I want to move to Japan from America

You probably will experience discrimination that will have no legal defense. Laws there are different than here and some rights you have in the US may not be the same in Japan. You definitely will be discriminated against, subtle as it may be, and the reason will only be that you're an outside person. You won't be able to fight it; you can only accept it. Sometimes it's more blatant. I'm just giving you a warning that some things aren't always better in Japan.

Hey OP,

I was very very much like yourself when I was the same age as you are. So I think maybe I can tell you my story, cause I was in the exact same boat. I'm also from the USA, from NY state. I'm 32 now. When I was 18, I had just graduated high school and I really, really wanted to come to Japan.

I picked up a textbook and started learning the language by myself. I bought all kinds of books about Japan, read about the various places, memorized the map of Japan, read about Japanese history, etc. I ended up dating a girl from Japan and I worked my ass off for $5.35 an hour (lol min wage in 2000) to save up money to take a trip with her to Japan for a month. I had a fantastic time, fell in love with the country and culture.

I would spout off similar stuff that you are saying on this thread, about how crime is lower in Japan and people are nicer, the culture is friendly and convenient and such.

Well, as much as I dreamed of moving to Japan quickly, I did realize from my one month trip with my then-g/f that not knowing the language would be a major obstacle.

The poor girl had to translate everything back and forth every single time I talked to someone (I had taught myself some Japanese by then, but let's face it, the stuff I had learned wasn't conversational, it was greetings, restaurant ordering, really simple stuff).

So, instead, I decided at 18 to snag a B.A. and then go to Japan. I took 2 years of community college classes first, knocked out all the general requirements and basic classes that you need to graduate. Tuition was dirt cheap and the school was affiliated with a state university, so the credits applied directly when I transferred to the actual state university.

I didn't major in Japanese, I took a minor in it. I don't recommend you major in Japanese. It will not serve you any use at all. You can take other tests and get other qualifications that show your language ability. Major in something else so you have something to fall back on.

I was able to get grants, loans and scholarships. I studied abroad in Japan via an exchange program from my uni. I received the JASSO scholarship after applying for it (based on my good grades, letters of recommendation from my Japanese professors, my personal essays, etc). It covered my transportation to Japan and paid me 80,000 yen per month as a stipend to live there, it was pretty sweet.

I really recommend you try the college route. You can do community college cheap, then goto a university. From the university, you can study abroad in Japan, hopefully on a scholarship. If you can't get one of those, you can still get loans at least. You'll get a B.A., hopefully in something not related to Japan, while also taking Japanese language classes, so you'll end up with 2 abilities. You'll be 21-23 when you graduate.

There is no rush to get to Japan @ 18. You're talking about getting several part time jobs and studying full time while in Japan. Working 6 days a week and such. You'll burn out. You think you won't, but you will. Even if you didn't, you won't have any time to enjoy Japan anyways. You'll literally be a slave here, just studying and working nonstop. It'll be a waste of time and money.

Anyways, I lived in Japan as a student. That was over 10 years ago. I live in Japan now too. I'm married with kids. Here is the other part of the story. Once you start living here, you WILL wake up to the problems of this country. I was JUST like you @17/18. I thought this place was some kind of utopian society. Do yourself a favor and WAKE UP NOW.

Japan has good points and bad points. A LOT of bad points. That's for Japanese people. Not Japanese? EVEN MORE BAD POINTS. I don't need to talk about them in this post, you seem internet savvy enough, so do your own looking.

After all these years, I still like Japan, but wow, is it hard to live here. Your jaw will hit the ground with the things that you will experience here eventually. Like how you speak fluent Japanese, work with the same people for 3 years, and even after 3 years, sometimes they still say things like "oh! wow! you can read Japanese!?" after you read something in hiragana out loud. And it's not a joke. I mean, literally, jaw on ground. That's just a sample.

I'm not a bitter person living here. I just think you should calm down, realize that Japan will still be here in 2018. Go to college in the USA. Try to study abroad here via a university in the USA. Get the B.A. Don't bury yourself in debt and burn yourself out @ 18 trying to get here. And realize above all else, that Japan is not a utopian society. It is not better than the USA. It still sucks living here, just like living in the USA sucks. Just for different reasons.

Bolo: great post!
Should be saved somewhere on Japan-guide as compulsory reading for all the bright-eyed, bushy tailed, young posters that will write next week, and the week after etc. that they must live in paradisiac Japan..

My best buddy was born in Japan and experience some discrimination when we go there, because he no longer live there. He also lost his Japanese citizenship after becoming a citizen of another country.

To the OP: I am quite familiar with the US.
I trained there many years ago in US Air force base, and have been living on the other side of the US border for over 30 years now. I have gone there many, many times, usually a last minute decision..
"eh! it is 11 pm, I am bored stiff, wanna go to Seattle and Portland for 2 days?"
I was there again last week for a few days..shopping etc.

