Minimal Japanese comprehension level

Hi,
I heard from somebody who wants to immigrate to Japan (work and live) that a minimal knowledge is required of the Japanese language to get a permit. Is this so?

What �gpermit�h do you mean?

If you want to work and live in Japan, many jobs would require working level knowledge of the Japanese language. I do know some people who work and live here as �gexpats,�h so working in a branch of a non-Japanese company for example (back office so no interaction with the local customers), or English language teachers, who are not required to be proficient in the local language, though. They might just stay for the duration of their visa for some years and then return home.
But outside their work, it would come in extremely handy to know the local language, as I�fm sure you can imagine.

When you say �gimmigrate,�h if you mean permanently moving over, that takes many years on work visas, (or somewhat less number of years if not based on employment but family relationship), and I would expect that many people would have learned some language during those years. It is not that you take an �gimmigration permit�h test and then you�fre allowed to live here for good.

Thanks AK for your fast response.

By permit I assume you mean a visa (to enter the country) and residency status that allows you to stay for some extended period of time. What you heard is almost correct. In fact, zero Japanese language ability is required. Of course, some employers won't hire you if you can't speak Japanese, some schools and colleges won't accept you, but many people do legally move to Japan for work and study without even being able to introduce themselves in Japanese. Whether or not this is actually advisable depends on the kind of life one expects in Japan.

There are some newer categories under the internship programme that require some proficiency
But until those were introduced, zero Japanese is required for all the other visa categories. The "heard from somebody" is generally false/not true.