Anyone here tried Go! Go! Nihon?

Hello. For the past few months or so I've been debating whether or not I should try and use Go! Go! Nihon to study in Japan. There really aren't that many reviews or anything on it, and the few I found are from about 5 years ago, so they may no longer be relevant as the company isn't that old, therefore has probably changed a bit. I'm a tad bit worried because the one video I found about it, the girl said the company doesn't have any knowledge about anything you ask them, and they tend to make up fake answers just to keep you from bugging them... And she also said they leave out very important information on things you'll need such as resident cards and such. As an American citizen, I know normally we aren't allowed to stay in the country for longer than 3 months without a proper visa, I asked the company about this and they said I would be fine, and as an American citizen I could get a student visa for the 2 year school course. But now I'm scared that they just told me that without really knowing, and that if I did use their service, I would end up getting kicked out of Japan... It makes me really uneasy and nervous... Also, are there any other services like this? Any recommendations? Thanks!

I don't know where you heard that but they tend to be very knowledgeable about their stuff, though it is annoying that they are slow to respond to emails.

As an American... yes you can get a student visa. If you are studying for over 3 months you need a student visa and so long as you meet the requirements for that visa you should be sweet.
You're not going to get kicked out of Japan for using Go Go Nihon. It's a service that helps you get all of your visa paperwork in order, they just make it easier for you and send it off for you. You don't /need/ to use them, as you can just use the school directly, but generally they help you with visa work and they help you with getting set up in Japan a bit; and their service is free.

This is the only service I know of like this.
I'm using them for my course starting in April.

I used GoGoNihon for a 2 year course that started last April.

They were my go between from myself to the school I'm attending and helped with my application, COE, Visa, Accommodation, payments and such while also informing me of various useful information leading up to my departure and of course they are free.

Because they are a free service I didn't really contact them for question answering or updates on my application progress. Instead you should find answers to questions not directly related to their service yourself (essentially do your own homework, which I assume the girl in the video didn't) and be aware that there might be weeks during your application were you won't hear anything from them. This is normal as some parts of the application (time wise) are out of their control so they will contact you only when they have new information to update you with.

When e-mailing them I found they would often reply the next working day (usually)

I did around 2 to 3 years of prior planning yet probably wouldn't be in Japan right now without their help so I would definitely recommend them.

Oh and yes, like the answer above says, you must get a student visa if you want to study for longer than the 3 month short term course. This sort of stuff is their area of expertise so you can mostly rely on the information they give, although do double check everything yourself just incase.

Go! Go! Nippon! is a really fun game. The English translations are often a bit off, but it should be a great tool for the somewhat advanced student of Japanese (there's no furigana or anything) since you get the original and translated lines side by side the whole game.
Just using the English by itself would be acceptable for, say, a younger person who's just starting out on their journey of learning about Japan. I think they could have a good time getting acquainted with the country in this way.
Wait, what was the question...?

I know what girl you are talking about, yeah she didn't do enough research and she just assumed that Go Go Nihon would literally hold her hand the whole way, I was on one the nihon live streams and a bunch of us were taking about it on the comment section and Go Go Nihon posted that after that video they contacted her and got everything settled.

Oh my gosh I didn't even notice that anyone replied to this! Sorry about that!! I asked them more and apparently school in Japan is way out of my budget. They said I need proof of $40,000 in my bank account to prove to the Japanese immigration office that I'll have enough money to pay for my living expenses in those 2 years in case anything happens... If I were just paying the price of the school I'd be fine as I'd be paying that off in increments but $40,000 all at once is simply out of my reach... At first I was planning on using air bnb for accommodations while looking for an apartment and part-time job and then I'd have a means to support myself while living there while going to school. *Sigh* There's that dream gone! Oh well... Thanks for the advice though! It's good to know that at least they're a trustworthy company.

$40,000?
You don't need $40,000 and I don't know why they told you that.
I'm going through Go Go Nihon next year, and I've done research myself.

To get a student visa for one year you need $20,000 in the bank account, and for 6 months is $10,000. You can get a 6 month visa by showing $10,000 and then extend it once in Japan and you won't have to show money anymore.
I think $40,000 would be to get a 2 year visa off the bat, which you do not need.

I think $40,000 would be to get a 2 year visa off the bat, which you do not need.

You get a visa with a duration of stay which equals the duration of the program you enroll in, you don't have a choice there.

You get a visa with a duration of stay which equals the duration of the program you enroll in, you don't have a choice there.

Yes, you do.
Normally for language schools, you start on a 6 month or a 1 year visa and extend for up to two years.
You don't need a 2 year visa

You clearly don't know what you are talking about. The duration of stay is first determined by the school when they apply for your CoE. As part of the application, they submit documentation showing the program you are enrolled in. If they apply for 6 months and you are enrolled in a program for a year or more, the application is rejected.

And while we're at it, it is not at all true that "you don't have to show money" when you appoly for an extension. You always need to demonstrate that you have sufficient funds to cover your expenses.

No, I know exactly what I'm talking about. Perhaps it's different for a university degree course.
But for language schools, you only really need the $10,000 to get a 6 month visa, and then you can extend it once in Japan without showing any more funds.
Go Go Nihon themselves told me this, and others as well.

https://forum.gaijinpot.com/forum/working-in-japan/immigration-legal-s...
^that's just one.

I know people who have applied for extentions and didn't have to show bank statements.

Apparently you will need to apply around 6 months before term start. For April , best time to start applying is september and october since the deadline is early november (for 2016 it was 9 nov for tokyo).

Their response were a bit slow, so don't expect real time reply. I was told I need 4 million yen to apply for 2 years visa, and of course I can apply visa in 6 months increment.

Apparently in my case , seems like work history and experience quite matters for they asking for tax return since I switched job early this year. It seems like being unemployed at the time could be a problem in my case. I resigned to focus learning in my local language institute to prepare myself better.

For every failed application, it will not be refunded (20k yen fee).

Anyway, my friend got there with their help, he is currently working on permanent position in tokyo, so gogonihon is legit.

Thank you everyone that have used our service and have successfully come to Japan. We are always looking for ways to provide accurate information to as many people as possible. We do recognize that our response times can take up to a few days, especially during busy application periods. We try our best to respond as soon as possible to all of our potential students.


We would like to explain a few things that have been mentioned, so that there is accurate information.

1. It is possible to apply 6 months with 1,000,000yen bank balance and extend up to 2 years. However, some schools require you to apply for 1 year or longer with an even higher bank balance due to the fact that they only accept students into their 1 year or longer programs. The requirements are not standard for all language schools and each school has their own requirements. We at Go! Go! Nihon try to make this information as easy to understand as possible for our students. If you tell us that you cannot provide a 4,000,000yen bank balance, then of course, we will recommend a school for 6 months and a much lower bank balance requirement. it really depends on the school!


2. The application fee is fully refundable until the end of the application deadline. Once the deadline passes and the school applies for a student visa, the application fee is no longer refundable due to the fact that it is used to apply for the visa.

We are really excited to help even more students to live and study in Japan and have helped over 1,000 students from 55 countries in 2016 alone! We hope to see you all in Japan, soon!