Moving to Japan

I'll go directly to the heart of the matter. I'm a medical student from Egypt. By the time I get my bachelor's degree I'll be around 25 years old. I want to move to Japan so I would like to know what options do I have. I've done a little bit of reasearch and I know I can only get a PhD in Japanese universities.
This is what I've thought of, so far:
- Apply for a scholarship to get a PhD in Medicine. In this case, what scores do I have to get? Do I have to get a masters first? Or does it depend on the number of applicants from my country?
- I'm thinking of getting a 2nd degree, but by the time I finish I might be over 30. How are my chances in this case?
- I'm planning to take both JLPT1 and TOEFL. Would that give me an advantage of some sort?
- If the academic route fails, what else can I do?
- Suppose I somehow manage to get a student's visa, am I allowed to look for a job once I graduate?

Thank you very much.

You will need to be fluent in Japanese, including medical terms. This could be very difficult and take several years. If you want to be a doctor in Japan, it could be difficult as many Japanese may prefer to see a Japanese doctor rather than a foreign doctor.

If you want to practice in Japan you need a Japanese Medical License, no foreign license is accepted. It means you will have to sit and pass the Japanese License that is in JAPANESE only, the level of vocabulary and grammar is so complicated that even the natives can have a hard time with unusual kanjis.

To make things even worst, even if you are N1 you will probably not be allowed to sit the exam and will have to study from the beginning and pay for your studies and living.

If you ever succeed in passing the national exam after years of study you will have to search for an hospital or clinic that want a foreign doctor and ready to sponsor a work visa which might be complicated because Japanese patients won�ft be enthusiastic about consulting a foreign doctor, even if he/she studied medicine in Japan.

You could stay in academics and not suffer from the above mentioned problems. Not that that's an easy path. I'm not 100% sure about the field of medicine, but in my academic field everything is in English, including papers from Japanese universities. But perhaps for research in medicine you would need more contact with locals

To get a PhD position in most countries you need to get your MSc first, I don't expect Japan to be any different. I'm sure you can find the requirements on the application page of Japanese universities or research groups.

As to your chances of being accepted, it depends very much on the field. I am not familiar with medicine, but I imagine it to be quite tough to get a position, as your expected output results should meet the large amount of funding that will go into you and your project. A master's degree at a well-known university in the field will definitely help, as well as a peer-reviewed publication to accompany your master thesis, a reference from a known researcher in the field (your thesis supervisor, for instance), or demonstrable knowledge about a very specific area of the field that coincidentally corresponds to a PhD vacancy they have. You should ask yourself, do you think you can do this?

The other option is English teacher, but it may not be as easy since you're not a native. Or if you have sufficient funds, attend a language school for a year or two.

As others have mentioned, a research / teaching position may be the only realistic route.

However, Japanese universities are currently in a position of reducing staff numbers. My own university (public) has been ordered to reduce faculty numbers by 20% over the next 5 years. We are currently on a severe hiring freeze - no new permanent positions can be created.

Given that this is only the beginning of Japan's demographic slide, I think it will not get better for several decades.