@Mabuikoneko
she was really, really brave ! thats my opinion too!
:)

@ nyororin what about traveling in japanif you lve there?
is it expencive too?
what other places did you have seen??

all i can say is wow, an amazing thread with wayyyy too much useful information :D
thank you too all whom have posted here. this has awnsered almost any and all questions i had about going to japan as i will be going there later this year. so i'm off to look at schools and such:rheart:

my one question ..... in america there are grants to goto school on. do they exhist in japan as well or maybe i can get some here and use them there ... grrr more researching lol. o well i guess i have to continue calling around and doing more recon anyways .... as i said thx again,much love and see you

I have a few questions to ask regarding moving to Japan. So please take the time to answer any of the possible questions below, any comments is greatly appreciated and welcomed. Thank you.

1. What belongings (i.e. paperwork, etc.) should one take for living in Japan, and not visiting?

2. What basic (i.e. general) knowledge should one know before traveling to Japan, and from personal experience, is there a particular budget one should keep in mind if planning to return to America, and if so, approximately how much?

3. Is it possible to travel to Japan and actually live there upon arrival, or are there specific requirements that one (i.e. foreigner) has to undertake before living in Japan?

Being as you can`t just pop over to Japan and decide to live here on a whim - that`s a bit difficult to answer.
For living here, the *US* documents I brought over were my passport, my social security card, and my high school diploma. I`ve never even had to look at the social security card, let alone use my number. (Okay, wait, I do when I have to file taxes for the US. Even if you don`t have to pay anything, you still have to file them anyway.)

As for paperwork... Unless you get married, you can`t just change your visa at any time. You`d be better off just applying for it in advance instead of while you`re here.

Before traveling to Japan? The ability to distinguish between fantasy (a large chunk of the beliefs about Japan displayed on this forum) and reality. Otherwise, you`re going to be very disappointed.
Some Japanese language skills also obviously won`t hurt - especially if you plan to leave the little English speaking tourist bubble of Tokyo.

As far as a budget goes - If you plan to return to America, keep as much money in savings as your living costs will be until you can get another source of income. You`ll have to do your own math on that one. If you need $1000 a month to survive in the US, and you know it could take you 2 or 3 months to find a good job... Keep that much in savings.
Travel in Japan really depends on too many factors to just say a flat amount. It is so incredibly circumstance dependent that I can`t even begin to guess how much you`d need without more information.

No. It`s not possible to just come over and live here. There are laws. Look them up, or read through the rest of the thread.
You need a proper visa, and to get one you will need to have fulfilled various other requirements.

Unless you consider staying in a short term apartment for 3 months "living" here.

Yes. You do have to have a degree. It doesn`t have to be an art degree though. Any degree from an accredited 4 year university should be just fine.

If they can`t put forth enough effort to get a degree to work toward their dreams, they must not be all that serious about it.

No, there are quite a few different ways you can live here permanently. Marriage is just one of those ways.

I definitely wouldn`t recommend trying to get married *just* to stay in Japan. While it certainly made things easy for me, I married for love not a visa.