Bolo, I really appreciate your post. It was eye opening to get the point of view of someone that was in mu shoes. None of it was lost on me, but I still plan with out a doubt of moving to Japan. However i'll slow own and take it step by step.

To OP:

I know some on this forum was telling you that you don't need to travel somewhere before you decide to live there. While it is true that just because you like traveling there does not necessarily mean that you're going to like living there, it doesn't mean that visiting before hand does not make sense.

I'm not sure how well travelled you are so please don't take offense if you are well travelled and already know all this...

Just because you like visiting a country doesn't mean that you're going to like living there, it's true. But if you don't even like your visit, you're sure going to hate living there. Trust me on that.

I'm quite well travelled internationally myself. I'm also an immigrant and lived in 4 different countries in 3 different continents, so I do know what I'm talking about. I've visited places I liked, but hated living there. I've also seen many people who decide to live in a country they've never been to, or briefly visited but didn't like. The results are usually not positive.

So, OP, if you are as serious about moving to Japan as you appear to be in your posts, take a trip there first. Go visit, not to see if you'll like living there, but to see if you'll hate moving there.

No research behind your computer or books or interviewing another person can replace experiencing it yourself.

kooritsuki is another person that is so very right!

Thank you for the post kooritsuki!
After reading Bolo's post I decided i'd save up to travel over.
I'm fairly well traveled. Inside the US i'v been to 48 states, and out i'v been to Mexico, Canada, UK, Brazil.
I have a friend with very very well off parents that like to travel out of the US and they took me with them on a few.

If I have a negative visit to Japan I might second guess my self, but if its all around positive it wont change anything.

I know the conversation is almost finished, but I just wanted to say that living and travelling in Japan are totally different things.

In general, travelling Japan is absolutely amazing. It's my favorite place to travel in the world and I've been to more places than many.

However, it can be really hard to live in Japan. Living day to day is reasonably easy, but it is very hard to be truly fully accepted into the local community.

A lot of people also think that the Japanese lifestyle is amazing and so intricate. This may be true in the past and to some degree in the countryside, but a normal persons life in Japan is actually really boring. It's mainly to do with long hours either at work or at school with few holidays.

This is specifically true in the cities. I'd also say that many people in the cities are friendly but it's hard to become true friends with them even if they speak fluent English or you speak good Japanese.

At present, I've lived overseas in three countries (soon to be 4) and found Japan the hardest to get to know the locals by a long way.

This was one of the main reasons I decided to leave. Ironically, I would however move back to Japan in a heartbeat to retire (in many years) in the Japanese countryside. Personally, I find the people in the countryside are much more friendly than people in the cities. This is especially true in Japan. There is often little sense of community in the cities, but it's the opposite in the countryside.

There are also many positives and negatives but they can also easily be found online.

Traveling to Japan and seeing the country is great for when you're on vacation. The problem is, you don't experience what it is to live there.

When you're on vacation in Japan, you're only there for a short period of time and you know you have that plane ticket back to your home country to look forward to if things go bad. You live in a hotel that will change your sheets and make your bed and clean your bath. You experience travel within Japan in a way no one else there can, with cheap plane fares and the JR Pass, something Japanese would kill to have. You are on holiday, so you don't have any pressing matters. You can go wherever you want and whenever you want.

If you live there, apart from trying to get a job to be there, there are a myriad of things that would probably frustrate many people: trying to get an apartment, noisy neighbors, recycling, disposing of garbage, bureaucracy, discrimination, and so many others I can't even fathom.

While it's nice to be able to "see" where you may be wanting to live in the future, just going there on a holiday doesn't really give you an idea of what it would be like to live there, since the bottom line is this: you don't have any responsibilities whatsoever when you're there as a tourist. I mean this as apart from those responsibilities any person would have: follow the law, etc.

I hope I have expressed myself clearly when I mention both sides of the coin. Sometimes just visiting there isn't enough to know if it's the right fir for someone.

I'm not sure if the last 2 post's were for me or just general statements.
Either way I do understand that visiting Japan is not the same as moving I never thought it was. If I visit and like it it wont change anything. I will still want to move there and work.

This might be alittle to hopeful, but i'd rather get in contact with someone in Japan, you know make a friend and have him/her show me around and give me more of whats it's like to live there experience then a tourist experience. Don't get me wrong I want to enjoy a trip to Japan to it's fullest I wont make it a chore.

So it's been a long time, but i'v found out the best way to do this.
Walmart owns "Seiyu" essentially Japans Walmart. Walmart allows you to transfer over to any of it's others stores, or subsidiary's stores with guarantee of having a job when you get there. Walmart also pays for Rosetta stone. So if I want to learn Japanese they will 100% pay for Rosetta stone to do that.

