From Home Desk in India to Office Life in Tokyo: What Actually Changed
My name is Simran and I work as a software engineer at Rimo LLC. On the 14th day of the Rimo LLC Advent Calendar, I'll share my experience of transitioning from remote work in India to working from our Tokyo office and what that change taught me.
When I first joined Rimo, I was working from my room in India. Comfortable chair, home-cooked food appearing, and a time zone that didn't require me to calculate whether my 9 PM was someone else's afternoon. Life was good.
So when I heard "working from Tokyo office," my first thought was: Do I really need to go all the way there? My Wi-Fi works fine here.
But now, a few months into actually living and working in Tokyo, I get it. Remote work and office work are both good they just shape you differently.
And some things, you only learn when you're here.
1. "Good morning" hits different in person
In India, my mornings started with a sleepy keyboard and silence. Maybe a "hi" on Slack if I remembered.
In Tokyo, I walk in to ohayou gozaimasu, someone's already got konbini coffee, and the team's discussing ideas before I've even opened my laptop.
That energy is hard to explain. You just want to match it. Not because anyone's forcing you but because everyone around you is already giving their best. It rubs off on you.
2. The office turned me into a routine person
Back home, my schedule was "flexible." Which really means I woke up whenever, ate whenever, and worked whenever focus decided to show up.
Tokyo fixed that. Not by force just by necessity.
My days now:
7 AM: Wake up, make breakfast, pack lunch
Morning: Commute with the salarymen crowd
Day: Work, learn, talk to people
6 PM: Head home
Night: Cook dinner, clean up, prep for tomorrow
Some days it's tiring. By the time I'm done with dishes, I just want to sleep.
But there's this weird pride in doing it all yourself. No one's cooking for me. No one's waking me up. No one's managing my day.
I am.
Somewhere between the rice cooker and the laundry, I realized oh, I've actually grown up. Not in some big dramatic way. Just in the small, boring, real way.
You can't get that confidence from an app. You earn it, one 7 AM alarm at a time.
3. Tokyo teaches you things without trying
Living here isn't just about work.
The city is strange in the best way. One minute you're in a packed station with thousands of people moving like they've rehearsed it. Next minute you find a tiny shrine between two buildings, completely silent.
People here are kind but in a quiet way. The conbini staff who says good morning every day. The stranger who helped me when I was staring at the train map like it was written in alien. Everyone just... respects space. No one's in your face, but no one ignores you either.
And the culture everything here has thought behind it. How food is served. How things are organized. You start noticing it, and slowly it changes how you do your own work too.
On weekends, we sometimes take trips to Yokohama. The bay, the waterfront, the giant ferris wheel lit up at night. The sea breeze makes you forget you're still near Tokyo. It's like a reset. You come back Monday a bit lighter.
4. Thursdays deserve their own section
Remote Thursdays were just... Thursdays.
Tokyo Thursdays are:
Indian curry party 🍛
Oden party 🫕
Sounds small. But these moments matter. You talk more. You learn random stuff about people that Slack never shows you. And suddenly working together gets easier because you actually know each other now.
5. 1-on-1s feel like real conversations
Remotely, my 1-on-1s with my mentor were useful. Structured, clear, helpful.
In Tokyo, they feel different. More like actual conversations.
You catch the tone better. You can ask follow-ups without feeling like you're wasting time. You can share half-baked ideas. It feels like both of you are figuring things out together, not just ticking off an agenda.
I've grown faster here than I expected technically, yes, but also just... professionally. A lot of that came from being in the same room.
6. The real difference: identity
Remote gives you flexibility. Tokyo gives you identity.
When you show up every day:
You feel like part of an actual team, not just a name on Slack
You collaborate without scheduling a call first
You figure out your strengths faster
You get more confident
You understand what Rimo is actually trying to do
Both ways help you grow. Just in different directions.
To junior engineers thinking about staying remote:
Remote is fine. For many people, it's the right call.
But if you get the chance to spend even a few months in Tokyo, take it.
It's not about just being physically present. It's the culture, the energy, the 7 AM alarms, the pride of making your own food, the joy of making food with friends, the Thursdays, the Yokohama trips, the tiny moments that add up.
I didn't expect this, but Tokyo didn't just change how I work. It changed how I think.