Arrived on May 21st of 2021 in Tokyo
The second half of my 120 years lifespan starts in Japan (2021).
Waiting one year in China far from my base for my visa (covid, visa, and many other bad luck events1).
Two weeks of quarantine.
Start the registration process (My Number, bank account, social insurance, taxes, etc).
Bought necessary new hardware, software, and types of equipment to restart life from scratch (professional and personal life2).
Started to learn the local language (3 in 13). It will be a lifetime of suffering for the good4… sort of.
Raising funds for one of my projects.
Starting up in a couple of weeks hopefully.
One first self-declared investor willing to take the plunge for a small but reasonable amount. Let's see if he executes on his promises.
I’ll try to leverage with special bank loans5 and potentially some subsidies. It’ll be acrobatic but feasible.
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In the meantime, tell your friends!
No whining here. Some lost their lives and that IS real drama.
Let's not get touchy about the work-life balance. I do not believe in it except if I chose a life of a salaryman. Work is for me a lifetime endeavor and not something I do to survive. Or it’s slavery. I have been slave too.
Learning Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji will prove to be one of the best anti-degenerative diseases approach to 60+ and for a comfortable longevity experience… if it makes sense.
The local government generously offered me an intensive Japanese learning training program. Just finished learning the hiragana 46 characters set. Did I say suffering… No whining is allowed in my court, but I already forgot most. It’s good to suffer.
I know what you are thinking: “He’s crazy! A bank loan? For starting up? Who does that?” In other places around the world, I’d agree with the skeptics. Unfortunately, the local startup ecosystem s more about hype than reality as I see it for now. And the ecosystem does not bear the same meaning as elsewhere on the digital planet. Startup “stuff” seem mainly promotional… to stay nice.
And what the heck, the level of the interest rate for business loans is so low that it makes perfect sense as an “investment” resource. I know… it looks weird.