[seanmcdirmid]

It isn't that Japan compensates senior engineers poorly, it is just that China compensates them well.

If all you want to do is work away there and you aren't concerned about pay, maybe you could get a job as a visiting researcher or teacher.

[japanaway]

My rationale for wanting to continue in tech is that my CV will not have weird gaps like "took a year off to teach English" and the money is presumably still better, even despite the low salaries there.

[seanmcdirmid]

If you are actually a senior programmer in a FAANG company while just being your mid 20s, a gap year is not going to affect your resume much at all.

[segmondy]

Japan compensates engineers poorly!

[seanmcdirmid]

Depends on how you look at it :)