Study in Japan then continue living there?

Hello.

Prepare for some reading. Also I'm not a native english speaker, so typos and such will accure.

Right now I'm very sure I will be going to Japan for 2 years attending one of their language schools. This will be covered by CSN (Not sure if everybody has it, but basically it offers to pay/lend money for education), Parents will help me and I have been saving money and will continue to do so until takeoff.

Now the plan is to go there for 2 years to begin with, and decide while being there what will happen after. Right now it is probably the following choices;

1. Stay and continue to study but at a Japanese university to eventually (hopefully) being able to find a job.

2. The school I'm attending will support me in finding a full-time job when ready (not really sure how this works, but it says "SUPPORT FOR FINDING FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT), and work my hardest in convincing them to help me obtain work visa when my studies are done.

3. Go back home to Sweden and get a degree in something of interest and later on go back to Japan and hopefully get a job this way.

4. Move back to Sweden because of no interest of living and working in Japan, and just continue life here (If everything goes to apeshit)

Now, I'm asking this to people who have researched more or are currently stationed in Japan and working. What option is the most realistic one? (Take away option 4 because of realisation that i want to make my future there) Also, is there any other way you want to recommend me if I wish to stay after these 2 years? I'm open for options.

Now a little about me.

I'm currently 20 years old, turning 21 this year and I have something called "Yrkesexamen". Which was hard to find a translation for, but it's kind of a highschool degree. But it prepares you for work right of batch after school, if that makes any sense? Any how, this is in Building and Construction (also roughly translated) but I don't think it is enough for working visa.

Money wise, me and my parents has it very good set and I'm sure they will help me to a realistic level of achieving my goals in life. So this will not be a problem unless we go to fantasy land with our amount.

Other then that I'm interested in Japan for so much more then anime and manga, which seems to be most peoples huge thing when going there. So learning the language, exploring what Japan has to offer as a country and also try to get a grasp of society before actually committing my future self there. Will be my main focus these 2 years. If I like it, I'm aware that it's a life commitment and also that the opportunity to stay won't be handed to me easy.

I'm not going there just to party and realise Japan is not all that anime and kawaii, then bitch about how i found out Japan is actually a real country and tell people to avoid going there.

Thanks alot for taking your time reading, and hopefully answering aswell. People with no interest of helping or enlighten me, please don't take your time posting something stupid as I will only ignore it.

I think I manage to get it all. If not, just ask me and I will try to answer asap.

Sincerely, Marcus.

Conspicuously absent from your post is what kind of job you are aiming for. No, "anything" is not a valid answer.

Yes, what career do you want to pursue in Japan? There are some employer-sponsored work visa for certain types of work, and there aren't any visa available for others.

And note that unless you are trained/skilled in chef or something like that, for usual office jobs you will need to have at least a bachelor's degree to be eligible for work visa. (You are correct in assuming your high school degree/diploma is not likely to be sufficient.)

Well, that's kind of the thing... I honestly don't know. I'm hoping to find some insperation while being on foot. After I graduated I pretty soon knew I wanted to study abroad, so I've just been saving money and working at different places here in Sweden. My future career is yet to bed decided. Hell, I could even work as a waitress the first couple of years if given the oppertunity.

If you still want to stay in Japan after you complete your 2 years in language school, you will basically have 2 options. Complete a bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Japan or abroad. That will be the only way for you to qualify for a work visa on your own merits at that time. Also, presumably after 2 years of being in country you'll have a better idea of the direction you'll want take with your career.

Personally if I were in your shoes I would consider going directly into university (in Japan or abroad) that has a good Japanese language program. That would shave off a lot of time in achieving your goals of getting to Japan.

Working as a waitress does not give you a work visa, that is the problem, if you are thinking about doing that full-time after graduating the language school (as against part-time DURING your studies). (No cursing please, by the way :)). That is why you need to be qualified to do some professional occupation that will leads you to an employer-sponsored work visa.

"Support for finding full-time employment" likely means that they will offer advice and guidance for the application process, interviews, etc. I can't think of any way a language school might be able to help you to obtain a work visa, this matter is between your employer and the government of Japan.

