Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set his sights for Japan to be the new go-to migration country by making overhauls in its immigration policies. These include expediting the delivery of residency cards for skilled migrants, raising the proportion of international students in the country, and bringing in more workers for the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
With the Land of the Rising Sun rearing its shore for more immigrants, how does it compare to the Land Down Under?
Japan’s economy is third largest in the world and the second largest among developed countries. It has the third largest automobile manufacturer as well as the largest electronics goods industry. Among its largest industries are manufacturing, real estate, trade, transport, and finance. Other employment opportunities include technology (IT and programming), English teaching, and sales.
Japan is known for its lengthy working hours, with cases of employees logging in up to 60 working hours not really unheard of. This practice eventually lead to a rare phenomenon called karōshi, which is death due to excessive working. Due to international criticisms and pressure, working hours here is gradually decreasing.
Management style is based not on assertiveness, but rather on consensus building. This spares the individual subordinates from public embarrassments for their mistakes, which can have disastrous impact to them.
Australia’s economy is primarily driven by its service sector, comprising 68% of its GDP. Manufacturing, telecommunications, banking, and the recent mining boom are the country’s leading industries. There are a diverse range of work opportunities everywhere, with the service, information technology, and hospital industry constantly improving and do most of the employment currently.
Australia enjoys a lower than average working hour at 32 hours a week. Much like in Japan, culture of consultancy also define the Aussies’ management style. Subordinates are required to share opinions and suggestions or even challenge their superiors’ ideas as long as executed professionally. This adheres to the Australians’ virtue of mateship, in which everybody is treated equally with respect.
Japan’s health care system assists the residents by paying a good part of expenditures such as screening examinations, infectious disease control, and prenatal care. Hinging on the family income and the age of the insured, patients are expected to settle 10%, 20% or 30% of medical fees with the government footing the remaining fee. By law, the residents are obligated to be enrolled on a universal health care insurance system to assist them in settling expenses for personal medical services.
Patients are given freedom in choosing their physicians or facilities and cannot be refused coverage. By law, hospitals must be managed by physicians and run as non-profit and. For-profit corporations are not allowed to own or operate hospitals. Likewise, clinics must be owned and operated by physicians.
Currently, Japan’s health care system is undergoing major revamps by the current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to adjust to today’s health care expense prices.
Australia’s health care system functions on a centralized level, and is carried out by both private and government institutions. The state and territory governments supervise aspects of health care within their jurisdictions, such as the operation of hospitals.
It is two-pronged: the private health system and the Medicare. The latter is funded partly by a 2% Medicare levy (with exceptions for low-income earners), with the rest being supplied by government. An additional levy of 1% is imposed on high-income earners without private health insurance. To find out more about how Australia’s healthcare system works, check our blog here.
Housing in the country is a mix of modern and traditional styles, and most are built to have limited lifespans i.e. can be torn down after a certain duration of time (20 years for wooden houses and 303 years for concrete) due to safety and quality regulations.
Houses come in various types, these include the single-detached housing, multiple unit buildings, boarding houses (perfect for unmarried people), dormitories, and barracks (for Self-Defense Forces members).
Renting here can be quite a challenge, as it requires a multitude of requirements, including an agent, a Japanese phone number, bank account, pay slips, domestic emergency contact, character reference, and a guarantor.
Owning a house is also not very common in Australia. Around 33% of residents here lives in a fully owned properties, 31.4% rents their home, while 35%of homes are mortgaged.
The departments of state governments provides Public housing in Australia. It is divided into two categories: The inner-city medium to high-rise apartments and the low-density townhouses/fully detached houses located in the suburban fringes of cities and towns. The inner-city public housing is generally found in Melbourne and Sydney. They are usually 3-5 story walk-up flats and 11-22 story high-rise towers. Low-density suburban estates is located in almost every city and town in Australia.
Expectedly, rents are cheaper in rural than urban areas. It’s also lower the further a property is from a large city or town, public transport or other facilities. The average rents are highest in Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin.
There are very few countries whose public transportation are as modern, as developed, and as competent as Japan. It is very energy efficient, and utilizes less energy per person as opposed to other countries. The railway system is the country’s major means and most used form of transportation. It composed of a complicated network that services cities and towns. The most notable to this are the Shinkansen or bullet trains, one of the fastest trains in the world. Other railway transports are maglevs and street cars. Buses, taxis, and car rentals also operate in the country.
