Hi I am an American moving to japan

[GaijinTheGreatKuma]

Hi for now my name is Kuma, i plan to move to japan in the next year or two. However I dont know much japanese, I only enough to surive. However I can't write or read any of it. I also can not afford to go to college for it. i am one looking for easy work enough to get an apart and to have enough time off to explore Japan, most likely on foot:okashii: but to live either middle or lower class i dont expect much, however i would like advice or tips i can get thank you

[Glenski]

You're going to have to qualify for some sort of work visa.
Do you have a bachelor's degree in anything?
Do you have work experience in anything?
How old are you?

If you don't have either of the above, about the only option left is a cultural visa.
So, is there any craft you would like to study (martial arts, pottery, ikebana, etc.)?

Coming here at the wrong time will present you with few job opportunities.
When do you plan to move here (month)?
Are you planning to look for work after or before you arrive?

Work is work, so you should expect at least a 40-hour week. With the weak Japanese skills you have, it is unlikely that you would land most non-teaching jobs anyway.
What do you call "easy work"?

[GaijinTheGreatKuma]

You're going to have to qualify for some sort of work visa.
Do you have a bachelor's degree in anything?
Do you have work experience in anything?
How old are you?
If you don't have either of the above, about the only option left is a cultural visa.
So, is there any craft you would like to study (martial arts, pottery, ikebana, etc.)?
Coming here at the wrong time will present you with few job opportunities.
When do you plan to move here (month)?
Are you planning to look for work after or before you arrive?
Work is work, so you should expect at least a 40-hour week. With the weak Japanese skills you have, it is unlikely that you would land most non-teaching jobs anyway.
What do you call "easy work"?

Well I dont have any degrees and I am pizza delivery driver i have work a copy other places, i'm not sure yet witch mounth i have heard april threw march is the best time so i am looking at that time frame, unless i find otherwise it will probably be a yr or two if things are rough here, unless i get this job tending machines at the competer place, (PS i am alittle drunk so my spelling is going to be bad along with my grammer) I am 20, As for the Culural visa i could do that i do intend on learn new martial arts as well as studing Zen buddhism and a cuple other things so that could work. As for what do i consider An easy job driving taxis...although might not be as easy in japan, i'm good at driving for many hours at a time, also security guard jobs i would be good at and not to hard.

Whenever i get enough money saved up i plan coming what time of the year is fexible for me...however i do worrie about the cost of living...here in America Minum wage is $6.15 US per hour and in order to live on your own you need to make at least $10 US per hour thats working 40 hours a week and that would cover rent food and cell phone, what can i expect the living condition for someone with low ranks like me, i do intend learning some more japanese maybe even enough to be fluant but i got to learn it for free or cheap because i am living kind poor:okashii: but thank you for advice i hope to here more :wave:

[GaijinTheGreatKuma]

Also I plan on getting my job before I head there if possible so I have work lined up although I dont know if thats possible.

I am also wondering how fluant in japanese i have to be to become an english teacher, or if i could find a super easy job.

Well I do plan on learning martial arts. Arts such as Kendo, Iaido, kobudo, budo, or someother form of Japanese swordsmenship. I would like to also study Zen Buddhism

[Glenski]

Fluency in Japanese is not required at all to be an English teacher. You have a serious problem, though, in not having a degree or experience. You'll need one or the other.

As for truck driver, how are you going to read the bill of lading?
Security guard? How will you read the forms you have to sign, or talk to people on the premises? I don't even think either of these jobs are hired from abroad anyway.

You'd better do more thinking about the cultural visa and language barrier.

[nice gaijin]

Kuma, from what you've said, you only qualify to be a tourist. Enjoy your vacation.

[GaijinTheGreatKuma]

Well do you have any suggestion you, seem to know alot, i passing out now :relief:

[nice gaijin]

Learn Japanese, go to college, get some marketable job skills, and research visa eligibility. Doesn't have to be in that order.

[GaijinTheGreatKuma]

now your just making me look bad nice gaijin, i do have some skills but i dont want to be a crimnal

[nice gaijin]

now your just making me look bad nice gaijin, i do have some skills but i dont want to be a crimnalI said "marketable job skills." You're only making yourself look bad.

[GaijinTheGreatKuma]

can i learn japanese in japan?

well i am alittle drunk right now so i am sorry if i come off rude, that is not my intenion, and i cant really afford college

i,m i am trying to find some free or cheap course in japanese, but i live in Minnesota, most of the asian comunitys up here are mhong, thai and vietlmese, and the one Zen temple i could find was just an american trying to scam dumb ppl, so i study with the thai monks in minneapolis until they had tp move there temple to bufflo MN so i forgot the point i was trying to make so i hope i'm making sences i am going to bed now

[nice gaijin]

come back when you're sober, and we'll talk more.

