Becoming a professional expatriate

[Greatsaintlouis]

So, out of extreme curiousity, for those of you who have lived and are living in Japan, how easy is it to just tear up roots in your native country and move to Japan, duration unspecified? How easy is it to land a job? Is it possible to live in a total dive of a bachelor pad (and I'm not talking about the pimp-daddy type, either) to the tune of 50000 yen or less a month? In the Tokyo area, I'd imagine this would be hard, but what about other regions - Okayama in the south, or Aoyama in the north, for example? And what about visas or other immigration paperwork? This is, of course, going on the assumption that the language barrier poses little to no problem. Basically, I'm talking about a no holds-barred, flaming flying leap "Holy crap if I have to exist in my country for another year I'm going to kill myself" act of spontaneity. Doable? Crazy?

[Tatsujin]

5man/month? just enough to pay the food which keeps you alive^^

[Yakumo]

50man/month? just enough to pay the food which keeps you alive^^
Bloody hell! Do you eat out every night? My food bill is about 30'000 per month and I eat quite well.

Yakumo

[Greatsaintlouis]

The estimate of 50,000 per month was mainly in the way of rent and utilities... Although it's rather scary how little I can survive on for food in a month's time.

[GaijinPunch]

I can only speak for Tokyo. 50,000 yen for rent will be a pretty crappy place, a good distance away from town. For the most part, a 1 room with a minimum of a 40 minute commute to just about any major station... could be even more from your workplace's closest station.

The only way to penetrate the wall with no other visa (or a lot of money) is to go, set up camp in some gaijin house, and get a job teaching. Technically, you can't teach until your visa is ready (2 months) but I think most places will get you cracking early. Mine did (ssssshhhhh!). These jobs pay a minimum of 250,000 yen per month, as that's minimum wage for sponsorship. It's possible to live off this...especially if you don't drink or party a lot which it doesn't sound like you do. I did when I first moved there, and was down to my last yen every fucking paycheck (no way to live).

To be honest, this is a very easy thing to do. I'm by no means the first or last person to do it. It helps if you know someone there though. I moved in with a couple of friends. The gaijin house is a pretty easy and cheap option though... you just need to know where you're going before you get there. And for the love of God, when they ask WTF you're doing in Japan at customs, tell them the standard, "here to study my Japanese". Tell them you're looking for work and you will be sent home immediately.

The only thing you have to bring is your diploma, as it's needed for the visa.

Your other route other than this, is the student route, which isn't bad either. The problem is, it takes a lot of money. You have to prove you can support yourself for the duration of your schooling, which I belive is 2 million yen per year you wish to stay. You can always borrow the money, print out a statement, then pay it back, but you still have to live with only working 20 hours a week.

I've got a much problem if I desire to go back (which will one day happen.... just not sure when). I have a wife and house full of crap now that I'm 30 and married. At 22, I had shit. A computer, a suitcase of clothes, and a carton of cigarettes. Now, I got a sofa, bed, dining room set, loads of other crap, and a bunch of games. I would have to pack this shit up, go there, find a real job which takes longer than a teaching job, and a place where all that furniture will fit, which is almost impossible w/o a job. :(

[Greatsaintlouis]

Unless the standard/cost of living in Japan is exponentially higher than the US, I don't think 250,000 yen a month would be a problem. Then again, I've heard the horror stories of $1 apples as well.

By diploma, do you mean high school or college? The latter would put a huge cramp on the whole idea of bailing out of the bullshit American higher education system here. I hope that wouldn't be detrimental - for Christ's sake, we let everybody and their illegal brother into the US, you'd think other countries wouldn't mind someone looking for honest work.

I've heard you and AntiPasta both mention the gaijin house; what is this, exactly? And by having someone there you know - I've got a few good Japanese friends in different colleges (hence my preferences for those out-of-the-way regions), or were you referring to going over with another gaijin?

[ASSEMbler]

I can only speak from my own experience.

As long as you are clearly 1.Anglo 2.American
you will never be stopped in Japan and asked for indentification.

If you are 1.Semi asian, 2.Black you will be asked quite a bit.
God help you if you're nigerian or chinese.

As a rule, you're not allowed to stay in Japan without a job.
If you come to the country under the guises of cultural studies,
you can ask at the airport for an extended stay.

