Is it possible, for an 18 year old, to move to Tokyo alone?

Question

Hi! I currently live at the west Coast of U.S...

I was curious as to know if it is even possible for an 18-19 year old, to move to Tokyo alone, or with just a friend? I am aware of the expenses, just rather "fuzzy", on everything else. I am curious about what I can, and cannot do, and even "loop holes" xD Lol thank you..

Answer 1

Personally I think it would be very dangerous. Also, unless you speak the language you might find yourself in a mess.

Answer 2

The problem for you would be that the age of legal adulthood in Japan is 20 yo.  You would not be able to sign a contract or lease for an apartment by yourself or any other legal document without a guarantor .  If you had a sponsor they could rent for you but it is taking on a lot of liability risk and you may not find someone ready to take the risk.  Of course military members are SOFA sponsored and the Department of Defense is their sponsor and guarantor.  It would be a lot easier if your friend is over 20 yo but most apartment owners require proof of income before they rent or lease.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Of course you can.  I dated a guy who lived in Tokyo for 3 years.  He was in the military but he was 18.  It's massively expensive.  Make sure you have an apartment and job ready and I don't see why not.  You are very brave!  I would have been to scared at 18 to do that.

Answer 4

I'm from Tokyo, Japan. Born and raised.

You CAN move to Tokyo alone but having a friend who lives over there would help tremendously. If you're going to be there totally alone and do not speak Japanese, you'll have a HARD time since not too many people in Japan will understand spoken English, so you'll get easily lost (although people who speak English sure is increasing, it's still hard to come across them). I suggest you go with a friend and live there for a few months while you go to a language school, and see if living in Japan is something you really want. You can make lots of friends really quickly. If you want to work in Japan, you'll have to know Japanese and probably you'll also need a valid working visa.

The thing about teaching English in Japan, you really don't have to know Japanese. The only catch is that you need a 4-year college degree, and be hired by a language school but getting hired isn't too hard once you have the degree and prove to them that you're a native English speaker. They don't care what kind of major you studied in either.

Answer 5

everyone i've asked has said you need a four year college degree. and you have to be able to get a job that japanese people cannot fill right now. and you have to speak japanese at a native level.

or you can go and teach english, but you still need a four year degree, and fluently speak japanese

Answer 6

If I were you, I would learn the language if you don't. Learn common words and sentences and pronounce them correctly, so bad people don't take bad advantage of you. It's a very safe country, little crime, decent people, but don't let your guard down. Nowadays people are fascinated of Americans, but not everyone is the same. Tokyo's a very expensive city and extremely crowded. I suggest you take a Japanese friend along with you. If you can handle the difficult language, the crowdedness, the high costs of living, then you should be just fine. =]

Answer 7

Yes, you could get a visa to attend Japanese language school, etc. As a student you would be entilted to work up to twenty hours a week and you could find a dorm to live in. The problem would be that all that would require a pretty good sized grubstake.  

Answer 8

No. You would need to have a job waiting for you. And to get a work visa you need to have a four year degree and a solid job offer before you get there. It's not like moving from San Francisco to LA.

Japan doesn't have an open immigration policy, so you just can't move there.

Most American's teach English. Most other jobs would require that you speak, read and write Japanese at a native level. And unless you have a special skill a Japanese doesn't have, the chances of finding work are slim to none. Jobs will always go to a native Japanese first.