This is to vent mostly, but I'd also like to hear what people think. I'm not an expert in economics or sociology, nor do I want to divulge personal details. So I apologize in advance if I can't provide much in the way of details or any meaningful counterpoint subsequently in this thread. And please correct me if any of my points are misguided. I'd just like to vent and then hear what more insightful people have to say in relation to this.

We've been interested in moving back to Jpn for a while. I'm in US in a line of work where US is arguably the global leader. If I could get a job related to my field in Jpn, my pay would be far lower than just about all other places I could go to. Even then I'm willing to consider moving there, cuz it's my homeland. But the interest isn't mutual. It seems the barriers are Jpn's regulations and my age (>35yo). Headhunters in Jpn have slammed the door on me, admitting that Jpn is still very closed. I could get a job in so many other first-world countries. But in theory, I should clearly be of most use to Jpn since I speak English and Japanese fluently. Doesn't matter.

Jpn has these problems: declining population, increasing % of elderly (with high life expectancy), burgeoning debt, increasing natural disasters.

So then bring in immigrants, right? And the reality is many sectors of Jpn now depend on immigrants, yet Jpn remains xenophobic and will not make their acceptance official. They accept <50 refugees a year. If you participate in Japanese people's forums like I do, the amount of xenophobia expressed is disgusting. The overwhelming sentiment is that foreigners are not welcome no matter what the macroeconomics dictate.

So what gives? Delay retirement age. Make people work longer. But this goes counter to Jpn's entrenched age discrimination. I hear that companies wean employees off their posts when they get closer to 60. After that, you either work for the company in a lesser role for much less, or you start over in an unrelated line of work, even arubaito. NHK will have you believe that retiring later is a good thing. But that's not the overwhelming sentiment of Japanese online community.

My lack of success finding my way back to Jpn is an example of someone getting shut out by Jpn's closed, age-discriminating system.

Friends think I'm crazy to think about leaving US for Jpn. Do you agree? Even if we do find our way back to Jpn in the near future, what's Jpn's future like and what is my kids' future in Jpn like, assuming Jpn continues to make changes at glacial pace?