All I can speak for is Tokyo, and by Tokyo I mean the expensive areas.
A. I don't want to commute for an hour each way.
B. I want to be close to the cool areas.

So what does that mean. It means living in one of the most expensive areas on earth.

Gaijin houses are o.k. if you don't mind talking to other foreigners. This includes JET wannabees, anime/otaku fiends, aspiring writers, etc.
After a few trips, said people will rub you raw.

Housing. I don't beileve in that key money nonsense, and finding someone to
sponsor you is like asking someone to leave their kid as collateral for a car.
Just use sakura house. Sort of like a gaijin house, but you can get proper housing for a decent price. It's a bit more expensive, but 1.no key money (saves a bundle there)
2. Sometime no minimum stay. (no one year oh shit contract).

http://www.sakura-house.com/

Sure, $800 a month seems expensive, until you live in the NYC tristate area, and it's $4200.00 a month for a three bedroom in New Jersey. Japan seems a bargain to me btw.

The average rent by me is $700 for a tiny one room/kitchen, and is normally $1400 a month for a 2 bedroom/kitchen. Fun fun.
I live in the most expensive and wealthy area of the states, and probably the world next to monaco. NYc is like a drug,can't stand the expense, can't stand leaving it.

SO if you fancy living in shibuya, and picking up women, it's a relatively affordable $800 a month sometimes. Quite spacious too.

To stay and teach you need a degree in anything. Then you can suffer though teaching english, phone tutoring, working multiple schools. etc. It's not bad, friends do it, it requires fuckall Japanese skills. However, don't expect to get rich doing it. Expect to leave Japan late 30's a burned out bitter mess like some people I knew.
And try getting a Job in the states after teaching english off the radar for twenty years. Unless your degree is in teching/english it's like telling people you harvested bats in cambodia for ten years.

If you really want to get to Japan, I know online places you can just buy or rush through a "degree". Enough to fool most places.

For me the thing about Japan is making money. It's not so easy/fun to me to live day to day selling items on ebay praying for a decent amount of sales. Some of the ebay sellers who have moved to Japan do well, but are they getting wealthy is the key.

The last thing is transport and food.
If you're smart enough, figure out the bus system.
If not use the subways, but in Toyko, that can add up to $30 a day easily if you move
around a lot. You can get passes and whatnot, but let's face it, the average bloke just
throws money into the ticket kiosk.

Food, you have to scout, find some nice inexpensive local places.
Ramen and tonkatsu places are my favorites.

Anyway, that is my $0.02 cents on the issue.

I would say this in closing.

1. If you are young (18-20) go now now now.

Young english teachers are prefered. Handsome ones go even further.
It will be ass galore, and the time of your life.

2. (22-25)

It's the same, but when you get back, expect your life to be crippled a bit, as you've been doing nothing for the last few years. At this point if you're still in Japan, it's a career.

3. (30+)

You're "old" and won't get too many prime teaching spots, unless you're anglo.
Look to find a wife and settle down. It's going to be long and hard for sure.
There's no point in coming back to the states as you're pretty much unemployable now.
(You're 35, have no work in the states , no credit history, no house, car, loans etc.)

From the variety of friends I have in Japan, I'd honestly say it's a young man's game.
The older friends are burned out and pine for a country they no longer understand or can relate to. They come home, and always move back. They are neither american nor Japanese.

However, life is what you make it. Don't let my words dissuade you. Nothing ever beats real life experiences.

[GaijinPunch]

The cost of living is much higher than most cities of mainland America, but if 30 million other people can do it, so can you. Many college graduates survive on less, and as a gaijin, you can get some private students to the tune of 2500 - 3500 yen per hour.

By diploma, I mean college diploma (accredited university). An associates will not work. Your other option is 10 years of professional experience, which gets tricky to prove. Just finish school... for many reasons, of which making life in Japan easier is only one. America obviously has many more visas (asylum and such) but to get a work permit, the same rules apply. We have a Japanese lady in our office that didn't finish University but is very good at a very nitche part of the market. She had been doing it for exactly 10 years, which was her saving grace -- she barely got the visa.

