want to move to Japan in about 3 years

I'm 18 years old i live in the U.S, and I will be attending a cosmetology/trade school this fall or next spring. I'm wanting to move to Japan, to be more specific Harajuku between Shibuya and Shinjuku after i get my funding together for at least the first month or so, i'm already learning japanese, and i convinced it's easier than learning Kanji. I'm wanting to work as a makeup artist there but i'm getting a bit of the run around from websites. Any information would be great as to Visas for working and also transferring my license to japan .

Seeing that you are planning to study and then later to "live" in Tokyo, I'm assuming that you want to "work" in Japan. And from your background I assume you are a US citizen?

In terms of visa for working in Japan, you will need either:
(1) a bachelor's degree from a university/college (normally 4 or 3 years - as educational background),
or
(2) at least several (some say ten) years of relevant work experience (meaning in your case, you need to build at least several years' track record as cosmetician in your country)
...before you become eligible for a work-permiting visa, employed and sponsored by a company who is interested in hiring you.

A few more things:
Harajuku between Shibuya and Shinjuku
That is a very expensive place to live in - people live in the surburbs and commute into central Tokyo. Also that is an area full of good make-up artists and beauticians - to be hired by someone in that area, you may need to be the best of the best in your skills.

i'm already learning japanese, and i convinced it's easier than learning Kanji
Kanji is one of the writing systems of the Japanese language, used in combination with other writing systems. So you need to be familiar with kanji as well.

also transferring my license to japan
You need to ask at your school to see how widely your license is accepted around the world. Without knowing exactly what license it is, it will be difficult to answer.
For hairdressers, for example, the exam that people need to take and pass in order to be qualified as hairdressers in Japan is only conducted in the Japanese language, requires studying in a vocational school in Japan, and only accepted in Japan, I believe.

i've looked at guesthouses online and i know that with looking online you only really see what people want you to see, but would anyone ever suggest one? i found one that had a very small 3 tatami mat room for 48,000 yen a month is that a good price or would i do better to make a longer commute?.
I'm ready and willing to wait the 10 plus years and maybe take a few site seeing trips out to Japan to see even more of what i'm getting myself into.
i have a Kanji book that i'm studying on the side but i honestly have no talent for it, i can recognize them but when it comes to putting them with the letters is where my issue lies.

OK, I suppose you are really keen to get to see Tokyo :)

I think a 3-mat room is... *gulp* quite small to be honest! I bet toilets and bathing facilities are shared with other tenants in the house, correct? Even as short-term traveler you would find that size stifling - you would barely be able to open your suitcase flat in there. 4.5 square meters = about 48 square feet.

I don't know which area you looked at to find that place, but I'm taking about commuting *outside* Shibuya and Shinjuku for at least 20, 30 minutes on trains (I believe the average commuting time for people who work in Tokyo is 1 hour 15 minutes or something one way).

Coming to visit Japan first is a good idea :)

hmmm yea i am very keen on it^_^ don't ask why and please don't laugh cause this is gonna sound kind of nerdy but it's like there's an invisible force or whatever pulling me to Japan cause I've tried to talk myself out of it several times i have friend who have tried to talk me out of it but again there's something there, don't ask me why.
ugh yes i know VERY small... so small that i can and have measured it out in my living room and my/parents house isn't that big 3bed 2 bath :-/
the website i used to find the guest house i was talking about and yes bathroom is shared is sakura-house.com area search Harajuku.
OVER AN HOUR ONE WAY!!! O.O dang i might just be in trouble i nearly run late with the half hour commute i make to work now...

Please visit Japan as a tourist and see what it is really like here before you devote years of your life to preparing to live in a country that you may not even like! It is quite common that the more people have built up Japan in their minds, the more of a let-down it is when they finally get here.

AK is right about Harajuku- a lot of us would like to live there, but that's like saying "I'm going to move to New York and live in Greenwich Village"- only if you have a pretty high income, or you are happy to live in a closet with no air con (the Tokyo summer is stiflingly hot) and paper thin walls.

Non-Japanese make-up artists are pretty thin on the ground here as there are plenty of Japanese people wanting to do the job, and many of them speak good English. Perhaps think about something else you could do here.

. i'm not expecting much except for maybe in the spring when the blossoms bloom, other than that I picture it to be...well... it's hard to explain unless you've visited where i live which is Alabama.
Ok Harajuku out where is a good area to live in Tokyo?.
Again i live in the southern part of U.S and have lived here my whole life. I don't know what the average is out there but here it's about 85-90 degrees but with humidity it feels about 100 degrees and then we have about a week every summer that it does hit triple digits and then again with humidity to bump it up another 10-15 degrees. HOT! HUMID!
the only other skills i have are child care I have been a Nanny for my neighbor for almost 3 years now and i do a lot of babysitting on the side of that.
My main skills will be Hair and Makeup stylist.

