Quote:
Originally Posted by Sangetsu
Moving to Japan to teach is a big step. Work is not all that hard to find for experienced/qualified teachers, but there is less "entry-level" work available than there used to be.
Unless you are coming from a country with a working holiday visa agreement with Japan, you will have to come with a tourist visa, which is only good for 90 days. You would need to bring enough money to last you for that time. You can probably find an temporary apartment for $600-$700 per month, and then you'll need to add food and transportation expenses to that, which would be approximately $15 per day.
Remember that the application/interview/hiring/sponsorship process takes time, if you don't find a job within the first 4 to 6 after you arrive, you may be forced to leave the country and return with a fresh visa.
There are many schools who are willing to hire fresh people, but some of these schools are not the best places to work for. There are plenty of horror stories about schools which fail to pay overtime (generally anything over 29.5 hours per week), and ripping you off out of vacation time (you are entitled to 10 days vacation after your first 6 months), etc. If you are offered an interview at a school, do a Google search and make sure that they are reputable.
And, of course, you must meet the basics required to get a work visa as a teacher, which means you are a native English speaker who has a 4 year college degree, or 3 consecutive and verifiable years of teaching experience.
I didn't come to Japan until I had received a firm offer of employment. Traveling across the US for interviews was expensive and time-consuming, but it was still less expensive than the cost of a round-trip ticket to Japan.
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I was going to say everything Sangetsu already did. I will add, that even if you do come, job in hand, you still need money until you're paid after your first month! I had a job, and I came with $2000. I was already experienced, which made getting offers much easier, and now that I know more about the system in Japan, I could have probably gotten one anywhere I wanted, but it would have taken more time and more money. I'd say $5000 is probably a good number given three months of tourist visa status. That's just under what you'd be making salary wise, and will allow you to stay in a guest house, get food, travel, and NETWORK (yes, this involves socialising, and likely alcohol/food/etc). If you just bring enough for rent and food, but none for play, you'll actually not only be driving yourself insane with cabin fever, you will also miss many possible opportunities to learn about employment because you're stuck at home trying to send a dozen resumes off to faceless hiring managers all day.