When Vibhor Jain moved to Tokyo in 2022, it wasn’t because he wanted to conquer the language or thrive in Japan’s demanding office culture. Just the opposite — he made the move because he wouldn’t have to do those things.
An IT engineer from Delhi, Jain, 46, originally left India in 2002 to study and work in Finland, Spain and New Zealand. He freelanced through much of that time, enjoying a high degree of autonomy and flexibility.
“I was also drawn to Japan, but I worried about adjusting to the work culture — especially the long hours, the lengthy commutes and the language barrier.”
Then the pandemic hit.
Japan enacted strict border controls during that time, triggering a decline in the number of Indian migrants — from 40,202 in 2019 to 36,467 in 2021 — as many were stranded abroad or unsure of their visa status.
The multinational digital marketing and analytics firm Jain works for quickly shifted to remote work as lockdown mandates took hold. This work-from-home policy, along with a desire to expand into other markets, resulted in a position opening up in Tokyo that Jain could handle — with the need to navigate office culture and language barriers removed.
Border restrictions eased and the number of migrants rebounded. Today, Jain is one of the more than 50,000 Indians who live in Japan.
Remote or hybrid work was an option in IT and engineering fields long before COVID-19, but the pandemic broadened its appeal among companies nationwide. A survey by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism last year found that 24.6% of employees across the country were working remotely — only a slight drop from 24.8% in 2023 and well above pre-pandemic levels.
While Japanese workers have their own reasons for wanting to work from home, for Indians moving to the country this flexibility can ease the transition into Japanese society. For women in particular, it can open doors long closed by a rigid office culture or lighten the burden of child care.
There are trade-offs, including feelings of disconnection and challenges in adapting to the culture, but Jain says he wouldn’t have done things any other way.
“If it weren’t for that flexibility, I would have been reluctant to move,” he says.
Careers on hold ... and reimagined
Japanese women have seen many benefits from working from home, and the same is true for Indian women who come to Japan with their families, sometimes giving up their own jobs to follow a spouse.
Bijeta Rani, 42, is one such woman. She moved to Japan in 2013 for her husband’s job, putting her own career on hold to raise their two young children. Her husband traveled frequently, and returning to the workforce in a different country felt out of reach. When international travel slowed in 2021 and her daughters were old enough to care for themselves, she saw an opening.
“I’d received offers before,” Rani says, “but in the final round, the career break, the language barrier and being a mother always raised concerns” with potential employers. While unemployed, she worked hard to improve her Japanese, but it was her current company’s newfound openness to English speakers — and its remote work policy — that gave her a real chance to return to the job market.
“No one asked how I’d manage child care,” she says. “And once you’re in, you can prove yourself. The hardest part is getting back in.”
While many companies have returned to in-person work, some continue to offer hybrid models or flexible hours. Rani’s company has resumed office work, but she is allowed to work on a flexible schedule. Her husband’s job remains hybrid, which lets them share child care responsibilities.
Many Indian migrant women face this dilemma: choosing between a career and motherhood. Separated from extended family — who often assist with child care back home — and with partners working long hours, many take career breaks that are difficult to recover from. In India, these challenges can be comparatively easier to manage thanks to family support and workplaces that, while not perfect, may be more accommodating of family obligations than those in Japan.
The rise of remote work has begun to shift that equation — especially for parents navigating child-rearing during or after the pandemic.
Supriti Sethi, 44, and her husband, Prasad Bakre, 43, are no strangers to Japan. They first arrived as graduate students studying Japanese, then left to work in Singapore before returning to Tokyo in 2021 — this time as working parents.
Sethi manages the marketing division of a European multinational, while Bakre serves as a director of sales at a Japanese multinational. Their son was born during the pandemic, and flexible work policies made it possible to manage his early years without family support.
“Thanks to a full-flex work policy, returning to work after my maternity break was much smoother,” says Sethi. “I chose to exclusively breastfeed, and working from home allowed me to continue without interruption. It also gave me space for focused, creative work.”
Bakre adds that with their parents unable to visit, remote work became essential.
“We had to manage everything ourselves, with only part-time help,” he says. “We saved over three hours of commuting each day by working remotely. That meant we could show up for our child during illnesses or vaccinations. It also helped us take care of our own health and mental well-being.