Why ask for advice if you won't listen to anyone? Japan is not an easy place to live for foreigners. It is crowded, expensive, and difficult to live in if you can't speak and read Japanese. It is more hot and humid than Alabama and no air conditioning will make sleeping next to impossible for some accustomed to it. Getting a job as a foreign make up artist or hair dresser is next to impossible (I know this because my friend is a famous make up artist in Tokyo).
If you are really wanting to go, I suggest 4 years of college to be an English teacher.

i didn't mean to sound rude i'm sorry. I know it wont be easy and i know there's going to be times when i question myself as to why the heck am i there, but i feel that if i don't go i'll regret it somehow, and i just don't want to feel like that. i really do appreciate all of your advise please don't think that i don't, everything you all have said i am considering except for maybe a 4 year college, i can't afford it.

XcElLkK, we all understand your dream but before you dismiss our objections you should ask immigrants in your home town, especially those that are not look like the average Alabama person, how hard it was.
I am an immigrant living in North America and, even thought I am Caucasian, had degrees and spoke and wrote English, it was very, very, very hard at first. Local people naturally got the average jobs first and what I and other like me got were low paid casual dirty jobs that locals didn't wanted. It is only after many years that you are finally able to get better jobs. This means that you would have to be ready to do any type of jobs BUT the one that you want to do. In any country it is extremely hard to get a decent job if you can't speak/ read/ write the native language AND aren' t aware of all sorts of cultural clues and markers. Japanese (with 3 different "alphabets") is especially hard.
Your dream isn't impossible, it is just rather unrealistic for now. You should first try LA, San Francisco, New York to get a taste of a big town and how hard it is to get a decent job there!!!
Some of my staff by the way are way more educated that I am (they are doctors, engineers etc.) but work as cleaners, laundry workers etc. because of their low level of English even after 30 years in their new country.
As for the area where you could live if you did succeed in coming to Japan, look at a map of the greater Tokyo and check places way way outside Tokyo. In the North American town where I live now, as well as in the European town where I was born, many people HAVE to live, as said before, 1hr away from downtown (like me..) or even WAY more. .

ok so probably jumping the gun in my subject. I'm gonna take the time while I'm in school and study the Japanese language more in depth i have asked the assistance of a pen-pal in Japan for help and in trade I'm helping her with her English.
With the school I'm attending I'm guaranteed a job after school which will probably put me some where out of my home state. But I'm not giving up on my dream and I'm gonna keep reading up and studying. Hey if anyone knows of where i can get a great deal on a round trip ticket to japan please let me know, I'm definitely gonna try to take a trip or two out there. Soon-ish

This is off topic but I wanted to say that I've lived in Alabama for a couple of years and I currently live in Tokyo. I'm the type of person who doesn't like hot weather and I can tell you the weather in Tokyo is much, much more pleasant than Alabama. Tokyo summers last a short 6 weeks and Alabama summers last 6 months.

I just looked at the weather forecast in Alabama and it's already in the mid to upper 30s this entire week. It's in the low to mid 20s for us in Tokyo.

sweet can't/can wait, middle of the day is when i don't care for it much but early morning ( anything before 9am) and late evening ( any time after 6-ish 7) i love the most cause the sun isn't beating down on me but there's still that warmth in the air.

Here in Florida it's in the mid 30's but with the heat index/feels like it's 40!

As for the OP I know what you mean about being drawn there. I am working on making it there too... just finishing up a Bachelors degree right now... So good luck to you!!!

Ok so I can relate alot to this, I have been to Japan 3 times and wanted to live there so bad (still do actually) I was thinking about going to college (Temple University an english speaking college in tokyo) there (expensive) and I would advise you to do that (student loans of course!) I also looked at sakura house and to get used to living in that small of a space I crammed everything for my room into a closet smaller and lived out of it for a week, it sucked don't get me wrong but it can be done! But you got to realize while it is not impossible to get to japan it is extremely hard. Just remember to keep all your doors open. Keep teaching as an option, possibly get there for college, get there by another job, and you could even marry a japanese citizen. I would reccomend visiting too, no offense but moving there without knowing anything about the place is just plain stupid. Hope you can live out your dream.

1. I'm from a private church school here in Alabama

2. My grades were good ( low A's and high B's) but not that good

3. I don't know how well they'll accept a application from me when it says church school.

Don't worry a trip out there was a given in the back of my head
I'm just not financially able at the moment with saving for school and stuff. My main concern was just the getting the transfers as far as my cosmetology license goes and work visas.