Stories from The DECK | Sophie (Part 3/3)

Every day, people from around the world bring their dreams, work, and curiosity to The DECK. Some stay for a few days, others for months, but all leave with stories that become part of their journey.

Entrepreneurs, designers, engineers, artists, researchers, students, and digital nomads each bring a unique perspective—and a story worth sharing.

Behind every laptop is a story worth telling.

In this series, we introduce the people behind the laptops: their journeys, their experiences in Japan, and the moments that shaped their lives along the way.

What Japan's Digital Nomad Visa Made Possible for Me

Editor's Note

This is Part 3 of our three-part conversation with Sophie.This is Part 3 of our three-part conversation with Sophie.

In the previous chapters, she shared why she chose Japan and how she built an everyday life here through work, routine, and community.

In this final chapter, we reflect on what Japan's Digital Nomad Visa ultimately made possible—and why she hopes to return one day.

More Than a Visa

During our conversation, I asked Sophie whether she thought Japan's Digital Nomad Visa had achieved what it was designed to do.

Her answer was simple.

"Yes."

Without it, spending six months living in Japan while continuing to work remotely for her New Zealand employer would have been much more difficult.

But as we continued talking, it became clear that what the visa had made possible wasn't simply remote work.

It had made everyday life possible.

Over the past six months, Japan had become more than a country she had always wanted to visit.

It became somewhere she built routines, friendships, and memories.

One thing that stood out throughout our conversation was how often Sophie described ordinary moments instead of extraordinary ones.

She wasn't trying to see everything Japan had to offer.

She wanted to understand what everyday life actually felt like.

As she put it,

"I don't like going on holidays. I like living somewhere."

Looking Ahead

Before we finished our conversation, I asked one final question.

"Would you like to come back to Japan?"

There wasn't much hesitation.

"Definitely."

Six months, she felt, wasn't quite long enough.

Long enough to become comfortable.

Long enough to build routines.

But perhaps not quite long enough to feel fully settled.

If there was one thing she hoped to see in the future, it was more opportunities for people like her to spend a longer period building a life in Japan.

For countries hoping to attract global talent, visas are an important first step.

But creating an environment where people can truly feel part of everyday life takes something more.

It takes communities.

It takes opportunities to connect.

It takes places where people can build routines rather than simply pass through.

As we wrapped up our conversation, I found myself thinking back to the sentence that had started it all.

"I don't like going on holidays.

I like living somewhere."

For Sophie, Japan's Digital Nomad Visa didn't simply make remote work possible.

It made six months of ordinary life possible.

And sometimes, those ordinary days become the memories we value most.

Interview by Tomo Morisawa

CEO, The DECK

If there's one thing I've learned through conversations like this, it's that no two experiences of Japan are the same.

Some people come here to launch a business. Others come to study, create, or simply experience everyday life from a different perspective.

Through Stories from The DECK, I hope to continue sharing those experiences—one story at a time.