Living in Okinawa questions.. what degree is useful?

[helmutkohl]

I'm an American who plans on marrying his Okinawan girlfriend who insists she stay in Okinawa .
i got a masters in Geography. but considering to go up to a ph.d level, or a professional degree like, urban planning, law, or public administration.. would any of these be useful in finding a job in Okinawa (which is already difficult as it is)

I have some japanese speaking ability. I plan on taking the 2nd level JPLT test in a few months.

 

[Glenski]

"Some" Japanese ability plus any degree is not a positive statement about finding work to support a family in Japan. What exactly did you want to do for work? Most non-teaching jobs will require a fairly high level of Japanese, especially reading and writing. JLPT2 is bare minimum.

 

[helmutkohl]

"Some" Japanese ability plus any degree is not a positive statement about finding work to support a family in Japan. What exactly did you want to do for work? Most non-teaching jobs will require a fairly high level of Japanese, especially reading and writing. JLPT2 is bare minimum.

I don't mind teaching, in fact I wanted to be a college level professor but I'm not sure of the difficulties for a foreign professor to land a job in a Japanese college, let alone its stability.

I did an exchange to a university in Okinawa and there was one foreign teacher and he was not a regular staffer and it seems like he wasn't paid very well.

outside of teaching, there's a US consulate there I wouldn't mind working at and I have interests and some educational background on transportation, energy and other analytical kind of things

 

[nice gaijin]

Has your gf given any compelling reasons for staying in Okinawa or is that just her ultimatum?

 

[helmutkohl]

Has your gf given any compelling reasons for staying in Okinawa or is that just her ultimatum?

basically strong identification with her roots and her career oriented to the tourism industry there.

so far, from what I've seen there (and I've only lived there for a few months), is that most of the foreigners are either language teachers or military personnel.

 

[nice gaijin]

It certainly does seem that way, if course I've spent very little time there as a tourist so my knowledge of the job market there is based on hearsay, but it seems like a difficult place to prosper, especially for a foreigner that wants to work outside those two fields.

 

[DoctorP]

I can't quite see how a master's in Geography will benefit you in Okinawa. The best way to thrive would be to open a business of some type capable of catering to both military and Okinawans. The military community has money to spend, and spend it they will.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Glenski]

I don't mind teaching, in fact I wanted to be a college level professor but I'm not sure of the difficulties for a foreign professor to land a job in a Japanese college, let alone its stability.

I don't see your chances of that as being very good at all. A degree in Geography? Sorry.

I did an exchange to a university in Okinawa and there was one foreign teacher and he was not a regular staffer and it seems like he wasn't paid very well.
outside of teaching,

Most uni teachers these days seem to be stringing together PT work. I don't think there's enough unis on Okinawa for that. I also know the salaries there are lower and the opportunities for teaching overall are far fewer there.

 

[Rollin_j's]

Something that you may want to look into is becoming a full time DODDS (Elementary, Jr High, High School) teacher on one of the military installations. The pay is good and commensurate with the local economy (much more than the avg Okinawan). On top of this you may qualify for a housing allowance that equate to a pretty decent amount.

Also, there are colleges that service the military on each installation (Troy State, Central Texas College, University of Maryland Asian Division, etc). Seeking employment with them could very well turn out to be a much more realistic alternative to working in the Okinawan economy.