living in japan
 

I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to live in japan...preferably Nagoya but people are telling me that there are so many steps to so i need help so i can start planning cuz i want to go before i get to old

For starters - How old are you? What is your level of education? Those are serious key points.

And... Why Nagoya?

im 16 and going to graduate i've been saving money. My uncle used to live in Nagoya and he says its great.

When you say "graduate" I hope you mean college. Life in Japan without a college degree isn't as realistic.

I believe he mentioned in another post he wants to live there at 18...


I don't think you'll have much luck without going to a university first. Try this page for more information - Japanese Visa Information :: Japan Visitor

I know it's a lot of information, so I'll sum it up for you: to live in Japan, you need a visa. You either need to have a bachelor's degree from a university (typically 4 year course of study), or you need to be a student in Japan. Trust me, if you don't know Japanese, going to a university in the US is much easier and more economical... even if you have to wait 4 years.

If you are only 16, why don't you start martial arts or something.

Tons of foreigners come to Japan to train at dojo in Japan.

It could be karate, judo, aikido, kendo as long as they are Japanese one.

I bet if you are good at it, you can get a culture visa or something.

I mean, personally, when I was 16, I didn't know shit about how the society functions and one very important element that you seem to be not getting is when you go to Japan and if you want to stay there, you need to make money!!

Have you ever thought about that?

Getting to Japan is one thing but surviving there is another.

And that's why, bachelor's degree would not only help you obtain a proper visa to work in Japan but also it allows you to seek necessary skills that you can use to make MONEY.

Plus, you have to learn Japanese first anyways and it could easily take your entire university years.

Well said.
I think another thing that should be taken into account is the weather. It gets pretty hot during the summer and if your someone who hates the hot temperatures, its not going to be pretty. Although there are exceptions like Hokkaido :D

You know that if you put time in a culinary career you could easily work in japan I Been reading articles if you go to culinary school and learn enough to become a good chef you could work in a resturaunt but you would have to look it up I've seem quite a few articles for Americans that actuly own there own resturaunts so ya that's just a idea

Good insight info Ff7rockerman!!

The point is, it doesn't matter what it is, but you have to get yourself special skills like that to be successful and survive in a foreign country.

College degree is the same thing. It's just a ticket to next step that is all.

If college is not for you then culinary programs and other skill related programs are good ways to go.

Honestly, I have to call you a spammer. What a biased website you've created! And that wasn't even enough for you so you joined JF to continue your negative campaign against Japan. If you hate Japan, just leave it quietly.

And I just have to roll my eyes.

People who look for racism will see it in everything around them - regardless of whether it`s present or not.

Chances are, if you`ve been mistreated, it was because you did something to deserve it. Don`t blame everything on race.

ETA; After actually looking at your page, you backed my argument perfectly. You are searching, desperately, for anything and everything that could be interpreted as discrimination. What fun with misinterpretation! *more eye rolling* Seriously - not everything you find unpleasant has anything to do with your race. Talk about a victim complex.

I think you're right about him only leaving negative posts, that wasn't a wise move. And it's advertising his website. But I think he is allowed to say he doesn't like Japan just like a lof of people say they hate America. On these forums we only really see the nice peachy side of Japan, of course there are things that are going to happen and people are going to have negative experiances, and I don't think they should be told to shut up and get out because of that basically.

I agree with you MissMisa for 100%.

Everyone deserves to make their own conclusions.

And i noticed that people here like to defend Japan a lot and as soon as someone leaves a negative comment or two, people jump on them.

The reason I said "Leave quietly" is that he stated in his other post that he was leaving in 18 days. If he's leaving that soon, I don't see a point in joining JF now and spreading his hate? It's not too pretty in my opinion.

Yeah, you have a point. But he could still get on JF if he moves [and if he decides to come back - which a lot of new posters don't -_-=]

If you stayed for 3 1/2 years, it couldn't have been all bad.

And I think you misinterpret a lot of things on your website. For instance, a sign in English saying the area is patrolled by police can be to reassure foreign visitors that it's a safer area, rather than a warning to foreign criminals.

I lived there 2 years, and I was never assaulted, even when I was traveling alone. I never had any problem getting a taxi to pick me up. I was never refused admission to a place because I'm not Japanese. I did encounter stares, mostly from kids. I did encounter some trouble when trying to find a different apartment, they didn't want to rent to a foreigner.