A gaijin house is like a hostel. It's basically a place (a room actually) to live in with basically no ties to anything else. It only requires a months rent for deposit, and you will not need a guarrantor. For a normal apartment, deposit (and key money) get really expensive (see the "rent" thread) and 99.9% of the places require a guarrantor, almost always a Japanese person.

EDIT: Just read Assembler's post


As long as you are clearly 1.Anglo 2.American
you will never be stopped in Japan and asked for indentification.

Happened to me on a visit, not when living there. On the flip side though, it's happened to a lot of my friends. The more normal and out-of-trouble you look, the less they fuck with you.



The average rent by me is $700 for a tiny one room/kitchen, and is normally $1400 a month for a 2 bedroom/kitchen. Fun fun.
I live in the most expensive and wealthy area of the states, and probably the world next to monaco. NYc is like a drug,can't stand the expense, can't stand leaving it.

There is no doubt a huge spread on housing prices. My cheapest place was about a 10 minute train ride from Shibuya, in the bustling shithole of Meidaimae (Meiji Daigaku no Mae). It was 75,000 yen per month, for about 22 square meters. It was old, on top fo a ramen shop, and stank like shit 3 times a night (no shit). My best place was semi-provided by my last job. 350,000 yen a month for a 2 bedroom apartment. It was not brand-spanking new by any means, but was nice. (Some of my colleagues rent was somewhere around a million yen a month.) I was living like a white person again... unfortunately, the company moved 9 months later. :( If you really want to live cheap in Shibuya, it's going to be a shithole unless you get REALLY lucky. 1-room joints in walkable places from Shibuya (Ikejiri Ohashi, Mishuku, & Yoyogi Uehara for example) drop drastically in price, and are hip little places on their own. The hour commute Assembler spoke of is to be greatly considered -- it can really be a factor in the "burn out" process.

I went when I was 22. I always saw teaching as a stepping stone to the next place...even though it took me over a year to figure out what I wanted to do next. If you have a goal in mind, you can get some great experience. Anything experience business, computer, or even design-related would probably come in handy upon a return home. Basically, any job other than teacher or bar-tender isn't that bad... getting those jobs is the trick though!

[Unorthodox]

Pretty much the same thing here, I'd love to move out to Japan, but not too sure of all the pros and cons etc. If possible Yakumo, can you tell me how you moved there, what critera was required, and what it was like finding a job etc?

Also just a little side note, whats it like living in Japan? By that I mean does Japan have low crime rate, or is unemployment high etc?

[GaijinPunch]

Also just a little side note, whats it like living in Japan? By that I mean does Japan have low crime rate, or is unemployment high etc?

Lowest in the world? Not sure, but close if it's not. There's no such thing as a neighborhood you don't walk down late at night alone. Sure, crime happens, but it's much lower than any western country.

As for "what's life like there", it's very different for everyone. Read around this forum, and you should get a pretty decent idea of some experiences. I personally loved it - way better than the island. GP's pros & cons in list form:

Pros:
-Great night life
-Filthy women everywhere
-More video games than you could imagine
-You get the "challenge" of doing everything in Japanese (this makes life much less boring, for me anyway)
-No last call
-Special treatment as a foreigner (not expected to do everything the Japanese way)
-Same job, more pay (like being a man, statistically, in the US)
-Amazing public transportation

Cons:
-Pricey
-Traditionally small living quarters -- even out of the city they ain't so big
-Lack of vegetarian dishes
-Movies get there really late
-Takes forever to get anywhere (sometimes longer in a car O_o)
-Everyone does everything at the same time. Try vacationing in Japan during Golden Week
-Smoke everywhere (this was a pro until about 2 years ago when I quit)

[ASSEMbler]

Japan is violent as hell, no one reports the violence is all. It's all hidden away.

[GaijinPunch]

Japan is violent as hell, no one reports the violence is all. It's all hidden away.

Think of the stuff not reported in the states then.

Generally that violence doesn't affect normal people. I let my wife walk to the convenience store at 2AM w/o thinking twice. That shit doesn't happen even in Honolulu -- one of the safest cities in the states.

[ASSEMbler]

Yeah but in Japan things like rapes go unreported.

Most rape against women is anal, as there is a loophole ( if it's not vaginal).

How's that for a fucked up system.