[GaijinTheGreatKuma]

ok thank you and one last thing i dont plan on moving for at least a yr or two

[JimmySeal]

A charge for underage drinking certainly won't help your chances.:blush:

Be careful.

[FrustratedDave]

... i am alittle drunk right now...
:beer: Maybe you could be a beer taster for Asahi?

[Glenski]

can i learn japanese in japan?Yes. But you can't work here at the moment, so you can only stay as a tourist.

i cant really afford collegeSo? Nobody is going to help you but you. Immigration won't care. Employers won't care. Find a way or give it up.

i,m i am trying to find some free or cheap course in japanese, but i live in Minnesota, Take a course at the University of MN... oh, but you said you can't afford it. Tough life, isn't it?

If you can't afford to take a few classes, you are not going to make it here. Just my opinion. Do what we've told you, or you will not succeed.

[GaijinTheGreatKuma]

:beer: Maybe you could be a beer taster for Asahi?

Thats the best idea i have heard yet....who's Asahi, and how can i contact him?

[GaijinTheGreatKuma]

You know I was just drunk, and i do plan on take japanese but i have no intenion of going to college, I am working on getting a Pilots License fallowed all the way up to becoming a cerified pilot. AND YES I KNOW HOW LONG IT TAKES, thats why i wont be moving for two or there years. the only reason i'm not going to go to college is because i already have a plan. And i'm a cheap bastard :smug:, and lets not forget a IM CRAZY:dance:....but yeah... anyway why do most ppl have to be like you so stuck up and angry like you expect everyone to be like you lil miss perfect...but the truth is your more ****** up then me, your the kind of person that would see a bum and tell them to get a job...yet you never take in to count maybe its not there fault, maybe they do have a college education but some where along the way the got ****** over and never got the chance to get back up, or maybe they are the byproduct of cizalization like a war torn soilder ( DONT MOCK MY BAD SPELLING AND GRAMMER NO ONES PERFECT) but nope you just say its your own damn fault... the truth is you dont know and you wont know unless you take time to find out..........i kinda forgot where i was going with this SO I AM GOING TO STUT UP....thank you have a nice day

[Shinsan]

Well, I'm becoming a ESL teacher and I'm studying Japanese until I actually graduate from college. I'm getting my Bachelors from a local Community college then heading to Japan to live there until I die. Lol. But, You need a plan buddy. Not to be mean or anything. I have everything planned out, and I have a 100% chance of succeeding in my goal.

[GaijinTheGreatKuma]

well can i crash at your place.:souka:

[Shinsan]

Lol... I cant wait to move to Japan.. Only 7 more years..

[GaijinTheGreatKuma]

7 Yrs Wow...i planing in two ta three years

[Shinsan]

Well, I have to become Fluent in Japanese just incase the ESL career doesn't work out, and I'll be able to read things and such. Well, I wish you the greatest of luck in your adventure, but think things out, and definately try studying some kana, and spoken language. I REALLY don't want to be the bear of bad news, but you really won't be able to get ANY job in Japan without either 100% Fluency in Japanese or a Bachelor's degree for ESL.

[GaijinTheGreatKuma]

shinsan, i plan on learning enough japanese to be as fluent as a mexican in america but i also plan on having a full commerial pilots license and finding a job in flight school so i can get in lined up once i have enough hours, and if i can get one right away ill go and fly for an american company for a extra yr or two and try then try again with more EXP but if the fails ill S**T in a box and mail to immargration YEAH

[Kyoto Returnee]

Hi for now my name is Kuma, i plan to move to japan in the next year or two. However I dont know much japanese, I only enough to surive. However I can't write or read any of it. I also can not afford to go to college for it. i am one looking for easy work enough to get an apart and to have enough time off to explore Japan, most likely on foot:okashii: but to live either middle or lower class i dont expect much, however i would like advice or tips i can get thank you

Find out where the Brazilian's live as they tend to be in the know for jobs without Japanese.

Options would definitely be their, it's just a case of knowing where to look..

[Mike Cash]

The Brazilians also tend to be doing their jobs legally, with appropriate visas. Something our new-found playmate will not be able to do.

[Kyoto Returnee]

The Brazilians also tend to be doing their jobs legally, with appropriate visas. Something our new-found playmate will not be able to do.

That's no good then..

Could you speak Japanese when you arrived and was the truck licence a trade off or start afresh in Japan?

