Need Advice to work/live in japan

Hi

I'm a 20 year old british citizen and since i was 15 i've always wanted to change where i live to japan.

I'm thinking of learning japanese in a college near me or just self-teach the basic japanese to myself, im not too sure which job would be best for myself, my best subjects were graphics and ICT but i dont think i'll go for those type of jobs, maybe teaching which i did for work experiance.

im currently a full time worker in a warehouse but i could save to around £10-£15 thousand which 2,101,307.07Yen-3,152,943.88Yen-
would take me probably 1 year but im still young,
which if im correct is alot to start off with when staying in japan?

The place within japan im most fond off is Hokkaido and Shibuya but i do prefer Hokkaido much more.

im in no rush so im probably thinking at the age of 22-24 is when i'll start to really consider moving by then if i can save my money that long i would have 10,526,155.85Yen.

would love some Advice, if i should consider going college to learn japanese while saving and if i should consider becoming a english teacher.

Thank you very much for any advice and information.

Cameron,

Most of the things you are asking or concerned about have been answered and discussed numerous times in all the other "I want to move to Japan" theads, so I suggest reading through the forum archives for more information.

First of all, without a university degree, your chances of qualifying for a working visa are basically zero. Being British, you do qualify for the Working Holiday Visa, though, which will let you stay for one year.

If you were to move to Japan for a year, I think you would want at least 2 million yen in your bank account, but that seems to be no problem for you.

Good luck.

just need to know one last thing.

I haven't seen an answer to this but if i was to get even a university diploma in japanese would that be ok to get a Visa.

Thanks

It must be a degree, which says "Bachelor of ,,,,,,,"- it doesn't matter what the subject is, but it has to be a bachelor's degree. This takes 3 or 4 years, depending on the country/ university/ course.

You would then need to look for a job, and once you had an employer to sponsor you, you could then apply for a working visa.

Check the Japanese government site www.mofa.go.jp for full details on what kind of visas are available and what requirements you must fulfill.

Thanks for your replies and sorry for the repeat Questions.

im 100% going to japan in march for 1 week so that will be to assure me weather im 100% sure japan is the right country for me but i think is most certainly will.

Im seriously thinking about getting my japanese langauge level really high and if i can in the UK just get a Degree in that, though can someone please tell me would that be enough to get a job in japan i know a Degree in japanese langauge should have no problem getting me a working Visa but i just need to know if it would get me a job otherwise i will have to consider doing Graphic Design(which i dont wanna :D) or further my IT skills.

Thanks for any Advice/Replies.

P.S
If i wanted to become an english language teacher for either japanese elementary school or High school what degrees are they looking for or would having a really good level in Japanese be fine as my english is ok and im from england.

Thanks

Cameron,

- Please keep in mind that getting a bachelor's degree is the minimum requirement to be eligible for a work-permitting visa (visa requirement by the government). But what are you going to do in Japan with just the language? Almost everyone here in Japan speaks the language. So you will need to have some skills in addition that would interest potential employers, so that they will want to hire you and sponsor you so that you can work for them.

- To teach in elementary or high schools in Japan, I believe, requires you to have completed a university course dedicated to education (in Japan). As non-Japanese, you have opportunities as a language assistant under JET program.

- For English teachers at ENglish conversation schools or language assistant, what people here seek is more of teaching "directly" - English through English style (so barely any Japanese language would be required in classrooms). Just to familiarize yourself with the direct teaching method, since you are in UK, please have a look at TEFL (teaching of ENglish as foreign language) or TESOL (teaching of ENgish to speakers of other languages) certificate courses avaioable in UK - there are 4-week courses that give you the basics of what teaching a language entails :)