[Yakumo]

I think you had some bad times in Japan ASSEMbler. Here is the safest place on earth !! I've been here 8 years and have NEVER had trouble at anytime of the day or morning. There is violence in Japan but it's always connected within a group of arse holes anyway.

Yakumo

[ASSEMbler]

Some collectors don't really like me in Japan.

They see me as sending too much "Nihonjin" items back to the gaijin lands.

[GaijinPunch]

Most rape against women is anal, as there is a loophole ( if it's not vaginal).

Sounds like an urban legend. I'd love to see a link supporting that. But to say that rape isn't reported in Japan but *IS* in America is... well, wrong. That's why the made that whole, "anonymity of victims in sexual assault cases" thing, to get people to start reporting and pressing charges.


Some collectors don't really like me in Japan.

I think we're all guilty of that one. ;)

[arsenal]

Assembler said:
"And try getting a Job in the states after teaching english off the radar for twenty years. Unless your degree is in teching/english it's like telling people you harvested bats in cambodia for ten years."

Oh man I laughed for quirte some time while reading that. :)

[Greatsaintlouis]

Well, if Cambodian bat harvesting pays well...

[SovietStriker]

"1. If you are young (18-20) go now now now."
Wouldnt you recommend going when at least you have at least a Bachelor's Degree?
what if your around that age and just go? with no degree, un safe right?

[1080Peter]

Some collectors don't really like me in Japan.

They see me as sending too much "Nihonjin" items back to the gaijin lands.

They can all piss off I sez. You have the money and weight to throw around. YOU show them up by spreading the unreachable content to our shores (not just the U.S.) and those collectors can just walk home. We'll all love you for it, but those elite stuck-ups sure won't!

[GaijinPunch]

SovietStriker: Much better idea to go when you have a degree, if you're actually wanting to "live" in Japan. No degree = no working visa = short trip.

1080: Japan is different things to different people. I might've been the first person to scalp YJ on a daily basis for a long period of time, and never got any shit for it. Same with making several trips to Akihabara a week. Never got any negative flack for it. Even had Japanese collector friends help me find stuff in cities that were too far away for me to visit.

[Greatsaintlouis]

I'd imagine that like anywhere else, your reputation with other collectors and sellers would be directly related to the manner in which you conducted your business, but I could be wrong.

The college degree thing is pretty tough, tho. Getting out of a flawed university system that doesn't give a shit if you're able to afford it was one of the driving reasons behind looking at skipping town. I figure if I'm going to be a temporary dropout and work to save up enough to finish school, I might as well take the chance to get a change of environment and get out from under the bullshit of lower middle class America. I wouldn't mind trying for that student option and going as an exchange student, but if I'm having a hard time affording a lousy public university in the US, I doubt I'd be able to afford Japan. Unless the government there aren't total dicks about financial aid.

[Alien Workshop]

The college degree thing is pretty tough, tho. Getting out of a flawed university system that doesn't give a shit if you're able to afford it was one of the driving reasons behind looking at skipping town. I figure if I'm going to be a temporary dropout and work to save up enough to finish school, I might as well take the chance to get a change of environment and get out from under the bullshit of lower middle class America. I wouldn't mind trying for that student option and going as an exchange student, but if I'm having a hard time affording a lousy public university in the US, I doubt I'd be able to afford Japan. Unless the government there aren't total dicks about financial aid.

I hear you man, I hear you loud and clear on that. I'm not eligible for financial aid either, so I'm relying on a scholarship and money I've made working the past few years of my life. Still, it won't be enough and I'll have to take out loans before it's all said and done. The middle class gets the short end of the stick every time.

[GaijinPunch]

GSL:

They're worse about financial aid, and the education system is far more a joke. As a college graduate and proud member of society, as shitty as it is, the university system dosen't get much better than the US. State universities are really cheap, and you can get a great education. You should really concentrate on getting your degree (even a liberal arts one) now, while you're young. It's much easier. Trust me, young grasshopper.

Out of curiosity, how much school do you have left?

[Mark30001]

What are the chances one from the US could land a good or well paying job on computer/mechanical engineering in Japan? Would univeristy foreign exchange programs increase one's chances in getting jobs over there?

