Suggestions for working in Japan

I hope that the text wont be too long but sorry in advance and thx to whoever reads it :D.
So I usually don't write in forums and so but I have been thinking about this question for a very long time now. I read a lot of things in a lot of places, forums and so on but I think its a personal question so it is different for everyone. Anyway, the thing is that right now I am 17 and I live in Germany. I want to move and live in Japan. I know `I have a lot of time` and `its too early` as everyone says but I don't want to leave my future in the hands of the fate. Basically I want to know more about job opportunities and most importantly what could I study after I graduate from high school. I was thinking about Japanese studies but my German is not really good and I don't think I can do it. Also what if I do study that? What are my job opportunities afterwards? I was also thinking about the JET program (so English teaching) and similar programs but for example - the country I am from (Bulgaria) doesn't support the JET program if you get me.
¬ So basically a 17 years old girl is asking for suggestions or even just some information about moving and working in Japan .

You got it backwards. You need to first figure out what you want to do, and then look into how (or whether) you can do it in Japan.

If you have the means, why not study Japanese at a language school in Japan? You can live 2 yrs in Japan, work in a part time student job to make a bit of money, experience life in Japan... if finally you like Japan you can go on to university or vocational school (gBerufsschule g) in Japan. If you donft like it, you are fluent in a 4 th language and have made an experience.

Studying Japanese in Japan will teach you much more than doing it at a German university. I have a friend who did that and after completing her studies (I guess 4 yrs) she passed JLPT N3. Being in Japan you can normally pass JLPT N1 in about 2 yrs.

I myself have not studied languages at German universities, but all people I know who did were not specially good in that language even after years at university. Probably because I have a misconception about studying language at a university. You learn the language only for a small fraction of the time. But most of your time is dedicated to learning IN GERMAN about the country, literature, politics, history, economics... that might also be interesting but it doesnft make you fluent in the language which in my apparently ignorant opinion should be the first and foremost goal.

¬ `If you have the means, why not study Japanese at a language school in Japan? You can live 2 yrs in Japan, work in a part time student job to make a bit of money, experience life in Japan... if finally you like Japan you can go on to university or vocational school (gBerufsschule g) in Japan. If you donft like it, you are fluent in a 4 th language and have made an experience. ...`
I absolutely agree with everything that you said and I also think that language school is the best way to learn a language. Do you have some kind of information or do you know where I can find smth?

Thanx a lot `LikeBike`

The language school should be the last thing on your mind. Speaking the language, by itself, is useless if you don't know what to do with it.

@guest: stating that speaking a foreign language is useless seems very dramatic. Speaking any other foreign language is for sure one of the more enriching experience. It opens totally new frontiers and you could do actually a lot of different things with it. Both in Japan as well as in an other country.

@OP: there are many different language schools in Japan. Internet is your first friend there. I personally went to Naganuma school in Tokyo but if you can choose going to a smaller city is cheaper. Also if possible search for a school that has smaller classes.
Through the school you can get a student visa. Youfll need to apply about 4 months before and courses normally start in April and then every3 months thereafter.

If financially possible I would suggest to go to Japan first for a few weeks and ask for a trial lesson at a few schools. They didnft seems to be too used to it, but it was possible.

I agree with LikeBike especially because the OP is only 17. At that age, it's more difficult to figure out what you want to do with your life than to learn something new. I do think that it is difficult to learn a foreign language if you don't know what to do with it. But if you're already living in Japan when starting school, you'd need to learn the language to get along with your daily life, and that automatically becomes your motivation to learn. Then once you've learned the language to a certain extent, there will be tons of ways to use it if you're living in the country that uses that language.

It is too early to think about language schools now. OP must first get a degree, because even if you live in Japan and can speak like a native, no degree means you'll have a much harder time getting a "work visa". Sure, attending a Japanese university after a language school is possible, but it's far from clear that it would be better than a German one.

In any case, the best jobs in Japan are the same as everywhere else: IT, engineering, finance, etc. It is also far from clear that a Japanese Studies degree would be of much value.

Just being in the county opens a lot of doors. I went to language school for the experience when I was a few years years older than OP, decided I wanted to live in Japan permanently but returned to my home country for a few years first, then back to Japan. I wouldnft have had such a smooth ride if I hadnft already made the connections I did when I was at language school. Itfs a useful experience for anyone who chooses to make the most of it.

The OP initially wrote:
I know `I have a lot of time` and `its too early` as everyone says but I don't want to leave my future in the hands of the fate. Basically I want to know more about job opportunities and most importantly what could I study after I graduate from high school.

It's basically the same thing as the gogaku-ryugaku that a huge number of Japanese high school students do. She can study in Japan for maybe less than a year, get the idea of the culture, society and job opportunities, go back to Germany to get her degree, and come back to work in Japan if she wants to. She's not trying to find a job at 17 in the first place. But living in another country at a young age does have its benefits.

It is true that i dont know what to study, work etc. But knowing another language is definitely helpful and useful especially when its different from English, German and so on. And i also think that if i spend some time there 1st i will find out if the country is good for me or not 2nd i will more or less learn a language that not many people speak and i will aso have time to find out what i want to do. Right now i dont know in what kind of university i want to study so there is no point in studying something random just for the degree.
- the idea about a language school in Japan is just perfect for me i think
Thanx to all of you ( also the person who mentioned one i will go and check it out)

Why not visit Japan first before making any long term life decisions. You may find it is not for you. Seems glamorous from the outside. But talk to anyone foreigner whom has moved there. It is not for everyone and is a lot of hard work to fit in.

whatever you do, get a degree first. even english teachers here need it. no degree, no work visa. (ok it's possible, but more difficult)

second: you may want to consider checking what fields are in good demand in Japan. Do some research about what Japan is lacking now and will most likely lack in the future (cough* engineers).

third: check if the university you want to attend has any exchange programs with japan, and target doing at least a year here. start saving now or get a nice scholarship. take intensive japanese during that time. you should achieve at least N2 level. network a lot, make good connections. one of them could be your bridge to japan.

