Ichi Yen

お久しぶりです。

Since my last post in 2021 on my life in Tokyo, I felt there should be an update to the website and blog.

I want to say I have been busy but honestly, life has really been a bundle of surprises.

I faced my first Japanese burn out in January this year followed by a hopeful reset with my career and life directions in Japan in April.

Over time, I just realised I have over 20 draft posts just collecting storage space on WordPress. A part of me was a little uncertain with sharing my life in Japan online, hence my draft posts collecting dust since 2020.

With the biggest career setback in May this year, and honestly, not the best luck with co-workers in Japan, I made the decision to leave Japan, the country I tried so hard to stay in.

There are a lot of reasons to my decision and move but let me summarise them into two points:

1. Age & Career
2. Life direction & Priorities

1. Age & Career

I have spent over 3 years in Japan. A big chunk of my young adult youth was spread over 5 prefectures in Japan, across 7 jobs, each weighing its own pros and cons.

In 2020, I felt a connection with working in the education industry or rather, kids. I love working with kids. They are a bundle of joy and a warm strength of hope as I survived Japan on my own.

But as I furthered more into this career, I realised maybe teaching isn’t for me. I wanted to make an impact but didn’t want the responsibility of shaping a child’s future. The load was too hard to bear (kudos to all teachers, you guys are miracle workers).

Being in Japan, as a foreigner Asian, the odds were stacked against me in getting into a different career path and so, I thought, “Why waste anymore time here, I am not getting younger.”

2. Life direction & Priorities

As I age, my priorities change. My life direction from fully immersing myself in experience and just-do-only, think-later attitude started wearing off.

It’s not something I forced upon but is something I realised over time.

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But as I continue to settle into my new life outside of Japan, I know I will still be back to Japan. For travel, yes, hopefully soon. As for the country to live in, it really is up to my career in bringing me beyond borders.

So, as I bid Japan farewell, it is only for now.

I hope over the next few posts, I will be sharing more about my life in Japan in the past few years, my careers and the struggles I went through. Honestly, I really do need to give myself a pat on my back, because I went to Japan in 2018 with zero knowledge and left in 2022 with fluent conversational skills- all through the senseis of Anime and Manga (thank you!!)

With that, I will see you again Japan.

& stay tuned for more terrifying (jokes) insightful perspective and ideas on life in Japan as an Asian foreigner from Malaysia.

Yen