Information on going to college in the U.S. and then permanently moving to Japan. ?

Question

I've been interested in japan culture and well just about everything to do with japan, minus politics. I've already decided that my best known option is to achieve my bachelors degree before permanently moving to japan and becoming a citizen. I first realized that going to college in japan would disrupt any possibility of ever coming back to the united states and work if something were to change. But then I had the thought does it work both ways? If you go to college in the United States will it be just as useless (minus the fact that I will be able to have regular jobs) for doing what you went to college for in japan.

It's all basically very confusing. Please try to answer my question, or just share what you know about anything similar, any of your knowledge on this subject will probably help.

Thank You!!!

Answer 1

I don't recommend that.

The Japanese are xenophobes.

The only way to get Japanese citizenship is by birthright of being Japanese.

There are Koreans that have been living in japan for several centuries and they still have no citizenship even if they are born on Japanese soil...

Japanese will discriminate against gaijin and there is nothing you can do about it.

Women got suffarage and rights only in the 90s !!!

Answer 2

This is much HARDER than you realize. You just can't move there and become a citizen. Japan has a closed immigration policy.

Most American teach English. And these are not life long jobs. In fact, most people quit after the first year or two.

Going to college in Japan for four years will cost you $80,000+.

You can't do a regular job in Japan unless you can speak, read and write Japanese at a native level. These jobs will always go to a native Japanese first anyway. Unless you can find a skill a Japanese doesn't have.

Answer 3

if you're honestly planning to live in Japan the rest of your life, going to college in Japan would be just as valid, if not more valid, than going to college in the U.S.

Of course there is the added challenge that it will be in the Japanese language.  But, again, if you're really going to live there, then that's something you're going to have to deal with at some point anyway.

Also, there's the financial issue.  If you already have the money, then it's not a problem, but if you don't, then it will likely be easier to finance your education in the U.S.  Then again, there are some pretty amazing scholarships offered by the Japanese government for foreigners.  Check at your local Japanese embassy or online.  

A U.S. degree is basically just going to let people in Japan know that you're educated.  A Japanese degree will let them know that not only are you educated, but you have much more potential of working and living in Japan outside of the realm of teaching English.

I've met a few non-Japanese studying in Japan.  Two were southeast Asians going to university.  They simply had a lot of will-power.  They were both taking complicated things at university (engineering), and just did what it took to understand as much Japanese as possible.  I met a girl who spent her first year in Japan going to a Japanese language college, then she was going to go to college.

Also, if for whatever reason you did go to Japan, go to college there, then decide to go back to the U.S., your employment opportunities would hardly be limited.  You'd have the skill of speaking Japanese, plus whatever you learnt while in Japan.  It's not like you'd be back to the highschool grad situation.

Answer 4

You didn't say if you're already fluent and literate in Japanese. That's one of the things you want in order to prepare for a career and life in Japan. It's also something you want if you want to attend college in Japan.

Otherwise, one of your best bets is to take as much Japanese in a US college, but you don't have to major in Japanese. The reason for that is because you need a job skill to get you employed, but just being fluent in the native language of the country you want to move to gets you none. On the other hand, an engineer can get a engineer work visa.

The one big disadvantage of going to college in Japan is that your student visa expires as soon as you graduate, so if you don't have a job lined up for you so you can change to a work visa, you have to go home. The job also has to be related to you major in order to qualify for a work visa. It means you have to start looking for a job in your junior year, so there's little time for you to play around.

You still need to be just as committed to the idea of moving to Japan going to a college in the US, of course. If you can't afford the time and money to go to Japan every summer for internships and job interviews, your second best choice is to go to the Boston Career Forum every year. Boston Career Forum is the largest Japanese job fair in the US. Going there as a college freshman or even a high school student should be inspirational. You'll be able to see what kind of American college students are looking for Japanese jobs, as well as to see Japanese students who went to college in the US competing for the same bilingual Japanese jobs that you're seeking. But more importantly, it will be a chance for you to talk directly to Japanese human resources personnel and find out what they want to see in job candidates. You can fine tune the classes you take in college from that feedback.

I'm wondering if all of this sounds alien to you as a pre-college student. Job fairs, suit-and-tie interviews, resumes, internships, HR, these are all standard practices for a career-minded student. If any of this sounds daunting, you need to either get used to it as soon as possible or consider another life path.

One option you didn't mention is the idea of starting at a US college and then transferring to a Japanese university in your junior year. It's a valid option assuming your grades are good and you pass the Japanese proficiency exam. It takes just as much commitment, but the transition might be easier. It would actually be the only realistic way if you don't have the proficiency in Japanese to get accepted to a Japanese university.

Answer 5

You can't get Japanese permanent residence or citizenship so easily.

If you take citizenship, you have to renounce US one because Japan does not allow anyone to have dual citizenship.

Basically, you need to graduate from Japanese college if you want to have a good job in Japan. If you are a graduate of US college, I don't think you can get job other than English teacher in Japan.