[GaijinPunch]

You can get a good job like that, but the following will be HUGE factors.
1: Can you speak/read Japanese?
2: Do you already live in Japan?

If you answer number #2 with a no, you'll need to be transferred by a company to a Japanese branch in almost all cases. Getting the job outside of Japan with no visa is very difficult unless you're at the top of your field.

[Zilog Jones]

GSL: You might as well go and get your degree if you've already started. You may not like it and you may not like the system, but at least you'll have some sort of qualifications at the end of it.

From my experience, people who drop out of college (unless they do some trade apprenticeship or go into some family business, or join the army or something) tend to get nowhere in life. I think it's a really bad idea.

I'm thinking of doing the JET program after I graduate (hopefully!) in 2007. I'll be 22. Anyone done this? Would there be any chance of me being able to get some job related to my degree (IT & Telecomms) after I get some sort of competence with Japanese? I'm planning on doing the CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) too after graduating, which hopefully will help qualifications-wise.

[Borman]

Youre gunna be bored out of your mind for CCNA. After taking the class, I didnt even take the certification test, there was no way Id ever do that for a living lol (I know, qualifications, but still lol).

[Mark30001]

GSL: You might as well go and get your degree if you've already started. You may not like it and you may not like the system, but at least you'll have some sort of qualifications at the end of it.

From my experience, people who drop out of college (unless they do some trade apprenticeship or go into some family business, or join the army or something) tend to get nowhere in life. I think it's a really bad idea.

I'm thinking of doing the JET program after I graduate (hopefully!) in 2007. I'll be 22. Anyone done this? Would there be any chance of me being able to get some job related to my degree (IT & Telecomms) after I get some sort of competence with Japanese? I'm planning on doing the CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) too after graduating, which hopefully will help qualifications-wise.

I wish you great luck! :smashed:

[GaijinPunch]

I'm thinking of doing the JET program after I graduate (hopefully!) in 2007. I'll be 22. Anyone done this? Would there be any chance of me being able to get some job related to my degree (IT & Telecomms) after I get some sort of competence with Japanese? I'm planning on doing the CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) too after graduating, which hopefully will help qualifications-wise.

I was not a JET, but I had many friends that were. I would say the main thing, is you need to be close to Tokyo if you're interested in persuiing a career other than teaching, as that's where all the jobs for whities are. I basically did that. Went, taught for a year and a half, brushed up my nihongo, and got an entry-level job as a help-desk monkey. The rest is history.

A friend of mine told me if you want to be near Tokyo, request to live in Kawasaki. You'll have to make some weird excuse why you want to live in an ass suburb (say it was recommended). With a little luck, You'll be between 20 and 30 minutes by train to Shibuya, which ain't bad. Don't request, and you could be in a cabin in the woods.

I don't know how it woks when going from JET to normal worker. It's definitely a visa change, but may not require you to leave the country. Student->Work, Work->Spousal are relatively easy transfers. JET is a government-sponsored visa though. I doubt it'll be much of a hurdle.

I would suggest to study your balls off when you get there, and submit an application to a head hunter a good several months before your JET program is up. Timing is everything, and you may even need to get some shitty teaching job to get on a normal work visa if you can't get a tech job when your JET contract is up. Considering you'll have no experience in your field, you'll want your Japanese to be your selling point. Mine was anyway. I didn't study computers at all in college -- only a hobby. I read a few NT Server books and got my first real job b/c they needed a bilingual w/ a pulse that knew about computers. Learned what I could there, and moved on.

[WanganRunner]

If you want to get rich in Japan selling stuff on ebay, don't sell games, sell cars and parts.

I had a friend who used to live in Osaka and he was clearing close to $200kUSD/year with said items, absolute bonanza.

[GaijinPunch]

He was probably selling cars to the UK and Australia -- profits are much higher. Too many hoops to jump through in America. The bad side though, is that there are many people that already doing this...especially the Aussies.

[Zilog Jones]

Russia, New Zealand and Ireland are much more popular with Japanese import cars. In Australia AFAIK imports are limited to sports and SUV/off-road stuff, and imports haven't really taken off in the UK - it's still very much a niche market for cheap higher-spec SUVs and the sports models they never sold in Europe.

