My Plan v1.0
 

Ok,

So I've spent the last month criticizing several users who wanted to make their move to Japan. I think it's about time that I laid out my plans for open criticism. ;)

A little background about myself. I'm a first generation Japanese Canadian who's fluent in Japanese. I've got a degree in Comp.Sci. and I've been working as a systems engineer for IBM for around 14 years. I'm single and I'm living the high life as I work from my condo overlooking the mountains which are just 10 minutes away. I do maybe 4hrs of actual work a day, spend the rest of my time rock climbing, skiing, riding my mountain bike or cruising around the mountain roads in my Vette. (Ok... so I hit my mid life crisis very early. Hahaha!)

Everyone tells me that I'm a lucky bastard and although I don't doubt it, I've always had this dream of dumping the I/T field altogether and starting a Japanese bento-ya business in my current hometown. I've also had this dream of living in Japan for a year (or two?) ever since I spent a few months working in Yokohama back in 1992.

Well enough is enough!

My plan is as follows. I'm thinking of permanently leaving my job and moving to the Kanto area of Japan in the fall. While there, I'd like to work at a Japanese restaurant (preferably at a bento-ya of course) where I'd like to learn the business, make some connections and build upon some ideas I already have in place. Since the pay at these types of jobs are less than ideal (800yen/hr?), I'm thinking of possibly supplementing my income by tutoring at a Eikaiwa a few times a week. Money isn't a huge problem but I'd like to be able to travel to the mountains on the weekends! (In case anyone's wondering, I'll be going with a "Child of a Japanese National" visa which allows me to work up to 3 years in any field.)

I'd like to continue this for at least a year before I re-evaluate my decision and make any changes.

Of course my parents are totally against this but I keep on telling them that I could always return to the I/T field in the very very worst case. Since I have no dependents or permanent ties to Canada other than my job, I'm thinking that I might as well go sooner rather than later.

congratulations, and good luck. it must take a lot of courage to do that. :)

Sounds like a plan. Good luck, and I hope your future bento-ya business kicks off and becomes successful! ;]

v1.1
 

After coming to my senses, I decided to ask my company for a one year sabbatical so that I have my back covered in case of utter failure. If they decide to give me a package instead, that would even be better. :)

If all else fails, I'll take a 4 week vacation in the fall to re-evaluate the feasibility of my plan.

Thanks for the encouragement and thanks for reading!

Sounds like a very ambitious goal. A bento-shop, wow. I also hope for its success, but at least you have a lot of back-up plans and such just in case it doesn't work out. Good luck to you. ^_^

A bento shop? Opening a business is risky (as you know), and restaurants (even bento-ya) are even more risky, with perhaps 2/3 failing within the first year.

If you are keen on opening up your own place, remember the first 3 rules of business: 1, location, 2, location, and 3, location. Nothing else is as important.

Theoretically, all ekaiwa position are part-time, and the income is actually not bad for the actual amount of work that you do. I wouldn't exactly call it "teaching", but it should be enough to sustain you while you establish your business, and possibly even finance it.

Good luck.

Thanks for the input!

The restaurant business is difficult indeed... especially in this economy. I've got some innovative ideas which I'm sure will work but I'll continue to plan this out.

In the meantime, I'm waiting for my company to give me the green light. I even packed up all of my office items for return. Hahaha!

The Japanese are great lovers of "innovation", particularly when it comes to food and restaurants. It seems that things are constantly being changed/innovated, to remain competitive. To the ever-changing bread and pastry section at 7-11 to the endless variety of flavors that Kit Kat candy.

Any idea yet on where you plan to open your shop?

Actually, I'd like to open a bento-ya in my current town nestled in the Canadian Rockies. One of the reasons is the huge influx of Japanese tourists/tour companies in the area.

My plan is to start off with a catering type of business at first... aimed at the tour companies. This way, I'd be able to sell hundreds of bento's a day with little investment. Depending on how this goes, I'll decide on whether to open up a shop or become a distributor. The latter wouldn't be as prestigious but it'd be nice since it wouldn't necessarily require a store front.

Theoretically, a business like this wouldn't really benefit from any study/research in Japan since the knowledge gained wouldn't exactly translate to the western world due to different customs, regulations, etc. but I figure it couldn't hurt. It also gives me an excuse to get out of my current job. Hahaha!

wats so bod about japan