Am I forgetting somthing?

Hey Guys,

I'm a 19 year old University student studying Film and Arts whose decided to take a year off school to travel. I'm getting a working holiday visa and going to Japan late March - early April 2010. I plan on staying for about six months, then moving onto China/Korea.

I have around 5 years Japanese experience, but would still consider myself at quite a poor level. (probably slightly higher than JLPT 4) regardless of this I am confident, and survived over there with less skills on a two week trip, two years ago.

I plan on combining WWOOF (willing workers on organic farms), Couch surfer and a some friends over there for the first few months accommodation then seeing what happens from there. I'll have around 350,000 yen after flights.

Do you think these are reliable forms of accommodation (wwoof and couch surfer) or should i plan more for hostels etc?

is 350,000 Enough money? obviously will be looking for work, hopefully economy will turn around, but i will be leaving very cheaply which I guess is part of the charm.

I haven't planned too much in detail, but it's all part of the adventure :)

Thanks a lot for any advice you guys have to offer.

An 'e'.

Many years ago my friend left Japan and traveled around the world. He exchanged his electronic talents for meals & place to stay, plus earned some money. He also was willing to live in country rather than in the major city as most foreigner would do, and partake in their meals. Money he carried with him wasn't much but he was frugal & enterprising. You sound like him, so have a great times.

Thanks a lot guys

That does sound a lot like what I'm hoping to accomplish.

One more question. With regards to immigration I need to have a return ticket. But I am not sure when/where I will be going after Japan.

Any advice?

Return ticket not needed, just as long as you can show them you have enough money to buy one in Japan is sufficient.

Dont tell them you are couch surfing though, they won't like it. Good community though, I do it myself.

World traveler?

What is true is, buying a round trip from U.S. is cheaper than buying one-way from Japan to U.S., but in your case, purchase from your last destination.

Thanks a lot again for the advice. Especially regarding Couch surfer, how do you find it in Japan?

The reason I asked about airfare is because I can get one-ways to Japan at $500 (nz) where open returns cost about 2400.

But I went to the Nz-Jap embassy today and they informed me that, from today you do not need to show them a return ticket only an exit ticket from Japan. So from today 22nd Sept, you can on travel and not have to return to new Zealand on a working holiday visa.

Even if I decide not to go to continue traveling (which I doubt will happen) it will still be cheaper just throwing away the one way to Korea/china ticket buying a one-way home rather than forking out 2400.

The Embassy asked me for a detailed description of how I plan to spend my 12 months today...I of course have no idea, any advice how to answer? They said ''I don�ft know'' and ''not decided'' are unacceptable answers.

Again thanks a lot for all the information

I don't couch surf in Japan but the guys I know that have a couch are like your typical friendly Japanese local you meet in your home country. Very helpful.

Your intinary is simple and of course you must plan your stay since you are working while holidaying. You "Cant NOT know" :)

Keeping it simple like I plan to spend 3 months in Tokyo working as Chairman of a company. Then travelling to the countryside to work as a farmer etc for 4 months etc...

They just want to see roughly where you are going and that you have a sufficient plan.

Cheers man.

will do something like that. first few months Tokyo etc. Will probably get pretty guessy around the 5th month onward though.

Guest is right- get a guidebook if you don't already have one, and write down something plausible, even if you don't plan to stick to it. That's what I did, 13 years ago, and I can assure you that they don't come after you to find out if you are sticking to the itinerary that you gave them.