But the number of good experiences massively outweigh the very few bad ones. A local restaurant delivery man once saw me walking my bike with a flat tire. He stopped on his own (I didn't flag him down, he chose to stop), put my bike in his truck, drove me to a bike repair shop to get the tire fixed, and even haggled with the guy for me to reduce the price!

And another time, a member of the Hiroshima Orchestra spent 45 minutes helping me find my hotel, and drove me to it, despite the fact that it made him late for practice.

And another time, at Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama, I didn't know that visitors were supposed to bring their own bath towels, they only rent tiny hand towels there. It was winter time, so just leaving wet wasn't a good option. A Japanese girl I had never seen before in my life overheard my conversation, and simply gave me her own towel, out of the kindness of her heart.

And at a restaurant I often ate at, they noticed that I never ate the Japanese pickles. So they asked me what else I might like, and from then on, they always gave me some fruit or veggies instead of the pickles, including sometimes a slice of watermelon, honeydew melon, some strawberries, or other fruit that probably cost as much as the whole rest of the meal! They never charged extra, they did it out of kindness.

I could go on and on, I have dozens and dozens of stories like this. If after 3 1/2 years you can't find even 1 good thing to say, 1 story of kindness or generosity, then you weren't living in the Japan I know.

You know what samurai007, after reading your comment, it made me think.

In Tokyo, you don't really get to experience heartwarming experience like you mentioned.

It's same everywhere in the world in big cities but maybe that's what semprini was experiencing in Tokyo.

I'm assuming he was living somewhere like Minato-ku or Shibuya and hanged out only at Roppongi...

I guess that's what happens to those people who never try to get out of the shell.

Yeah, in my experience, big cities tend to be less friendly and less personal than smaller cities and towns, no matter what country you are in. When I lived in San Francisco, my neighbors looked at me like I was crazy if I said hi to them. Here in small town Chico, my neighbors say hi whenever I see them, and even give me gifts now and then!

All the more reason to get out of Tokyo if you go to Japan! You may want to visit it now and then, maybe go shopping there if you live close by, but try to live somewhere else if possible. (Similarly, for Japanese that come to visit or stay in America, try to see the smaller towns and cities, which IMO can be much friendlier than the big cities)

Even so, I've heard of foreigners being treated kindly even in the heart of Tokyo...

Yea, SF is a weird city...

Which part of the city did you used to live?

Just add to the topic, I personally have negative images about SF.

It's a great place to visit and a fun place as well but I am often stunned when people describe SF as the best city in the US or I love SF so much cos of the diversity and the freedom.

But the truth is, non of these people are native San Franciscans and they only see the good side of SF while ignoring what is really going on in this city.

The City of SF is pushing for racial segregation among school districts as well as racial cleansing in the Bayview/Hunter's Point area by kicking out African Americans.

They promote propositions to build million dollar condos in these ghettos preparing for the future development of the Bayview community because it has the best view and the best whether in this cold city and what they have been doing for all these years was to have those African Americans live there in a toxic waste dump of the former Navy port and wait until it becomes cleaner.

Once those condos are built, they would just go ahead and kick them out so some rich young professionals from all over the US can live there and enjoy the great life in SF.

Anyways, if I were partying around all the time in Broadway, I wouldn't think this way but my research and work have heavily influenced my take of SF.

I actually lived just south of SF, in Daly City. 'Course, you can't tell where 1 city ends and the other begins in the bay area.

It has a lot of good food and some interesting sights and atmosphere, and lots of places nearby to get away, such as along the coast. But the city itself is crowded, waaaay too expensive, and full of people mostly looking out for themselves, in my experience. I was happy to move away, despite have to take a pay cut. When you figure that cost of living up here in Chico is about half that of the bay area, you may actually end up ahead, financially! And the people are so much friendlier here too.

Have you ever been to Chico? It's about a 4 hour drive north of SF.

My friend used to live there in Chico and I know it's a big party town for college kids right?

What do you do there?

It used to be a big party town, but hasn't been for many years. Back in the late 80's and early 90's, it was pretty wild, there were actually some riots downtown, etc. But then the city, the police, and the university cracked down hard. No alcohol is allowed on campus since then, there are a hundred cops on the street for Halloween and Pioneer Days (when the riots occurred) that make sure nothing happens, etc. So for the past 15 years or so, it really isn't much of a wild party town, though it still has a little bit of it.

Chico is also surrounded by many orchards and agricultural crops. I work for a company that removes orchards (when the trees become too old to produce as much, or if the farmer decides to change crops). The company chips the trees and takes them to the power plant where they are burned to produce electricity. I work in the office and handle accounts payable, data entry, and payroll.