The author pursued a PhD in Computer Science at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (now Institute of Science Tokyo) while maintaining a part‑time role as a software engineer and researcher at Google, where he focused on on‑device language models for mobile keyboards. He entered the program under the MEXT Scholarship, which provided tuition waiver, round‑trip airfare and a monthly stipend of roughly 145,000 yen (≈ 900 USD) for doctoral students, subject to a 28‑hour‑per‑week work limit during semesters and up to eight hours per day during breaks. The Japanese PhD structure targets completion in three years, contrasting with the five‑plus‑year norm in the US and Europe, thereby reducing opportunity cost but imposing pressure to deliver publishable results quickly. To satisfy degree requirements he completed a mix of research‑focused seminars, humanities courses and career‑development modules, though he found the latter largely unhelpful. His admission relied on securing a lab with a hands‑off advisor and a research fit in Japanese, Chinese and Korean language modeling, facilitated by prior contacts and a university‑recommendation MEXT track after an unsuccessful embassy‑track interview. The arrangement required coordination among the Japanese government, his advisor and Google, ultimately allowing him to work two days per week at the Tokyo Google office while advancing his dissertation.