Here pretty much anything gets imported - from a Daihatsu Midget (microscopic pick-up truck), to a Starlet Glanza with the Loudest Dump-Valve In The World Ever®, to a boring old Toyota Corolla or Nissan Pulsar, to a bad motherfucker of a tuned Skyline GT-R. Plain family car imports aren't as popular here as they used to be as more people can afford to buy new cars these days, but there's still a lot - great for cheap-ass students ^_^

The Russians are crazy - they drive on the right but import cars from Japan (right-hand drive land) anyway O_o

[GaijinPunch]

Australia does have some sort of weird law... like one person can only import one car every two years or something. I had Aussie friends that used to get paid about a $1000 for signing a paper, saying the car was theirs. Loopholes all over the place.

[PrOfUnD Darkness]

I was not a JET, but I had many friends that were. I would say the main thing, is you need to be close to Tokyo if you're interested in persuiing a career other than teaching, as that's where all the jobs for whities are. I basically did that. Went, taught for a year and a half, brushed up my nihongo, and got an entry-level job as a help-desk monkey. The rest is history.



GaijinPunch, how is IT market on Japan for foreigns who speak just basic japanese?

[AntiPasta]

Clart: It is my honest opinion that a man with your kinda mind would certainly enjoy a stay in a gaijin house. I am speaking from very limited experience, of course, but my own experience was very positive - hanging out with eccentric (in a positive sense) people from all over the world, good atmosphere, in some way like a college dorm, I guess. I think it's quite important to have a place in Japan to converse with *non*-Japanese people as well, you'll need it ;-)

Oh and please don't drop out of college, of all the people I know that did that, nobody's story has had a positive (at least in the financial sense) outcome. Heck, I'm fed up as heck with Computer Science as well, but I'm at least going to bite the bullet and finish my BSc before I move on to something else.

[GaijinPunch]

GaijinPunch, how is IT market on Japan for foreigns who speak just basic japanese?

It is not bad, but it does limit your options somewhat. I guess it really depends on your tech skills to match. I started off as aquarium scum (outsourced support desk) so Japanese is really what got me in the door. My tech skills were basically limited to what I had read in an NT Server book, and skills I picked up on my PC.


I think it's quite important to have a place in Japan to converse with *non*-Japanese people as well, you'll need it

My only comment on this would be that a gaijin house isn't always the best place to pick them. Hell, you're not really picking them at all... they're being delt to you. This (http://www.jref.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19872) is a rather harsh, but not necessarily wrong view on what you can expect by moving to Japan. Of course, I really had very little of what's found in this forum. I made very good friends within about 3 months (still in touch with many of them now, 8 years later on opposite ends of the globe...literally).

[Giel]

Say I've got a Oxford certificate proving my English skills(it's an exam, and if you pass it you get a certificate showing that you know English so well, that you can easily follow an English study), would that be enough to become a teacher for one year, as a break between high school and going to college(I'm planning on taking it either way, but this sounds quite interesting hence the question). The type of teaching doesn't really matter, it could be elementary/high school. Oh, and I sort of speak Japanese(writing=not so great, but I speak enough to hold a conversation with someone, with some hand gestures to support the conversation), which is a plus if you ask me.

[asnozz]

GSL: You might as well go and get your degree if you've already started. You may not like it and you may not like the system, but at least you'll have some sort of qualifications at the end of it.

From my experience, people who drop out of college (unless they do some trade apprenticeship or go into some family business, or join the army or something) tend to get nowhere in life. I think it's a really bad idea.

I'm thinking of doing the JET program after I graduate (hopefully!) in 2007. I'll be 22. Anyone done this? Would there be any chance of me being able to get some job related to my degree (IT & Telecomms) after I get some sort of competence with Japanese? I'm planning on doing the CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) too after graduating, which hopefully will help qualifications-wise.

you may be joined by me then too. I graduate from university in 2007 (will be 22 too). Got a few questions that I sure people wont have any answers too since they are specific to my degree (Geology/Earth Sciences).

Ok a few years ago I got landed citizenship in Canada (since my family moved out there for a few years and then back to the UK). My parents applied for a visa based on their UK jobs/degrees while still living in the UK, presumeably I could do the same with Japan?

