Moving To Japan....My Challenge....

[Minihux]

Hello,

First i would like to say sorry for putting up another thread about this.....im sure you have all seen about a hundred of these threads already.

Im currently live in Australia and i have been for over 9 years. I Will be wanting to make the big move and move to Japan some time in the near future. The big thing is im currently work full time and have been for 4-5 years in the IT Industry so im a wiz at computers....mainly to do with web design and graphic design etc. Im currently head of IT where i work now. The only course i dont with computer is a Diploma course....i have not finished it but i can when ever i need to...but thats wont help me anyway.

Having a full time job like where i work now makes it very hard to leave and go to uni to get a degree. I have landed a job that is doing what i love which is cars and also doing what im good at which is computers.

So im trying to look at other options of getting into Japan and teaching english or how i could get a degree with out having to actually attend a course full time. I understand i can come over on working holiday visa's etc but i will be wanting to come over for longer then they allow hence why im looking at ways to earn a degree or other forms of getting one.

I have been looking into doing TESOL Courses etc and would love to do them but they have no help in the form of getting a visa. I mean its not that i dont want to do the degree work its just i cant while im at this job because its not a job you can pick up everyday. I mean i want to know what im doing so i have fun etc teaching english and i can move around in Japan. I dont want to be going over there and teaching students who wont learn anything from me cause i have not taken the time to teach myself the correct skill. I am a genuine person....i do to others what i would want done to myself.

I have a couple people i know in Japan who might be able to get me jobs but then its all back to not being able to stay in the country for longer then a couple months at a time or maxing out my stay.

I really want to live in a new country, Australia is not the best place to live, great to visit but thats about it. And i understand about going on a holiday first before i make up my mind so you wont need to go into that. I also miss alot of my Japanese friends i had but they had to go back home.

Thanks for any help you guys can give me.....i did start a new thread cause i seen a couple go down the drains.

- Luke

[GomiGirl]

Working holiday visa is 18months. Then you can decide what you want to do.

You haven't said why you are wanting to come to Japan or how old you are.

Lots of IT jobs - no degree required if you have a working holiday visa. then once your visa is up you can either self-sponsor your own visa (if you have enough contacts and clients) or you can get a company to sponsor you. Work experience and a contract showing you can support yourself will be accepted in lieu of a degree.

But again, it is helpful if you explain your reasons for coming. If it is to hang out, get laid and drink lots, then English teaching is a good way to support yourself (on a working holiday visa) to do that. If it is for advancement of your career.. that is a different matter.

[Minihux]

[Minihux]

While im over there i also want to advance my skills in photography and also get more involved with doing some movie work....will start off with some movie diary's of japan....all the beautiful sights and also the busy cities....i love to try and capture a bit of the world in my photo's and movies....i have just become way to busy to get more involved with it.

- Luke

[Taro Toporific]

[quote="Minihux"]...So i would love to come over and teach English and then self sponsor myself if i could do that? Would i be correct in saying i could self sponsor myself as an English teacher?
..Then after i have done that for a whil...I would love to further peruse my career in the IT industry cause that’]

As GomiGirl said coming from Australia you can get a Working holiday visa for 18 months. After that you might be screwed because a regular work visa requires a 4-year college degree (or a very specialized skill/certification like Cordon Blu and 8-10 years experience as a master chef). Or, you could just screw for a spouse visa.

In theory you could self-sponsor yourself as an English teacher IF you were wildly successful and made tons of money. Self-sponsorship is a function of money---the more money you have, the easier self-sponsorship becomes.

Why? Because self-sponsorship ideally is for owners of profitable businesses with a proven track record who want to start a Japanese operation and J-incorporation. If you don't have a proven track record, solid contacts/contracts, tons of yen, Japanese lawyer and good Japanese language skills, the odds are you are not going get yourself a self-sponsorship visa.

The wildly-optimistic , best-case scenario is that you could self-sponsor yourself as an IT consulting company with about 1.2 million yen of your own money and signed contacts from a major Japanese company. On the opposite end of the scale, a n00b entrepreneur looking to establish him/herself a Japanese operation would need a very bare minimum of 10 million yen for a self-sponsorship visa.

[Minihux]

Wow......so im really buggered.

If i was to do my IT work i know i could sign up a couple people but i dont think i would be able to get any major compaines!

I got a few clients on my personal website....it no longer has its own domain name due to not running my own company any more. Some of the sites might be a little crazy due to the clients wrecking them by trying to do work on them and having next to no skills.

http://www.acidcustom.com/luke-h

I even looked at buying a degree from one of those bloody websites, thats how much i want to come over! But they look far to bodge.....i mean the Japanese government would have to have some form of checking your degree when they give you your working visa.

If i was currently not working and i have a bit of money to support myself i would be off doing my degree in IT but with my job im currently working its just not gonna happen.

This makes me a very sad panda.....i though there was a little bit of hope then!

- Luke

[Taro Toporific]

Wow......so im really buggered.
This makes me a very sad panda.....i though there was a little bit of hope then!

Nah, it ain't all that bad. Come over on that 18-month Working holiday visa and work like the devil to get something set up. There's always some dodgy visa scam. It just takes money. Hell, even I had to buy an education visa once (don't ask me how-- the rules have changed) even though I have several degrees. Tokyo has thousands of Elbonians, Flatulenturi, and Outer Slobovians without college degrees but "somehow" almost all of them have valid visas.

[Minihux]

Hey guys....thank you so much for all help.

Can i get some one to sponsor me and give me a job.....will that let me stay there? I heard i still need a degree to do anything in line of self sponsorship etc....

Cause i am quite sure i just found a person thats starting up business and has positions to offer for myself etc.

- Luke

[GomiGirl]

Hey guys....thank you so much for all help.

