14 year old girl aiming to move to Japan

Im a 14 year old girl aiming to move to Japan with my best friend when we r in our early 20's.I just want to know how hard it might be to move there and how much money is needed to move there.Also any places that would be nice to visit first(which we plan to do b4 we move).Im also aiming to be and artist and wanna know if there would be any good jobs for an artist.Or if i can make any money being a Masseuse.Me and my friend are even trying to learn Japanese.So if some1 can answere any of the questions i would really appreciate it.

By Casey

You should wait a few years to become independent and then go find employment or become an artist in Japan. You're a teen (closer to preteen). You've got a lot ahead of you, focus on establishing a career and life in your own country/location before planning one in a foreign country. Becoming a manga artist is VERY competitive, get some practical experience like school & training in that field before you go off.

sorry about the manga artist part... accidentally added it

Become fluent in Japanese and get an as high education level as you can, at least get a college degree. Before you can move to Japan, you need to find employment to get a visa and if you have skills that are readily available in Japan, it is going to be difficult.

Don't worry about your current age, it's not like you're going tommorow- my dream of moving to Japan started at 16, but be warned it's a long process and takes a lot of time and work. You may change your mind later so it's better to get a little experience first. For now starting to learn Japanese and reading books and reliable articles on the internet about Japanese life and culture will help. If you like what you read (and accept the disadvantages- Japan isn't perfect just like any country) then keep going. In a couple of years you could check if your school does any exchanges to Japan and visit that way to get a short but real experience. After that you will need to get a university degree in order to get a visa to stay there. Luckily any degree is fine so I would advise doing a degree that not only you like but if Japan didn't work out and you changed your mind, you would have other job options open. That will take you to around 21-22 years old :-)

Also bear in mind that most foreigners, unless they have specialised training in a certain area or work for a company where they can get transferred abroad etc. come to Japan to teach English. Getting other jobs is harder and takes more effort and luck. As for the jobs you mentioned, I get the impression that it is very hard to get a visa to be an artist unless you have achieved success in your own country and can get someone to sponsor you. I'm not sure what type of artist you mean as you didn't say but for example manga artist is an unlikely job as they can hire Japanese artists cheaply and without hassle. Masseuse again is a job that i can't really see an easy way to get sponsored for.

At the end of the day it is a long road that takes a lot of work but if you are serious about it, do as much research as you can, try to visit and experience Japan first and earn that degree. You've got plenty of time to change your mind if you decide to. Best of luck! :-)

You are very young to be thinking of that. It took me until I was 23 before I got the nerve to definitely want to go after learning for several years. My question is also on these forms.

I want to go to an art school, but the only difference between you and me is I've already got a sponsor (except I need my own funds, damn!) who can support me when it comes to getting a job. I have worked extremely hard to get to the point that I am at today where I'm simply asking how much money I truly need to get started.

Don't drop out of school. Don't miss a single lesson in your life. I've kept my attendance at an extreme high with my only sick days being when my school closed due to bad weather. If you truly want to go to Japan, do what I did and work hard for the rest of your life. Even if you can't find a job (like I haven't) during those years, just keep your attendance in school/college instead.

You don't need to have had employment most of your possible working life to be able to find a job in Japan; however, you can't have the fact that you sat around and did nothing in those years be on your record too. I've got 18 years of school/college life in my record (I'm 23, so in education since I was 5) and in Japan, the minimum to show you're worth having is 12.

Keep at it! Don't drop out of anything and keep your studies up before you start getting distracted by Japan.