As for work, are you guys saying it would be hard for me to pursue a job based on my degree by not doing it through a company? Since Japan is one of the most tectonically active countries in the world (my degree is relevant and sort for in the EU/N. America); would you say the best way to get a job I want is too apply for a company (be it western or japanese) and express my intentions, instead of going through the emmigrantions office?

Currently my plans are not set in stone (and actually moving to Japan is only an option); at the end of the day ill probably take a gap year and get an internship in Hong Kong and stay in Japan for only a few months as a backpacker instead. But your advice would help.

[GaijinPunch]

Giel: Are you a UK Citizen? If you are, then the only way you could do this for a year is on a working holiday visa. I'm not sure how they'd feel about hiring someone so young though, so consider that.

asnozz:


Ok a few years ago I got landed citizenship in Canada (since my family moved out there for a few years and then back to the UK). Presumeably I could do the same with Japan?

No. No way in a million years. The Holy Grail is easier to attain than Japanese citizenship. To get it, you basically have to play sports and be really fucking good. Soccer, Baseball, Sumo, etc. Japan also doesn't allow dual citizenship, so you have to give up your other passports to become a naturalized Japanese. Technically, they can't really do this, but if they find out you use multiple passports, they'd likely revoke your citizenship. Keep in mind, half Japanese half whatever citizens have to chose one of their passports when they turn 20. Of course, they all keep them both, but the law states "only one".

The only attainable option for is permanent residency, and even this is hard. To get it, you generally need to meet quite a few of the following.

-Already lived in Japan for 10 years
-Married to a Japanese
-Employ Japanese
-Make pretty good cash
-Speaking shit-hot Japanese helps


As for work, are you guys saying it would be hard for me to pursue a job based on my degree by not doing it through a company?

I have no clue on Earth where you would find a job for your major... in either country to be honest, so I'm probably not the best to ask. BUT, the easiest route for anyone (that's not the best in their field) is to go to Japan, teach for a year or two, then get a job as a local hire in Japan. Expats (hiring from outside the country) are different visas, and have different requirements, and I believe are required to be paid more. Makes getting them harder. Besides, if you're in Japan, the company loses almost no time on interviewing you.

[Phinn]

JET seems to be a fairly popular way of getting your foot in the door in Japan. Like asnozz and Zilog Jones, I'll also be graduating in 2007 (although I'll be 23) and looking to set up shop over there. Are there any gaijin-specific non-teaching jobs available that don't require shit-hot Japanese that I could get after JET? I can get by with my current level of nihongo, but straight translator jobs are beyond me and taking blatant advantage of my ethnicity (white British) seems quite amusing.

[GaijinPunch]

JET actually has some non-teaching Jobs you could look into. Few, but they exist. I had a friend that did some crap for the world cup as a Jet. She had to work her ass off but arguably more fulfilling than being a mouth piece.

[Warakia]

Hey Phinn, if you don't mind me asking which uni are you at? As I know there are Japanese Job fairs at oxford, soas, etc. I went to one last year (although I am ages away from graduation) there was a massive range of jobs on offer, not just simple jet ones. ie Proper salaryman things for big companies. Though most need a decent level of Japanese, some are willing to do graduate training that including Japanese tuition.

If not, then go to some of the asian job recruitment fairs held in London, you are most likely to find something more interesting than teaching English etc.

[Phinn]

Hey Phinn, if you don't mind me asking which uni are you at? As I know there are Japanese Job fairs at oxford, soas, etc. I went to one last year (although I am ages away from graduation) there was a massive range of jobs on offer, not just simple jet ones. ie Proper salaryman things for big companies. Though most need a decent level of Japanese, some are willing to do graduate training that including Japanese tuition.

If not, then go to some of the asian job recruitment fairs held in London, you are most likely to find something more interesting than teaching English etc.

University of Sheffield. They've advertised similar things in my department (East Asian Studies), but I didn't realise there was any flexibility on your language ability. I'll have to check that out, thanks.

@GaijinPunch: Sounds interesting, I'll have to ask about that, thanks.

Edit: Crap pay, but not bad in subsiding your dream 'selling stuff on eBay' job. That, and you get paid to play video games all day long ;)

http://www.koei.co.jp/english/html/joboffer/g.html