Moving and Working in Japan

I'm 22 year old American, don't speak Japanese yet, and really want to move to Japan. I'm worried about finding a job, since I don't have a college degree. One of my Japanese friends said it was easy for English speakers to find teaching jobs, but most of the one I see advertised require a degree and I just read a post that you also need one to get a Working Visa; am I out of luck? I would do any job. Would it be easier to find a job since I want to live in Kobe or maybe Fukuoka? I've looked on www.gaijin-pot.com and www.jobsinjapan.com, what others sites are recommended.What advice and tips does anyone have about moving to Japan? Any help would be very much appreciated. It's my dream to live in Japan and meet my friends there.

The only (legal) way I know of to work here without a degree is to come on a student visa. My advice would be to choose a school that teaches japanese (you dont have to go to university for this, private language schools that offer visas would do).

On a student visa, you are allowed to work 20 hours a week. (I work 20 hours a week as an English teacher on a working holiday visa and Im able to support myself fine)

If you are looking to stay here longterm, you could either study for 3 years (be it only language or you could apply to a university at some point) Once you have been teaching English for 3 years, you dont need a degree because you have valuable experiance. Please look into this last section because I dont know if that is if you teach for the same company or whatever/

Thanks for the advice Kait.
Could you or someone else recommend any universities or private language schools that teach japanese? the only one I've seen is called Worldlink Education in Tokyo.
Also would it be possible to use financial aid from the U.S.?

Okay, in terms of financial aid, Im Canadian and know nothing about how it works in the US. But I do know that there are programs for canadians to get scholarships for studying in japan. Maybe you should check out if there is anything like that.

I could recommend some schools but I dont know if it will do much good because I was looking for stuff in the Tokyo area and it sounds like you want more remote places.

There is a website called JASSO or Japan Student Services Organization
which has a search engine of schools and links to places where foreign
students may apply to. Here is the link:
http://www.jasso.go.jp/index_e.html

One thing though is that you MUST be serious about studying. If you are here on a student visa they are strict about attendance. They arent giving you a visa so that you can skip classes everyweek. So before doing it, make sure that's what you want.

Also, contact the Japanese embassy near you for more info about scholarships or whatnot

Learning japanese has become one of my dreams, especially since it will make it easier to talk to the japanese friends. I will check out that website. Thanks again Kait, you have been very helpful. :)

I am not sure how it works in america, but in australia, if you are on a student visa in japan and you were receiving financial aid before you went, then it is possible to still collect it while you are away. Just i wouldn't be too open about the fact you'll be working over there...........
I am not sure how the american system works but in Australia it's possible.
Scholarships are also a really good idea.......
Good luck with it all!

i also reallllllly want to live and work in japan, but i dont have a university/colage degree either. i have a high school deploma though.
going back to school now would be really hard because even to get into collage to get a bachlor of arts i need to upgrade some corses. T_T
i also heard that i could easly find a teaching job in japan, and on gaijin pot i found some that dont require a degree or a bachlor of arts, but im still not sure =/. i dont want to go there and have a very hard time finding a job =/
dose anyone know any other jobs besides teaching that foreners with out degrees can get in japan?
or has anyone got a teaching job sucsessfully with out a degree or anything
i live in canada so i can get a working holiday visa.

thanks

Kuro,
Just in case you weren't aware, a university degree is a requirement for most working visa categories - even if it is not necessarily required for the job itself. If you have a Working Hollday Visa or a Spouse Visa, then it would be possible to find teaching work without a degree, although most employers will naturally choose someone with a degree over someone without.
If you qualify for a Working Holiday Visa, surely your problem is solved? If you are female, hostessing is an alternative to teaching, which obviously doesn't need any qualifications for. Just make sure you read up about it well on the web beforehand so you know exactly what you are letting yourself in for.

First I want to thank sakuralulu for the advice.
Now for my question; does it matter what type of degree you have? At the local community college here, they offer Technical Certificates, which only takes about 25 credit hours or less to get for certain classes; Would that be good enough to get a Working Visa and job or would you have to have a Associates degree or higher? Unfortunately in the U.S. we can't get a Working Holiday Visa.

Mack,

You need at least a Bachelor's degree.

I am working on getting my TEFL online and I know that this is one way for those of us that are not able to go to Universty.

If you want to work in Japan then I'm afraid that's not quite correct.

Actually the BA (or any other Bachelor's degree) is a requirement of Japan Immigration- without it you will not get a working visa. Also most schools require at least some university study completed and prefer a full degree. These things are considered more important than a TEFL qualification which isn't all that helpful in Japan- particularly an online one with no actual teaching practice.

If you are eligible for a working holiday visa then the TEFL certificate may help you get a job here, otherwise it won't help at all, I'm afraid, as you won't be able to get a visa.

You might also want to check out http://dotjapan.com