Steps to take for moving to Japan?

I'm 17 years old and a first-year engineering student in the USA. I will most likely be graduating in May 2013, when I'll be 21 and I want to move to Japan as soon as possible after graduating. I have begun learning japanese and I'm positive that I'll be able to speak it effectively when it comes time to move. I don't think I'll have trouble with the cultural/societal changes since I've actually spent almost the first half of my life in an asian country, so I don't think I'll have problems with adapting to the culture/food/etc.
My main concern is finding a job. What are the steps I need to take to find a job relevant to my field (engineering/technology)? I really don't want to teach english, I don't think I'll even be qualified to. Would it be a good idea to work in the USA for a while before trying to find work in Japan?
Also, what steps do I have to relocate and become a japanese citizen?
It would be ideal to hear from someone who was in the same situation as me, though any advice is appreciated.

Why would you go to Japan to find a engineering job when you have it better in the States?

There are many Japanese engineers who are studying in an American institution who would do anything to work in the States.

Gather yourself, take it one step at a time, and don't rush to any conclusions.

It's not as easy as you think it is to learn the language, adapt to the culture, etc. Have you ever even lived in or traveled to Japan before? Citizenship? That's soooooo far down the line, you're wasting your time even considering it.

Either way, work on your education, take advantage of student exchange programs and clubs on campus, and talk to international students on campus to see what they think about your plan.

In my opinion, it makes so little sense for one to move to Japan to work. Getting transfered by a company to work in Japan is a separate issue though.

ALL immigrants to all countries have a hard time finding a good job in a new country. Even those that are very qualified. Doctors, engineers, architects for example aren't able to practice unless they study again for several years in their new country.
Crafts people, paradoxically, have an easier time as they can demonstrate their skills but even then they often have to find a person from their culture that will be the first to hire them.

Language is another thing. It takes a good 5 years of living in a country before one is familiar with common idioms and the way people do things. it takes a lifetime to truly master a language. Japanese is especially difficult... compared to learning French if one mother's tongue is English and vice versa, 2 languages that have something like 30 000 words in common..
Yet even after living in an English speaking country for 10-20 years the average Frenchman will still have problems with H words and the accent in general (even Americans have trouble with accent in the UK and vice versa) while an Englishman will always have problem with the genre of all the French words.
Why the degrees of politeness in French speech and manners, when and how to use them? same thing in Japanese!!

My brother lived for many years in various foreign countries. Unlike me he was not an immigrant but an expatriate, meaning that he worked for a company from our birth country.
He worked in his mother tongue wherever he was BUT he had no choice about which country he was sent next, every 3 to 4 years, and, when he did come back "home " after 15 years was a stranger in his birth country as things there had changed a lot in the meantime.

Aren't there ways to already have a job lined up before coming to Japan?

"Aren't there ways to already have a job lined up before coming to Japan?" only if you work for a Japanese company in the USA or a US one with branches in Japan.
Japanese grads themselves have lots of trouble finding jobs and few companies--not just in Japan but anywhere--will take a chance on a totally unknown foreigner...

While you are learning Japanese by the way..why not go to Japanese owned stores in your home town to talk to staff -great practice-and get ideas from them??

I have to say I think people are being to harsh regarding the language.
I lived in England for 9 years (I'm 17) and I'm fluent in English
I am Icelandic and I do speak the language but I have the vocabulary of a 10 year old. The only thing that can help me with that would be to read Icelandic books to gain vocabulary.
I also speak Danish, German and I'm learning Japanese and French.

To become fluent in a language you need to immerse yourself into the lanugage. Watch Japanese movies or TV shows to get used to listening and even speaking(i gain vocabulary by reading subtitles and listening), get a Japanese penpal, attend Japanese classes (I got A+'s in everything in my Japanese class, its honestly not that hard), get childrens books in Japanese and read them if you're a beginner in Japanese.

If moving to Japan is what you really want to do, then go ahead and do it and achieve your dream.
I think it would be a good idea to work in the USA while searching for work in Japan for a while to earn money.
I can imagine that it'd be pretty bad to not find work in Japan for months and to have no salary during that time.

thelma, I got As in all my tests in Japanese class at high school too, but that in no way meant I was fluent in Japanese or that it is easy to become fluent in Japanese. I still had a huge amount of work to do once I arrived in Japan to be a competent speaker, let alone be able to read the language. I have now lived here 12 years and am still working on it.

European languages by comparison are far easier to learn (I studied French and Spanish for many years as well as Japanese), so are not really a good indicator of whether a person will learn Japanese quickly or not. The other people posting here and saying Japanese takes time to become fluent in most likely have been learning a lot longer than you, and know what they are talking about.