A one way train ticket here costs AU$2.56, while a monthly pass is at around AU$120.00. Starting taxi tariff is AU$9.14 with AU$4.34 for the first one kilometer. A Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (Or Equivalent New Car) will set you back AU$31,427. Gasoline is at AU$1.72 for every litter.
Australia also has very efficient public transport system. But unlike Japan where trains are more popular, driving is the most used mode of transport here, and this number continues to rise. Trains only come second, then walking (the country has a very good culture of walking), and then buses. All of Australian cities have reliable, affordable public bus networks and train lines, plus taxis operate nationwide. These train lines include commuter rail networks, trams, light rails, and rapid transits.
A one-way ticket sets you back by AU$4.00, while going for a monthly pass will increase it by AU$130.00. A kilometer ride of taxi is AU$2.17 with AU$4.00 as starting tariff. If you want your own car, A Volkswagen Golf 1.4 90 KW Trendline (or any equivalent new car) will cost you AU$25,000.00AU$ plus AU$1.30 for every litter of gasoline.
Japanese cuisine is well-developed and has varied range of dishes, despite the limited contributions of external influences. The makes the restaurant business a lucrative industry. There’s definitely or two in every city or small towns, each one offering distinct courses. These include pubs, sushi bars, ramen houses, curry houses, and hot pot restaurants, among others. As stated, the Japanese work long hours, and rarely has time for cooking, thus the liberal proliferation of restaurants.
Dining practices here are quite unique as well. It’s not unusual to be seated on floors or pillows with a very table. Bills are also presented face down (as a matter of tradition) and presented to the cashier to be paid before leaving. Tips are not necessary and often discouraged. Staffs often chase customers who leave money on the table to give it back.
As opposed to Japan, Australian cuisine is a fusion of native aboriginal inventiveness and British colonial contribution, with mix of Asian and Mediterranean traditions provided by wave after wave of post-colonial migrations and helped transform their cuisine. They usually take advantage of meat available in the continent, such as lamb, kangaroo, and emu, as well as pork, beef, and chickens. Like the Japanese, Aussies prefer the freshest produces as much as possible (check here for Australia’s most amazing/weirdest foods).
Australian restaurants follow the Western setup (high tables with high chairs), with the bills being handed to you by the staff or waiter. Tipping is not heavily required, but they are encouraged.
Japan is mostly temperate, with four distinct seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Spring season, from March to May, is when tourist mostly flock to Japan. The weather is warm but not too sweltering hot and during this time rainfall is at its lowest. From June to August begins the summer season, where it start with the very rainy period of June. Then temperature and humidity starts to climb reaching around the 90 degrees Fahrenheit or 40 Celsius in August, followed by the Japanese typhoon season. The start of autumn can still be quite hot and humid (though frequented by typhoons). Still, most of this season brings a more endurable and enjoyable weather climate. The winter season is the driest time of the year. The only precipitation is the snowfall in the north and west coast of Japan where it is best for winter sport events.
Due to the massive land area, Australia goes through differing climates. This fact is characterized by the severely hot climate in the Kimberley region in the north-west of the continent to below zero in the Snowy Mountains in the south. Also due to its size, there just can’t be one seasonal calendar for the whole continent.
Depending upon where in the continent you are each month, the seasons will vary, whether the weather is defined by the Temperate zone seasons or the tropical seasons. To find out more what is the climate and weather patterns in each of the states in the country, check our blog here.
Advantages of Japanese citizenship/naturalization include:
Advantages of Australian Citizenship include:
For a more detailed information about these benefits, check our blog here.
Japan and Australia are both lands of superb opportunities and challenges to immigrants. Both countries have successfully pinned own its unemployment rates for years (3.4 % for Japan and 5.7% for Australia). This means they can fully support their residents financially-wise by providing long term and well-compensated jobs. Both countries also takes care of their citizens’ health very well, as characterized by their well-designed health care systems.
If you are looking for consistent weather atmosphere, fast commuting system, and well initiated with Asian food, then Japan is your country. The Japanese are also very polite, and enjoys one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Though you have to go through the language barrier, as there are very few English-speakers in Japan, and learning Japanese presents quite a laborious task.
Short working hours, work-life balance, and an English-speaking society are Australia’s advantages. The Aussies are friendly and always open for a good chat, and the outdoor lifestyle is enjoyable especially for the physically active. Though you have to put up with the inconsistent weather pattern and the dishes that exist only quite here.