Working as a Bartender?

Hello.
Currently I live in America, but come May I'll be moving to Japan on a spouse visa.
I have a background in Sales, I.T and Bartending (odd mix I know, but in America, Bartender is a real career for some) and when I move to Japan I was thinking of trying for a bartender job in maybe Shinjuku, Shibuya or Roppongi Hills area,now I know that it doesn't pay nearly as good as the gigs in America, but I figure maybe it's a good way to get my feet wet in Japan.

Also I've heard if you're good and can pick up on Japanese at a decent rate, it's possible to become a Bartender at one of the large hotels or restaurants in Tokyo, E.G Tokyo Sky Tree restautants/bars (went to one the other night with my wife and her family, our server was not Japanese but had spent 18 years of her life here, and she recommended after I brush up a little on my J-level skills, go for it), The String hotel (my wife works there, said the bartender is from Mexico and has worked for the company for 8 years and makes a really good salary), or even a place like Four Seasons.

I'm not saying I would make it into a career in Japan, but maybe until I improve my Japanese level, and also get use to the I.T field in Japan. I've always been more on the web design/video game design side of the field, where here in Japan I notice it's more of a demand to hire app developers and such.

Also rent isn't an issue, she is the oldest child and her family has given her the family home, where they will live in a very nice "mother in law" style apartment next to the main house, also if it matters at all, my age is late 20s.

Does this seem like a viable idea, or would it be smart to reconsider my options?.

There are lots of foreign bartenders in Tokyo. There are a decent number of foreign-owned bars in Tokyo. Of course you do need to know enough basic Japanese to take orders. And it doesn't pay very well. (Maybe in the 1000-yen per hour range.)

There are a fair number of developer jobs where you'd need less Japanese, and would be better paid, so you might want to concentrate on that instead.

I understand that, and as I said, unless I would end up in a high end location one day (Unlikely).

For the first 6 months or so in Japan I'm considering enrolling in a language school (wifes idea) and I figured a bartender job would be a decent part time job, it would also force me to be social and probably pick up a little Japanese along the way, and I don't know about in Japan but in America bartending is pretty good networking if you're new to an area.

Trust me, I.T is going to be more of my long term goal.

I think it may be difficult to get a bartending job in Tokyo when you speak very little Japanese, although not impossible. Maybe after studying a few months it might get easier....

Of course you do need to know enough basic Japanese to take orders.

I've never been a bartenders, but I go to bars all the time, both hotels and pubs, and I find that a great number of foreign bartenders in Greater Tokyo don't even seem to speak basic Japanese. In fact, even local bartenders don't know names of a lot of drinks that aren't on the menu (and there are often very few on the menu). I do feel that where there's just one or two guys behind the bar, that guy knows everything. But in other cases, they're usually part-timers, which is alright.

I don't know how employers choose employees, though.

Well currently I'm at the basic conversational level of Japanese, but I know my way behind the bar better than most, I'm also very skilled in creating my own drink recipes that have always been well received, for what that may be worth...if anything at all.

Also, Uco, what are some of the bars you go to that you recommend?.
So I can swing by and have a look at them, maybe have a conversation with someone who works there.

I'm afraid I don't have any recommendations for bartenders-to-be. I just go to various places randomly. But I often go listen to various local bands at pub-like places, and those are the places where bartenders don't speak much Japanese, because those are the busy bars as opposed to the more quiet and sophisticated bars where things are expected to be slow.