy property in Shenzhen, lost my down payment, and tied myself to that place forever.

In hindsight, my failures saved me. It’s like saving money instead of investing because you couldn't afford to; then one day realizing your 5% return beat most people’s investments. That’s how I feel now.

No one understands better than me that misfortune might be where fortune rests, and vice versa.

Last year, while job hunting in Chengdu, I also applied to some development positions in Tokyo at English-speaking companies. The response and interview numbers in Tokyo overwhelmingly outshone Chengdu. So, why not just go to Japan?

However, not knowing Japanese limited my options. I either had to choose high-bar English-supporting companies or many pitfalls of Chinese companies. So, I decided to self-study Japanese, aiming to find Japanese-speaking roles in 2024.

Once I started, I realized how challenging it is to self-learn a new language, especially without a foundation.

So we decided to first go to a language school in Japan, learn Japanese well, and then find a job. Based on my interview experiences and job requirements, Japan’s demands for developers are not as high as in China.

At the end of March, we will embark on a year-long language study journey in Japan as planned.

Making this decision wasn't easy, because we’ve both crossed the 30-year-old mark. Japan, as a developed country with lower income levels, is not a land of opportunity where you can strike it rich just by going there. We need to have a clear understanding of this.

But compared to China, I believe China’s future looks darker. While Japan may be in and stay in a slow decline for a long time, China is on the brink of an extended dark period, just as it cyclically has been throughout its 2,000-year history. Before the sun rises again, many costs and much blood need to be shed. I will definitely write in detail about my views on China’s future in the future, which is unlikely to be publishable on public platforms, so you can follow my blog.

It’s a bit late to run now, but not too late. I hope that years from now, I will look back on today with the same gratitude I feel now for leaving Shenzhen, and be thankful for the decision to leave Chengdu for Japan.

As for why Japan, we actually considered several countries and will write a comparison article in the future.

Next, I will periodically update our experiences in Japan and share how I transitioned from design to web development. Hopefully, it will provide some reference for future readers.