# Should I? Can I?



## BronwynR (Oct 21, 2011)

Hello to all you expats! I am in my fourties and unmarried. I am a registered nurse (uni trained) and about to complete a second degree in radiography. My kids are nearly grown and I want to move to Japan when I graduate, or very soon after. Is this a realistic goal? I am bad at the language, but willing to put the time in to learn it. Thanks for any advice as to how I can realise my plans.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

BronwynR said:


> Hello to all you expats! I am in my fourties and unmarried. I am a registered nurse (uni trained) and about to complete a second degree in radiography. My kids are nearly grown and I want to move to Japan when I graduate, or very soon after. Is this a realistic goal? I am bad at the language, but willing to put the time in to learn it. Thanks for any advice as to how I can realise my plans.


Your Australian qualifications won't be recognised and will first have to be evaluated by professional body (government agency in case of Japan). Japan has tried experimentally to import some nurses from South East Asia (The Philippines) in the last few years, but the result has been, so far as I know, not very promising. The sticking point seems to be that all have to pass the Japanese professional written nursing exams, in Japanese, and despite intensive language classes, few have been able to master Nihongo well enough to pass. So far only nurses from Indonesia and the Philippines have been eligible. As an Australian, you may have difficulties getting a suitable visa to acquire language skills and prepare for the state nursing exams, since government-sponsored schemes aren't open to you.

It may be possible to work in non-Japanese hospitals, such as US military ones without Japanese or having to pass exams.


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## Rube (Apr 27, 2011)

They've tried bringing in staff only for the old age homes though right?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Rube said:


> They've tried bringing in staff only for the old age homes though right?


No, the schemes have been sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, at the specific request of overseas government (Indonesia and the Philippines) to allow qualified nurses to come over to Japan to work in public hospitals and give them visa valid up to 3 years, during which they are expected to learn Japanese and pass the Japanese state nursing exams.


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## BronwynR (Oct 21, 2011)

Actually, I was hoping to get work as a radiographer and not a nurse...it seems language is the sticking point.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

BronwynR said:


> Actually, I was hoping to get work as a radiographer and not a nurse...it seems language is the sticking point.


To work as a radiographer (radiological technologist) in Japan, your Australian training and qualification must first be verified by the Ministry of Health as equivalent, and pass the state exam (in Japanese), set annually in February. There are 200 questions over 14 subjects, and the pass mark is 60%.

Frankly, you do need university-level knowledge of Japanese, in reading and writing, to stand any chance and, AFAIK, there is no preparatory course offered to foreign radiographers. And I don't think there is a notable shortage of radiographers in Japan either.

As I said, try openings at US military hospitals, though you probably need to be an American.


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