Engineering degree + English language + Japanese N2 = very decent chances to find a job here.

Anyway, japanese language requirements are already quite relaxed for engineers these days. In 5 years probably just english will be fine.

Last advice: don't rely on becoming an english teacher. it's the easiest path, and the worst paid, with no career advancement. also doing a master's degree here is for a lot of people, useless. they graduate, and companies almost have no interest in their academic over qualifications. so they have to either leave japan, or continue with a doctor's degree, and live forever as a scholar <-- not well paid.

Umm, scholars are not badly paid in Japan...
Also, I disagree that Japanese Studies has no value. In fact, studying and understanding society, history, politics, etc, is what will make the difference, especially if you don't want to become IT/engineer/tech person (let's finally stop promoting these jobs and talking about "becoming" one; you either have the mindset for sciences or not, it's not like ordering a different sandwich). Whether you work in marketing, advertising, travel industry, media, no one is going to hire you just because you speak Japanese. You'll need to show you have some deeper knowledge and skills.
Language schools are just an easy way to get a mid-term visa (hence why their abuse by certain Asians) and maybe make some practical connections, but this is not investing in yourself really. Take slower steps and build up, that's my advice.

scholars are not greatly paid in japan considering all the time they invest in studying. they survive off scholarships equal to minimum wage until their 30s and then manage to be hired by the same university with a stellar new-grad level salary of 4~5 million yen a year. only that it comes bit too late into their lives when they should have already made a decent amount of savings and be making 1.5 times more. there are exceptions, but not many. i see them all the time here. can only afford guest houses and instant noodles. meh, just my point of view, not trying to hurt any feelings ;)

"Scholar" by itself is meaningless. It depends on the field, in Japan just as much as anywhere else.

I would also strongly suggest visiting Japan before investing any time or money into trying to move there. For many years I thought I'd like to live in Japan and struggled to earn enough money and gain enough work experience in order to be in with a chance to get the relevant visa. During that time I visited Japan a few times, but it wasn't until I had the opportunity to make a three-month trip to Japan (on a tourist visa, so no paid work - volunteering with groups like WWOOF and staying with friends) that I realised I'd really struggle to live in Japan!

The "normal" work-life balance in Japan is awful. If you're the kind of person who lives to work then you'll be fine, but if you're interested in enjoying life and not making yourself regularly ill by working crazy hours (in some extreme cases for no extra money!) then Japan really isn't the place for you! While the country has a pretty decent number of public holidays, most companies offer poor paid holidays (about 13 days per year for most of my Japanese friends) which are then mostly used for company holidays at o-bon in August and o-shogatsu (New Year) in Japan. To give you an idea of how bad it is, my friends have a large family (11 in total) but even though they still live together they only see each other on special days - like when I visit every couple of years!

From my most recent trip to Japan, it seems that wages are also getting worse while living costs are rising. A couple of my friends' spouses are studying for professional qualifications so they can apply for better paid jobs - and they generally study at work (unpaid!), meaning they go to work for an 8am start but don't leave until 9pm/10pm. Unusually, they only work Monday-Friday, while a lot of jobs in Japan are still Monday-Saturday.

My advice would be to visit Japan a couple of times before making a firm decision. I'd recommend finding volunteering opportunities which offer a place to stay and daily meals in exchange for work - that way you should also be able to interact with real Japanese people. Learning at least some Japanese would be a great idea, and - as mentioned by some others in this thread - your age means you could have opportunities for studying Japanese in Japan. As things stand, getting a Bachelor's Degree would also help (the subject doesn't matter - you could get a Ba in makeup and it would still be better than not having a degree!).

I'm not sure if Germany has a working holiday visa agreement with Japan. The UK has this agreement, but only for people up to the age of 31 (visa entitlement ends on your 31st birthday - 8 years ago, in my case!). If there's a similar visa offered by the German government then I'd definitely go for it - it'll mean you can take paid work while staying in Japan for up to 12 months, which will help with travel costs, food, accomodation and so on.

If you're hell-bent on living in Japan then I would at least recommend waiting until after April 2019 before making your final decision. The Japanese government is considering dramatic changes to the (currently very complicated and very unfriendly!) visa system. It may be simpler getting to Japan once the visa system has been changed.

For my part, as much as I despise the Japanese lifestyle I'm still looking at the possibility of moving out there in the event of Brexit being as much of a disaster as I think it's going to be! In my case, I'm a qualified gardener so I may have the beginnings of a route into work if the visa changes are as sweeping as the Japanese government is claiming. Having a lot of Japanese friends with gardening contacts will help, but I'm still going to wait until after April 2019 before trying anything desperate!

Maybe so but therefs a lot information that should be considered by anyone seriously thinking about moving to Japan. Itfs absolutely true that work-life balance could easily be considered poor by western standards. Long hours of unpaid overtime most certainly is expected by many many employers, sometimes it comes as standard, meaning your 9-5 job is actually 8-8 every day. What was said about paid leave is also true. My boyfriend can actually take quite a lot of time off in a year, but itfs just one day here, two days there. Hefs only allowed to take one glongh holiday per year, it must be during summer and it must be 7 days. Travelling around Japan is no problem but opportunities to actually take a holiday somewhere are extremely limited. If we were to fly to my home country (UK) to see my family we would only get 4, 5 at the most days in the county.

Itfs a not nonsense. OP should know the good and bad points, which there are many, of living in Japan.

@GegegeKeitai
Which country are you talking about?

study IT course in japan university after that get a job...
during your university can study japanese language.