So he's a bigtime weeb and has visited Japan a bunch and now he wants to live here. Someone I know mentioned he was looking for work, and I could actually help him out. The problem is it's a big pain in the ass to contact him.
This guy was trying to connect us, but at some point, Chibi or his mods seem to have made a grand purge of his social media accounts. Ironically, it was trying to figure out wtf happened that led me to this forum.
I can sympathize with wanting to avoid trolling and whatnot, but it seems like he wants to have it both ways. He wants the attention and clout of being the "guy in Japan" but also militantly locks down all avenues of communication. He wants to be an IRL streamer but seems to detest anyone else who does it, which is self-defeating and leads to him just wandering around sheepishly with his phone pointed at the ground.
Not to deprive you of your entertainment, but my advice to him would be gtfo social media. I think it's the biggest thing holding him back. He gets that empty admiration for "living in Japan" but isn't actually building anything (income, career, skills). The YouTube-faced Western dude in Japan space is crazy saturated. He has no language ability or connections to show anything unique like people who can spend a day with someone running a business or practicing a craft. Stream as a hobby, fine, but marathon sessions playing FFX is just burning valuable time.
And then there's his English job. I assume most of the "scam" talk is just to say it's not a secure full-time type of job you would want for living in Japan, which is true. In a way, the whole Eikaiwa market is just "scam" jobs now. Even when I was a fresh-faced weeb decades ago, Eikaiwa companies were all looking for ways to cap hours to avoid paying benefits. By the 2010s, you had a flood of companies that did little more then play matchmaker between teacher and student. As several have pointed out, nowadays it's quite normal to just have a roster of gig workers to fill in a schedule. If one bails, get another warm body to take their place. Even the more "legit" companies that put you into actual schools, they'll toss you around the country and end your contract and visa on a moment's notice.
And this is where I understand people's frustration in this thread. This dude has the money and time to uproot his whole life and live in Tokyo. He has a 1-year visa. He bemoans getting no work hours, but I dare say that's his greatest asset. It's much harder to coast on an Eikaiwa job now, but on the flip side, you can grab a work visa and retain more freedom than ever. I know people who have one company sponsor them and then make the bulk of their income solo doing freelance stuff.
This is assuming he wants to teach. Maybe he doesn't like Eikaiwa. Well, literally any hobby or cultural pursuit he could think of, there is likely a group nearby or a way to earn a certification. A year is plenty of time to set yourself up with skills and connections to make something work. Can a bearded hobo get JLPT N1 in just one year?? Make a video series on that, even. Study With Me streams seem popular enough.
My suspicion, though, is he doesn't really have to work or try. People talk about his "plot armor" and I think the boring explanation is he's just well funded by family. I've known guys like this where "I have no money" really means "I'm not personally earning money at the moment" but there's always a third party ready to top them off. Especially with the exchange rate now, it doesn't take a ton of money to coast along for a year. The debt-maxing theory certainly seems plausible as well.
So why did I write a fucking novel about this guy I don't even know? I dunno, why did you all make a 1000 page thread about him? I was a young weeb too, once, and that's why I came to Japan. I still enjoy anime/manga but I also had to build a stable life and grow up to some extent. So, I see a bit of myself in Chibi and do enjoy when people come to Japan with genuine interest and get to experience everything for the first time. For all the trolling and mockery, I see a lot of people who wish he'd get his shit together and flourish. The problem is he's pushing 40, which I promise you is still young, but he's 10+ years behind in terms of his current career and life goals, and his relative stability and comfort so far have left him without the necessary motivation to make up for lost time.
Maybe he doesn't gaf and will prance around the Nintendo Museum and fuck off back to the U.S. But on the off-chance that he's serious about wantng to make it work here, it's just a shame to see him over halfway in with nothing to show for it.