“As they say, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ For us, remote work was that village.”
Of course, this aspect of remote work has not only been of benefit for Indian migrants in Japan — it’s also reshaping the lives of Japanese workers. According to the 2024 government survey mentioned earlier, employees who work remotely tend to center their routines closer to home. While this has meant a decline in shopping, dining and socializing in urban centers, it has allowed people to spend more time on domestic responsibilities such as housework, child care, elder care and personal hobbies. Shopping frequency has also increased in the outer residential areas and through online channels.
For families like Sethi and Bakre’s, this flexibility became not just convenient but essential.
When flexibility isn’t enough
The rise of remote work has not only improved work-life balance for new migrants in Japan but has also created additional pathways for women who move here with their partners. Increasingly, instead of arriving as “trailing spouses” who put their careers on hold, many are able to come as “accompanying spouses” with a job already in hand.
But for some, like Shipra Baxi Bhatnagar, 33, this flexibility came with a cost.
She married Vibhor Bhatnagar, a longtime Japan resident, in 2020. After their wedding in Mumbai, Vibhor returned to Tokyo to process her visa — but Japan’s pandemic-era border restrictions left Shipra stranded for nearly a year.
When she finally arrived in Tokyo in late 2021, she was grateful to have found remote work with the Indian division of a Japanese company. But the experience was far from what she expected.
Shipra, who had previously run her own consultancy in Mumbai, was no stranger to remote work. But her image of it — working from cafes, beaches or hip, urban spaces — didn’t match the reality she faced in Tokyo.
“My workday ran from noon to 3 or 4 a.m. Japan time,” she recalls. “I couldn’t attend language classes, and preparing vegetarian meals took extra time. It was hard to build a rhythm.”
The couple’s small apartment couldn’t accommodate their clashing schedules, and even after moving to a larger space, noise complaints and isolation persisted.
“I tried working from cafes and co-working spaces, but most were too quiet for constant video calls,” she says. “The Tokyo office couldn’t offer me a desk, either.”
A marketing consultant by training, Shipra found that the lack of local colleagues affected her creativity.
“I’m a social person,” she says. “I wanted to explore the culture, meet people, see what my husband loves about Japan — but I was awake when the world around me was asleep.”
After a year and a half, she began to feel depressed.
“It created a bias,” she says. “Not because Japan was bad but because I never got to experience what makes it so special — its safety, honesty, cleanliness.”
In 2023, Shipra and Vibhor moved to Dubai, where they’ve since started a new life.
“Remote work gave me a job, but it also isolated me,” she says. “Creativity in marketing comes from people — and (in Japan), I had no one to talk to.
Rethinking work and Japan's reputation
While the shift toward flexibility hasn’t resolved all challenges, it has played a major role in reshaping Japan’s appeal for foreign professionals.
Jain now works remotely from Osaka, though his company is headquartered in Tokyo.
“Working outside of Tokyo helped me escape the international bubble,” he says. “It also helps me relate to Japanese clients more personally — our conversations aren’t limited to the capital.”
Still, he admits that working remotely can make it harder to share ideas or have quick conversations with colleagues.
For Sethi, hybrid options go beyond logistics.
“The growing acceptance of diverse work styles shows that Japan is beginning to respect the needs of families without compromising on quality,” she says. “This could help rebrand Japan as a more progressive and attractive destination — especially for young Japanese and global talent who might otherwise look abroad.”
Her husband, Bakre, agrees.
“Japan is a very attractive destination for foreigners now, with a strong employment framework that values work-life balance,” he says. “Gone are the days of the workaholic image of Japanese men. More and more of our colleagues are leaving the office early or taking longer vacations to spend time with their families or care for their children.”
Five years after the pandemic reshaped how the world works, Japan is still negotiating the balance between tradition and transformation. Even modest shifts toward flexibility are doing more than easing work-life balance — they’re helping reframe the country as a more appealing destination for global professionals.
There are risks, including the isolation and cultural disconnect that Shipra experienced. But those stories serve as a reminder: Remote work can open doors, but without support, those doors can just as easily start to close.
As Japan continues to rethink its work culture, the real test won’t be just attracting international talent — it will be making sure they feel at home once they arrive
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