Easiest long-term visa?

[bhrose]

Bottom line is, I want to move to Fukuoka and stay in Japan for one year. I'm a U.S. citizen so there's no working holiday visa available. Also, I don't speak Japanese so this has been a difficulty all on its own. I've written several articles for The Korean Times, but these were student reports that were unpaid. I make short films and have won several awards from my university, again unpaid. I've considered a cultural visa but it's unclear whether I technically qualify.

In your experience, what's the easiest long-term visa to apply for?

I have a Japanese friend in Fukuoka who owns his own moving company. Can he sponsor my work visa and what does this entail? Will he have to pay any money to sponsor me, or is sponsorship purely a paper procedural thing?

[nice gaijin]

What is it you want to do in Japan? This would be a big indicator of what visa you could/should apply for, and would probably also be a good thing to consider before you decide to move to a foreign country.

Also, I doubt that a year qualifies as "long term," except when comparing it to a three-month visitor visa (which I would recommend if you dont have any plans to work there)

[Mike Cash]

He indicates in a separate thread that he has a job offer for teaching English.

I can't understand why he created this thread.

[nice gaijin]

I saw that after I responded here... I'm confused now too.

[yukio_michael]

What is it you want to do in Japan? This would be a big indicator of what visa you could/should apply for, and would probably also be a good thing to consider before you decide to move to a foreign country.I'll also point the OP in the right direction by telling them that "live" is not the correct answer to the aforementioned question.