Forget Asking. Do It.
 

Japan is being located between Russia and USA. It is between China and America. YOU. From America. From USA's part of it - wanna get to Japan to what? Do not seek tha way of LEGAL. Do waht you want. If You want to live or what'so'ever about Japan - the do it. I f you would ever be wanting the same about UKRAINE|CHINA|POLAND|INDIA|SWITZERLAND|IRAQ|SERBIA|INDONESIA|EUROPE - Then fukkkkkn do it. What's the reason of wasting time on asking?..

Hope I wasn't too rude.
Able to hear what you say.

Sorry for the late reply. I study business at York University, and York U has a lot of good connections with Japanese universities. Our Exchange Program includes Japanese universities such as Kyoto University, Meiji University, Keio University, Dokkyo University (not Tokyo U, this university is supposed to be good for studying English), etc. Those are definately among the top universities in Japan, and Japanese students study like hell just to enter into those. The courses you will be studying can be taught in English, or Japanese, or both, it depends on the university. I'm not sure about the requirements, but I assume it won't be too hard for me since I already passed the second level of Japanese langauge study at York, and my prof actually talked to me in private telling me to go do the exchange.

The only problem with doing an exchange program in Japan is the cost. I don't remember the exact cost for housing, tuition, textbooks, and facility costs, but you can check on the universities' websites, and it's ridiculously expensive. I pretty much gave up the idea of exchange program since it doesn't help towards my business degree, it is very costly, and I rather try to find some non-teaching job opportunities in Japan or try to enter a company in Canada with connections with Japan.

I think he is talking about the US military route since we (me being American) have a lot of bases here.

Ditto to what the others have said above about teaching English in Japan as it is the easiest and fastest way to get there if that is your desire. However, one does not need to major in linguistics as all that is required to teach is a 4 year BS degree in anything. Therefore, it would be most wise to major in something that you can fall back on later if you find that teaching is not for you or you want to seek out other employment in Japan. A lingusitics degree will not get you a job at a major company, but a degree in business or some other marketable skill will.

The requirements for teaching English Conversation in Japan are that you have a degree, are a native speaker, dress well and, to borrow a phrase from a friend, have a pulse. That's it. It is fairly simple as you will mostly be reading from a book and the students repeating after you in the basic courses. For courses above that it is the same with a little "free conversation" thrown in to give students a feel for the spoken language. Most classes are about an hour long and if you teach at corporations are one and a half to two hours long. There is no teaching of grammar and such as that is usually taught in Japanese schools.

It is repetitive and can be downright boring after the initial honeymoon wears off. Many teachers do get burned out on it after a short time. Your success will be determined by your own effort and whether you take the job seriously as many teachers are just there for the money and are not serious about the job. For them it was an easy way to get a working visa to live in Japan. Rare is the one who does seek/find employment outside of teaching as many do not learn the language and eventually return to their own home country.

I enjoyed it tremendously as, even though it could sometimes be frustrating, it was very rewarding in the long run and quite profitable.

Therefore, if your desire is to go to Japan, then by all means go! Do it while you are young and have the time. Just have the proper qualifications. You may like it there and then again you may not, but how will you know if you never give it a try? For many on this forum it is their dream and I would not let this opportunity slip by me only to think sometime in the future, "What if...."

There's always room for Ambassadors of your current country, you could be placed in Japan, if you speak the native language and all that kind of stuff.

get into a foreign company
 

In my case,
I got a job from a US company and they send me to work in their branch in Tokyo. Usually in the investment field (no-client interaction/ just analyst), Japanese is not really required. That's how I got in.

:vsign:

well if anyone is wellbuilt or have good looks you can either try to catch the attention of various scouts, wich seems to constantly have their eyes open for new models or idols, but then again it may only be an optiion for women =P. Ive also been having plans about working as a security guard/body guard or something there. translator or a tutor in languages is also one plan Ive had for some time because other than japanese I can speak swedish, english and german fluently.

one good thing is to apply into a japanese firm in your country. trust me studying the japanese culture and actually living in it is very different. Some Japanese firm sends there employee in Japan for training which are called Kenshusei.

Take me for example, I worked in a Japanese firm for 4.5years in my country. During my stay there, I studied Nihongo and learned the working ethics of the Japanese. Also in that span of time I was sent on a Business trip to Japan twice and for AOTS training. Then I got a chance, when I applied in a Japanese firm base in Japan 2 years ago, got accepted and been working here for 2 years. :)

Wow! wish I could also do that.