[Tsuwabuki]

Uhm. You know, even being an English teacher, if your intent is to relocate to Tokyo several years, will eventually require you to become fluent in Japanese if you want to advance. Entry level ALT or eikaiwa positions are simply not designed to promote acculturation and advancement. Whether they should or not is a regular debate here and on other Japan related forums...

There are programs at some Japanese universities that allow you to earn a Japanese education degree and teaching certification by taking upper level education courses in Japanese (your lower divisions are counted from your current BA).

The catch? You need to pass JLPT1 for most of these programs, or JLPT2 for the others. In this case learning Japanese fluently is not an option; it is a requirement.

If I stay in Japan past the age of 28 (which is coming up too soon, too soon) then I plan to go this route and pursue permanent residency.