Americans working in japan?

Question

i am hoping to go to and possibly live in japan when i am older, and i was wondering what i would need to do to do so.

i am going to college next year and plan to take japanese (should i try and travel abroad?) i have a book to study japanese, kinda difficult, and i am very facsinated by the country.

is Tokyo super expensive? that's where i think i would like to go the most.

also is there anyone that would be willing to let me e-mail them if i have questions?

can anyone help?

Answer 1

Drop me a line or two, and I'll tell you what you need to know.

Answer 2

Here is my suggestion. Below are several escalating opportunities that you can work towards.

While in high school look for and get into a homestay program. This is usually a 2 week program where you are hosted by a Japanese family. Look to your HS counselors for help. You also may have to do some looking on your own. Look everywhere, check schools and colleges.

Also, maybe learn the language. If your HS has a class enroll in the class and learn.

While in college, learn more Japanese, but study something that teaches you real world skills, such as finance, accounting, engineering. Sometime during college, look for an exchange program. My univeristy offered a 1 year study program at Ayoma Gakuin University in Tokyo.

Another chance, is once you have your bachelor's degree or even a masters degree apply for the Japan Exchange Teaching Program, aka JET. This is a 1 year program where you are sent to a public Japanese school to teach English. Often times participants are offered yearly extensions.

Now in my case, I was a corporate transferee. I did a homestay program while in college. What an experience. My first year working for my company, I was assigned to a Japan project. It included 30+ business trips to Japan in two years.

My longest and biggest experience was after 6 years of working for the company, I was offered a corporate transfer. spent 3 years living in Japan with my family. I was given full corporate support for visa, apartment, government registration and family support. Needles to say, this also opened up more career doors for myslef. And in this case, I was paid to go to Japan. The other exapmples I listed, require money from your parents or you.

In the end, I must emphasize that you have several options and opportunities, but you must do the leg work. The more work you do, the larger the reward and return. Good luck, it is well worth the effort.