The Reason Why This 26 yrs-old Japanese Girl Went For Freelancing in Berlin.
Hi, it’s Yuko a.k.a. wasabi (wasabi_yuko).
I recently started English Twitter account, and realised that some people are interested in the reason why I chose Berlin and started freelancing here.
So, I’d like to share my experience and opinions on this topic :)
Cost of Living & Quality of Life
The 1st reason why I chose Berlin to start my freelance career was cheap cost of living. Berlin is getting more expensive compare to 5 years ago because of the recent HYPE, but it’s still affordable compare to other big cities like London or NY. A single person can survive here with around 1,000 EUR per month. I shared on this more in detail on my past article, and you can read it here.
Also, I like the lifestyle in Europe. It seems that people are more relaxed and the work life balance is well considered. Lots of different cultures, races, value and lifestyles exist. As a Japanese, I feel much more free to be here by being free from peer pressure that exists in Japan.
Risk Hedge— Foreign currency, Earthquake and Politics
As is known that Japanese economy and population are falling down these days, I simply calculated that it’s going to be super hard to do business in Japan if I want to go big. You can see the obvious decline in Japanese economy from the news that Japanese bank’s interest rate went negative.
So, in terms of asset management, I feel that there is no point in putting money in Japanese bank account if it doesn’t generate much interest. Also earning foreign currencies can hedge the risk in case Japanese economy bankrupt. My monthly income consists of Yen, Euro, Dol and Bitcoin.
Earthquake and Politics in Japan also concern me. Japanese government decided to keep running the nuclear power plant even after the big earthquake in North Japan while Germany announced that they gonna abolish it by 2022.
My family lives in Tokyo, and I can clearly see that it’s going to be a disaster if the earthquake hits right in the middle of Tokyo. By decentralize living locations, I can hedge the risk. If something happens in Tokyo, my family can move to my place and if something happens in Berlin, I can also move back to Tokyo.
The population in Japan is aging, and the politicians are more focusing on older generations because they want polls. Germany is also aging society, but the the situation is much more discussed in EU on this topic how society should face about this. As you can read the thesis “European Commission white paper — A new impetus for European youth (2001)”, EU has a consensus that younger generation should be included in the society, because the world is changing so quickly for globalisation and the future is hard to see today. So the budget for young people is assigned more in Europe and I feel that German government is aware of it. If I pay the same tax, I want to invest for my future- In the future, I want my kids to have a free good quality education in Germany with a good social security.
I don’t want sound so negative about the situation in Japan, but I believe that pointing out these problems straight forward can change the situation better. My Japanese blog is all about it. That’s why I share my experience and opinions and also show how I did it so that people can realise how to maximise their profit and ultimately how to live life happy.
My Twitter: https://twitter.com/wasabi_yuko