So I learn Japanese, and save up money in the mean time. Walmart will let me transfer, and ofcource I have to pay for moving, housing, and all that. However I get to keep a secure job, and assured a decent pay.

I highly doubt Walmart will send a clerk/checkout worker to work in Japan. They already have local workers who speak the language fluently and don't require a work visa! Transferring you would be a huge cost that they just don't need. They're more likely to send a managerial employee.

You cannot get a work visa for menial work; you need to have a degree or several years' experience in a field that may not be able to be filled by a local resident. Japan has plenty of citizens who can fill the checkout/waitress/fast food/etc. jobs who can also already speak the language. You need to make yourself appealing to immigration and prove that you can be an asset to the country - a Walmart employee is highly unlikely to receive a sponsored work visa.

Sorry to cut you down so bluntly, but having read through this thread people have already given you great advice which you seemed to have ignored by choosing an "easy" route. If you really want to move to and live permanently in Japan you will need to:

- Save a lot of money
- Get a degree (outside or inside Japan; you could study there) or get several years' experience in another field
- Learn the language

It will be hard work; just accept that. You are young, so you have a lot of time ahead of you to get there! If you really want this, working hard and waiting patiently should not deter you.

They already have local workers who speak the language fluently and don't require a work visa!

And again this old canard... No, they don't. There's a huge labor shortage in Japan, and yes, in retail too. The reason the government doesn't issue visas for low-skilled retail work is purely political.

That doesn't change the fact that an American company is highly unlikely to relocate a low-level employee to Japan to do full-time menial labour work for a subsidiary when they do not speak the language fluently or have any connections to Japan. Furthermore, Seiyu is a subsidiary, not a partner store. Walmart won't transfer employees there anyway. Also, they're not doing well, and are scheduled to close 30 stores during this year (source: http://www.4-traders.com/WAL-MART-STORES-INC-4841/news/Wal-Mart-Stores...).

And why should any government offer a work visa for menial labour? Work visas should only be given to people who can make a genuine contribution to respective country, and be unlikely to end up in a position where they cannot support themselves. Immigration is a big deal and should not be taken lightly. People should be aware that they will need to make an effort and appear useful to the country they want to live in. The OP is only 18; they have plenty of time to go to college (either in the US or Japan), save lots of money in part- or full-time work, and then find themselves a job in Japan.

Also, OP, please keep in mind that the way work visas work in Japan is that the company within Japan must sponsor you. This means you have to be offered the job before you get the visa - you cannot apply for a visa without a job offer. Think about what you might like to do in the future and study that pathway with a minor in Japanese, or language classes on the side. Also think about what fields are frequently hiring: usually people suggest IT, engineering, finance, etc. And definitely visit first!

First off. Walmart gives you access to free Rosetta stone. As we speak i'm learning Japaneses. I will be fluent when/if I go over.

Second. You could be 100% right about them not letting me transfer. I'm talking to personal right now, and they are looking into the request for me.

It seems fairly likely if I become fluent, and put the effort into contacting Seiyu about open positions that I could make the transfer.

We will see though. I'll post again about how/if I can transfer, and if Walmart will sponsor the visa after I find all of this out.

Remember that being fluent in real life is different to being fluent by learning from a course. Becoming fluent in a language takes hard work and a long time, and you need to practice with people (native or non-native speakers, as long as they're fluent themselves) to really get the hang of it. Following a course, you learn to respond to set questions and you have set responses. It's totally different actually using the language in real-life situations.

I'd try finding a group in your area that you can practice with. There are usually small "conversational groups" who want to practice their language skills with eachother; in my city they're found at the university, but anyone can join in. That will boost your Japanese.

Language schools is the way to go but you do need money...

ask your parents and be mindful what you say to them... they might turn around and help you with the costs.... believe me because i did the same thing and they are helping me with the school budget which gets me thinking more on other things thats important.

the school pays increments in months... for instance my school i have to pay about 600 a month... then on with the living costs i suggest using a dorm room or share house.. costs about 300 a month or so.. food buy some at a local groceries. you can get good deals on certain times...

on certain places can be cheaperbut you gotta be smart with your money or you go broke within few weeks...

Take a few Japanese classes at a community college in your area and ask the teacher lots of questions.
If money is a problem maybe going to another country isn't the best idea at this point in your life.

Once you get to Japan feel free to go to the American Embassy and renounced your citizenship.

there is one final option: noone mentioned so far: marring a rich japanese girl will make it possible for you to live there permanently even without a job or education. good luck :-)

"there is one final option: noone mentioned so far: marring a rich japanese girl will make it possible for you to live there permanently even without a job or education. good luck :-) "

please keep things in reality... that shyt aint happening if your an ugly dude... only hot dudes can get away with that... im just statin the facts...

i may sound mean but hey its the truth... if you really wanna go that far just be friends with a ordinary japenese gurl and within few months you guys can get married...

just be realistic with your posts...