If it were me and my interest in the country were that great then instead of going to language school for two years I would just enrol on an Asian Studies programme in my home country with a year abroad. You get the degree required to work in Japan, you get to learn the language, and you get to spend a year there. Many recommend against "soft" subjects like the humanities but if it turns out that you really don't care about what line of work you fall into then it's as good as any other degree. Not having a specific career goal is fine, many of us are happy to just do whatever and enjoy other aspects of our lives, but I will note that at only 20 years old you have a long time to discover other things that you might be interested in doing.

Thanks so far for all the answers, I really do appriciate them!

I could by all means, enter a university in Japan and study something that gives me a degree. That's kind of my plan after the language school!

But i thought the problem with me only having limited knowledge of the Japanese language (JLPT 5 at max, only had one course) would stop me? If not, please feel free to enlighten me more about this, or direct me to somewhere i can read about this!

I've only checked gogonihon and blueberry, and from my understandings I need atleast JLPT 2, or even 1, to enter university in Japan?

This is for \\\\.

Well the thing is, yes I might find new things I enjoy, and Japan might not at all be my "call". But I want to give this a shot, like you say, I'm for godsake 20 years old, I don't want to start focusing on my career here in Sweden that I will be doing until I'm 60, becoming a father of 2, save for a house, get a girlfriend and settle. I want to explore, find new things in life, new cultures and so on. Japan has always been fascinating to me and therefor I want to start here on my "journey"!

I have always been the type that made, and thought, life would come and bring me happiness and enjoyment. But as I grew some I started to realise it wont, and that most of my friends ALREADY had their career planned out, girlfriend of 6 years back, getting appartments and so on. And that I don't want to become that person at this age.

Don't get me wrong, I want this one day aswell and I do respect their choice. But this does not feel like my calling and I honestly do not fear failing and realising 2 years in Japan was a waste of time, that could have been spent on other things. But not atleast giving it a shot when i have the oppertunity, support and money seems like a dream down the drain.

I'm not even sure this made any sense in regards to your answer. But I feelt like I had to write it for future responses and readers aswell :).

Once again sorry for my English and typo's. I'm in a rush right now as my bus is leaving any minute, haha!

Makes sense just fine.

Yes, if you're going to go to language school then now would be the time, I think.

Attending a Japanese university has its own implications, of course. Getting accepted is by no means guaranteed, I don't know about a JLPT level since I've never taken one of those exams but a programme taught in Japanese will certainly require a level of proficiency that you have not reached yet. If those two things don't stop you then of course you still have to finance your studies. The pain-free route would be to study in Europe where university is cheap or in some cases free, then just go to Japan and get a job somewhere. That's why in your situation I personally would probably skip language school and just study at home. Save a huge amount of money, get to Japan within three or four years, but still learn the language and probably get to spend a year at a Japanese university anyway.

Studying abroad can be a unique and valuable experience though so if you are really set on that then by all means don't let me put you off. If you can do it then it's certainly worth considering. There are no wrong answers here.

After reading your post, what you should do and I'm being honest with you right now.

As multiple people here wrote, you only have a Highschool degree right now, even if you go to a language school and you try to find a job you won't find someone to give you a Visa.

Your plan is IMO really weak (I'm not trying to be mean!)

I mean you are wasting a lot of time by doing a 2 year language course to hopefully find a job which interest you there.
As you won't really get in contact there with many kinds of jobs.

After that 2 year course you will need to get accepted at a Japanese University which will be a hard time for you after focusing 2 years on only Japanese or go home.

And if you will get accepted you will need at best 3 years for a Bachelor, but to get a better chance you need a Master degree so it would take you at least 5 years.

In total you would spend 5-7 years simply for that sake. And with the chance that you will go home after those 7 years realising you don't want to live there.

Again I want to say this is just my opinion.

What you should maybe try instead, stay in Sweden find a job you really want to do. Chose a University which has Partner Universities in Japan and language classes.
Spend 1-2 Semester as en exchange student in Japan during your Bachelor time and again 1-2 Semester while doing your Master.

You will have accomplished both learned Japanese/visiting Japan for an extended time, and you will be qualified for an Work Visa there. And it would only take you 3-5 years instead of 5-7.