Day 1/366 of 2024 is over. Thoughts so far on the plus side:

1. Family. Japan was a great move for the family.

2. Mental health. Japan is much better for overall mental health than latter day Singapore.

3. Environment. Four seasons which you don’t miss until you don’t have them. Mountains, oceans and forests you can lose yourself in.

4. Costs. Rent is 75% cheaper and a beer is 50% cheaper minimum.

On the other side of the equation:

1. Absolutely dire for my old career. Very few US and EU firms run an APAC business from Japan so getting hired here for a regional role will be tough. So a rethink is in order after the 4th of January.

2. Tinkering and crafting. Unlike Singapore where apartments are concrete and steel Japanese apartments are very lightly constructed to deal with earthquakes. You can’t install patch panels or run ethernet as I did before. Additionally, woodworking with power tools on a balcony will be impossible and whole home audio will just annoy the neighbours so that’s out.

Overall getting out of Singapore was a smart move and we should have done it a year earlier. Costs were becoming ridiculous rents almost tripled, visas for mid-career jobs became hard to obtain.

So let’s see what 2024 brings. Right now it’s a big question mark over everything but at least the financial bleeding has stopped.