It's actually refreshing knowing their are foreigners in Japan who dodn't teach English.

[Mikawa Ossan]

You live in Minnesota?

Here's a place to start.

http://www.mn-japan.org/

[Mike Cash]

That's no good then..

Could you speak Japanese when you arrived and was the truck licence a trade off or start afresh in Japan?


I couldn't speak Japanese at all when I arrived, other than knowing the numbers from 1 to 10. I got my truck licenses (大型 and 牽引) by going to driving school here. Twice.

[dblbstrd]

Dude, if you can't afford to go to college, how do you expect to be able to afford to live in Japan?
There's such a thing as student loans, and state-run or community colleges. Tuition is $5-6k a year at a state university, which federal student loans will pretty much cover. If your parents' income is low enough you can even get grants that you don't have to pay back (not the case for me unfortunately). If you wait until you're 24, you don't even have to claim your parents' income and you can get all these grants.
You can then work while you go to school, to pay rent ($300 a month is about right for a college student sharing an apartment) and eat.
Basically, you *can* afford to go to college. You just don't want to.


PS, I smell a troll?

[Shinsan]

^^^^^^^^^^ That is EXACTLY What I'm doing. Since I'm completely deaf in one ear and have bad sight,(Don't worry, I can somehow see and hear perfectly) I can go to college for free at Community college. I'm going there, and after that, I'll head over to Nihon/Nippon and begin a new life.

It makes no sense though, whatsoever to go there without college first and NO knowledge of the Japanese language.

[Masamune_74]

Yeah, I totally agree with what all or most of you guys are saying. I took the student loan route cause my parents were a bit too wealthy for me to get any grants, and I guess the 3.5 GPA I maintained was just not enough for scholarships...at any rate I learned enough Japanese to get around, I have been there several times, mostly vacations or visiting my fiance who's Japanese. But finally I did land a teaching job which for me is cool because that is what I majored in at University. Anyway my advice is suck it up and go to school, if you really wanna live in Japan you will get there, I had to wait about 3 years to finally find a job in the area and location I wanted.

[SourceC0de]

I'm planning to move to Japan as well, however once I feel comfortable and fluent enough in Japanese before I get over there.

I have more or less, 5-6 years office experience, and am planning on getting further into the Technical field (IT) like IT helpdesk and up to Network Analyst.

I've taken some IT schooling but was an idiot and didn't take a government approved one, so I'm just stuck with lame accomplishment certificates, but will be making it up through experience over the next 5-6 years.

Does anyone know of the availability for a foreigner to work at an Office job or IT job?

[Glenski]

Regular vanilla office jobs are usually taken up by Japanese office ladies (OLs), and these days they often work through temp agencies. Don't expect a job that way unless you speak, read, and write fluent Japanese (and can pass their stringent written exams!).

Look for companies in your homeland with branch offices here that don't ask for much Japanese (although you will still need it). You have to have something a local doesn't have, and frankly, I just don't see that in your qualifications.

IT? Look at the qualifications on ads in www.daijob.com .

[SourceC0de]

That makes sense, I can't imagine it being easy for a foreigner to get a job in the first place.

But I'll check out that site when I get home, and hopefully I could at least figure out what I should be working on accomplishing these next few years.
Maybe by then I'll have more qualifications that are not as common.

Thanks :cool:

[FrustratedDave]

I couldn't speak Japanese at all when I arrived, other than knowing the numbers from 1 to 10. I got my truck licenses (大型 and 牽引) by going to driving school here. Twice.
This sounds like me! Except, I could only count the 3.:relief: Oh... and the part about getting a truck licence, I went a different route, but still had to pass written exams.

[Kenjizen]

I am from Brazil and I have a legal visa to work here but I am not working at this moment cuz I am looking for a job dealing with Photography, which was my major in college.
Is there anyone who knows anywhere or anyone I could send my CV to find a work in a gallery or Photography Studio?
I graduated from college last year and my major was Bachelor of Photography with emphasis in Art and Culture. I want to make my living here but not as a hard worker. Since I am graduated from college I want to take chances and find jobs that deal with photography and visual communication.

Well, there are many Brazilian folks here in Japan working in factories but most of them MUST be NIKKEI, wich means, from Japanese families or at least married to one.

Later!

[yuuto]

:beer:
Maybe you could be a beer taster for Asahi?

:romance:
me too... I would like to be taster for Asahi, because for me it's the best Japanese beer with YEBISU and Kirin ;-)

[Glenski]

Breaking into the photography market will be tough with no portfolio. Create one if you can. How's your Japanese?