Can i get some one to sponsor me and give me a job.....will that let me stay there? I heard i still need a degree to do anything in line of self sponsorship etc....

Maaaatie - you are putting the cart before the horse. Get yourself a working holiday visa - come for 18 months and then decide your next step. 18 months is a very long time.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Minihux, you say you don't want to go to school because it'd get in the way of the money you're already making in IT. I can totally understand that and I'm not one of those people who thinks everyone should go to college no matter what. But then you're willing to give the job up to teach English in Japan. Bro, you're only 20 and you're thinking too short term. Get the degree and keep doing your IT gig on the side. Then come to Japan a few years down the road or even while you're in school. Again, not because I think a university degree is always the answer, but in your case, given the industry you want to work in and the fact that you want to live in Japan, getting that degree would open up a lot more options for you.

[Minihux]

I 100% understand that and it makes perfect sense......but going to so many countries like i have and then living here for so long it has been boiling up inside for far to long i simply need to get out. I could not spend another 3-4 years here.

- Luke

[mr. sparkle]

I like this guy's ideas:

http://www.workingnomad.com/

He's turned having a business and traveling an artform. It can be done, so why limit yourself to Japan? Get the working Visa and take lots of side-trips and see where you'd like to go next.

As I understand it, the whole shebang starts rolling with you developing web clients from your home country and they feed your bank account back home.

[Samurai_Jerk]

[quote="mr. sparkle"]I like this guy's ideas:

http://www.workingnomad.com/

He's turned having a business and traveling an artform. It can be done, so why limit yourself to Japan? ]

I was thinking about that too. If Minihux is doing web development why does he even need to find a job while he's in Japan. He can just keed doing what he's doing remotely and chill out on his working holiday visa.

[Minihux]

Yeah i could do this........but i want to stay in japan not have to go back.

So i think i might take everyones advice.....well the general advice im getting and just come over then work out how to stay there for good.

- Luke

[FG Lurker]

[maninjapan]

Get a degree first.

Even if it's part time it's better having one than not if you go travelling overseas to any country. If you do turn around and decide you don't like Japan, with the degree you can easily go to another country and will bu much more marketable.

[Minihux]

First off i must thank everyone for all there advice.....i have not been on one single internet forum that has given me so much advice and provided me with accurate information.....and theres no spam! Thanks all!

Very good advice from everyone.....the thing is the job i currently have right now, its a job that u get through your mates or because your a friend of a friend. Im head of the IT department here and the websites im making are related to one of my main hobbies which is cars (im not coming to japan for cars).

So my job is not your normal corner shop job, i cant leave it to get a degree and its full time 5 days a week.

I think i will do english teaching part time still to experience it a little and get to know some more people then i will branch out to IT work....baby steps before big steps.

- Luke

[Mulboyne]

If you do decide to teach, keep an eye on the calendar. Japan can be something of a sensory overload and it is extremely easy for a year to pass in a flash without you getting anything tangible done. At 20, that usually doesn't matter because it's a rare person who has got everything figured out at that age. In your case, though, you may find that Japan is where you want to spend your time which means you need to stick to your plan or have a good reason for changing it. Without a degree, you will need to keep developing your skills and contacts. A year likely won't be enough time to get to a saleable level of Japanese so that means IT certification. As far as contacts go, as Lurker says, teaching won't put you in touch with many, if any, people who can help you there so you'll have to figure out some different ways of meeting people. Also bear in mind that a lot of foreigners, however unfairly, look down on English teachers and often won't look past that when you try to approach them about alternative work.

You might find that you don't like Japan in which case at least you figured that out early and didn't spend years fretting about the place. You might also find that you have interests or skills beyond IT which you can develop. The tricky thing about the latter option is that you can do it easily enough in Australia but, without a degree, you won't have much time to change your spots and find an employer who'll take a flier on sponsoring a visa for you in Japan. That's why most of the replies here recommend you focus on IT as a way to get yourself in the loop.

[Minihux]

Thanks mate!

Where do you guys usually go to meet new people....like japanese girls etc....cause i mean if its my last option, i might actually meet some one i like....the last time i hung out with all my Japanese girl friends in Australia before they went back to Japan i actually really liked one of them but never said anything cause i knew they were leaving in 2 months....kicking myself now! Im unsure what it is....but something pulls me to them, even as friends i just fell in love with there personalities and how well they treated you as a friend.

I understand very much that marridge is by far the last thing to do but i would still never do this just to stay in country.....its far to much of a commitment to just treat it like jumping into new clothes. And it would unfare on the other person.

Please dont read the above and take it like im a C*nt....im just wondering where the usual meeting places are.

- Luke

[Samurai_Jerk]

Listen to FG Lurker, man. Avoid teaching English if you can. I started doing it almost nine years ago and am only finally getting out of it now despite years of effort to jump ship earlier.

[n2a2n2o2]

1- Pay a girl to marry you (most cases end up liking her fer reals or she just wants to fuck the life out of you everdday)
2- Working Visa----> Join a Nihongo Gakko---->Take a test that you know Japanese--->Enter a University or tankidaigaku (community college) or even a senmongakko, simply study in any institution that will legally allow you stay in Japan while ur looking for the right job or the right people for the job you want. Its hard work but its the legal.

[Minihux]

Thanks everyone for the help.

I will be heading over there with a very good friend of mine who is quite the handy man when it comes to speak Japanese and he knows quite a few people there. So im gonna wing it with him.

- Luke

[SovietSupreme]

You should forgetting Japan and move to Soviet Union. Soviet Union is best country in entire world. We have best teachers and schools. Teachers are loved here. You can teach English to help fight evil capitalists west.

[Minihux]

Haha no thanks, this is a culture i have wanted to drop myself into for far to long. I wont be changing my mind anytime soon.

- Luke