moving to fukuoka

Hi.
I am planning on moving to fukuoka next march from australia. I have been doing lots of research, and have a few questions:
1. What are the job prospects like in Fukuoka at the moment? I will be looking for a basic english teaching job (my wife and I both have degrees.)
2. Is it better to hook up a job before I get there through one of the big english teaching schools? Or wait til I get there and hope to find a job very soon.
3. I know Kyushu doesnt get much snow in winter. where is the best place to travel from Kyushu to go snowboarding?
Any answers are greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Sunny.

I'm sure that this won't help the original poster, but perhaps someone else may have the same question.

Job prospects in Fukuoka are not great, but there are prospects. There seems to be a growing trend for part time positions, which tends to pay lower than full time positions unless you plan really well. That said, I know someone who works at a few places and makes way more money than most full time people.

The best time to find a job is around Jan to March. After that, the big hiring season is over and all you have left are the scraps.

Another hiring push is in Sept. but it's much smaller. (therefore plan to be around in July and August)

Having a degree is important to obtain a VISA but you also need an employer to vouch for you in order to obtain said VISA. If you don't have one, before you come over, it's difficult to get one while you're here. Most companies demand that you already have a valid VISA. Once you have one, it's easy to maintain though.

NOTE: if you are working part time there are few companies that are willing to sponsor your VISA, so be prepared.

You're correct about the snow. Very little, and if it does, it rarely sticks around for long. The closest popular slopes are in Hiroshima. You can find deals in which you can take a return-trip bus there PLUS get a ticket for all day skiing/snow-boarding for about 10,000 yen. I'm not sure if those deals are still available though. Normally a return-trip ticket to Hiroshima will cost you about 8000 yen, so it's a really decent deal.

A shinkansen (bullet train) ticket is much higher, but the trip time is only 2 hours I think. You can find accurate details by visiting hyperdia.com.

NOTE: if you are working part time there are few companies that are willing to sponsor your VISA, so be prepared.

This isn't entirely correct. Companies cannot sponsor work visas for part time work. There is a way to self sponsor a visa while doing part time work, but it is more for people already established and working in Japan.