Moving to Japan: need a job.?

To get a student visa you need a have a Japanese school sponsor you. Online classes won't be accepted. You would also need above average grades, and a great deal of money. If you're an American, you need a four year degree to work in Japan. You also need a work visa. To qualify for a work visa you need a solid job offer before you get there. In the more rural areas, fewer and fewer people will speak any English at all. Many have never even seen an American up close. To work in a store you will need to speak, read, and write Japanese at a native level. And a dictionary isn't going to be of any help. Jobs will always go to a native Japanese first. Japanese like to avoid problems. Sorry, but I can't see this happening at this time. Get your BA degree here first, and then take it from there.

being self-reliant is also being resourceful and know that having help from various people is one way of being resourceful and being humble...

The only way you can work in Japanwithout a degree is if you aare a student on a Working Holiday visa, but on this visa you are not allowed to work in bars, nightclubs etc. Since you will be living there, you MUST have a degree prior to arrival there. This is a requirement of the Japanese government. Since you have never been to Japan, how do you know you are going to like it? Why don't you go there for 2 or 3 weeks on holiday first to get a feel for the place. Then, during that holiday you could lay the groundworks for the rest of your plan, i.e. getting an employer to sponsor you.

In Japan, on first place you must communicate/write mails or letters to schools and professors, with explanation why are you interested in their school (their research) on first place.The school will want some guarantee that you can pay your tuition fee, then they will explain you their requirements for application.The national (public) colleges have tuition fee waiver programs, and there are many local scholarships too, so if you are really hard working, you might get lucky to be reccomended for a scholarship. I've done so called sekkyaku jobs (like working in convenience store or fast food chain), and, trust me, you don't want to do this. They don't want to talk with you because they think you don't speak Japanese, and even if you ask them if you can help them with something, they just keep looking around for a Japanese, or just call"Isn't there some Japanese?" I often cried after work. Besides, the shops themselves don't hire non-Asian people. I was even told" Okyaku-san ga hiku yo!" So, the sad truth is that the only part time job you can do in Japan is English teacher, Check MOFA's page for details.

I'm not sure what you mean by "taking online courses while living there". You don't need to be physically in Japan in order to take online courses - I doubt that arrangement will qualify you for a student visa? If you do get a student visa, you can work part-time, but a job at a convenience store (or any retail store) will probably have to wait until you become fairly fluent in Japanese. There's no labor shortage in Japan, so there's no reason to hire someone who has trouble communicating with customers. Language-related jobs such as English teacher and transcriptionist will be easier to get. Sorry if I sound discouraging. I think you basically have the right attitude. First thing first, find the right school and get the student visa. Once you get here, it's easier to find the information on jobs, not least because ther will be other students who have already done that. Good luck!

How do you plan on getting a student visa in the first place? Its not something where you show up and say 'Im a student' and they give you one. To get a student visa for Japan you need to be first apply then get accepted into a school in Japan, and attend actual classes as a full time student. The school is the visa sponsor and is the visa proxy. When the Immigration processes student visas' it wants to see financial documents to see you can self-sustain yourself without working (eg they want to see at least 20-30K US in your bank account or a guarantors (parent's) bank account for a one year visa. Now the school might not actually cost that much but generally thats how much they would like to see. Mainly because of the large number of people who have abused student visas in the past, by applying for a student visa but not actually going to school and direct to work. Things have changed where to work part time you need to apply for approval from the school you attend in Japan AND from Japan Immigration Officials to engage in part-time limited work. However all of that is after if you get a student visa to begin with. As for work visas, you need a Bachelor's degree, its an immigration requirement. You cannot work on a 'Temporary Visitor" status, that would be illegal. --- Maybe??? posted a few posts below that: "The only way you can work in Japan without a degree is if you are a student on a Working Holiday visa" --- This is not entirely correct for students. It doesn't have to be on a Working Holiday Visa. It can be done if entering on a Student Visa with a status of residence as a student. A student can work in Japan assuming they had a status of Residence in Japan that is a Student. Its just a matter of getting permission from the school and permission from the Japanese Immigration Authorities. There's even a form for this particular item as well. There are two student status' "Pre-College Student " and "College Student" each allowing part-time work (with the aforementioned permission) but the hours differ between each status, for example, Pre-College Student status allows only 20 hours a week of part-time work, while College Student status allows up to 28 hours of part-time work. Again of course this is assuming someone had already gotten either Visa, and applied for the appropriate permissions from the school and immigration. As I mentioned above in the beginning, to get a student status you need to apply into a Japanese school, get accepted, and meet all immigration requirements (educational and financial) to become a student in Japan. American's can't get "Working Holiday Visas" so that is out of the question in this matter. Though the major factors you do face are: -You need to be a student attending classes full time. -Attending school and living abroad can be expensive. -As a student you can apply for permission to work part-time. -Part-time work is limited If you wait until after school and get your bachelors degree and decide to come to Japan, then you qualify for a Work Visa with an employer willing to hire you in Japan, you get to work full time, with more pay etc, and not have the baggage or debt of paying for school and living expenses while in Japan.

Check out this site www.japan-career.jp