Is Junior-Mid level job hunting in the IT field from outside Japan realistically possible? or should I just go for a PhD there and job hunt from there?

Hi everyone!

I'm curious to know how hard job hunting is in Japan, especially in the IT field. I am trying to find a Data Scientist role, but at this point, I'll just settle for any IT-related role and go from there.

A little bit of background (It is a little all over the place):

• I have a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a master's degree in Economics and Business
• I have 3 YOE as a Software Engineer at a small company
• I have part-time experience as a Data Analyst at a small F&B company
• Currently working as a Content Creator for a startup, but I also help with Data-related needs in the startup (I built a recommender system for their website)
• Part-time client-facing experience in the hospitality industry (not sure if this is transferable or not, since I did this during my master's degree abroad to make ends meet)
• Currently finishing up learning N5 and aiming for N4 this year

Do you guys think I can find a job in Japan? Or if you guys have some input on how to position myself in the Japanese Job Market, that would be great too.

The second option is finding a PhD scholarship in Japan and going from there. I will be taking Data Science as my field of study, but this is the alternative option, as finding a scholarship is equally difficult.