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/jp/ - Otaku Culture

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4284386 No.4284386 [Reply] [Original]

I'm pretty well off here in America, but my fiance didn't tell me I was a fucking idiot when I entertained the idea of an extended stay in Japan, which only encouraged my curiosity. I'm talking 6 months to a year, just to test the water.

Currently, we're learning the language (spoken for starters) and are looking at any financial hurdles that we'll need to overcome overseas. Our plan is to have something ironed out within the next 2 years.

I ask anybody in /jp/ who is currently living, or has in the past lived in Japan. What is there to do? What could be done for stable income? Is it even worth the trip?

Again, money isn't an issue stateside at all. However, I wouldn't imagine it being incredibly easy to be as financially stable as a foreigner in Japan.

Aside from my inquiry, I'd be delighted to hear any experiences from current residents of Japan.

>> No.4284393

>>4284390
I'm happy for you.

>> No.4284390

we don't actually talk about japan here

>> No.4284403

>my fiance
you're female right?

>> No.4284409

Take it to /int/. Nobody here has ever been to Japan, had a girlfriend or even left their mother's basement in the last year.

>> No.4284430

durr living in japan will be so sugoi!!!!!

>> No.4284432

I live in Kawasaki. The vending machine next to my apartment has a bonus slot machine game you get to play when you buy a drink and if you win you get a free drink. Pretty sweet deal huh?

>> No.4284447

>>4284386
aye lived in japan once

IT was fun
as for income.. I didn't work there at all... I am too rich

>> No.4284463

>>4284432
FUCK YEA! I wanna move to Japan now.

>> No.4284470

>>4284432
you live in a motorcycle?

>> No.4284483

>>4284386
Well... Do you have a company that will sponsor you to work over there? Are you going to go via JET? Visas are tricky business when you're talking about that long of a stay.

>> No.4284485

>>4284403
No. Apparently she was ready to go to Israel for overseas research, but ended up not getting in the program because she wasn't Jewish, go figure.

When the possibility becomes a bit more realistic, we're planning on seeing if any research programs for Psychology are available at any Japanese Universities.

>> No.4284489

>>4284483
I work at a cozy position at UPS. I haven't really considered the idea of a foreign transfer, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

>> No.4284496

>>4284470
As cool as that would be, I sadly don't. This is where I live http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki,_Kanagawa

>> No.4284532

>>4284432
Depends on the line at the vending machine, and how long the game is.

Also, is the cost of a drink any more than it would be at an American vending machine?

>> No.4284567

>>4284532
that machine has drinks from 100 - 120yen, i have never seen a line form at it, and the game is just pressing a button and if 4 of the same numbers stop you get the value of the drink you purchased added to your credit to buy another drink.

>> No.4284583

>>4284567
what do you do for a living?

>> No.4284586

>>4284485

If you haven't done grad school yet, a lot of those programs (even Todai, Waseda, the famous universities) aren't hard for foreigners to get into. Student visa would probably be the easiest way to live here.

As for stable income...English teacher, if you can find it. It's kinda hard to get a real job here unless you're super-qualified and/or gonna stay for a while. It can be a tough life as a foreigner here.

Also, consider that the exchange rate is really shitty right now. I lose approximately $10 for every $100, and thus $100 for every $1000 obviously. It adds up really quickly. Just make sure you're really adequately prepared before you come.

If you have other questions, I'll be happy to answer them. For background, I live in Tokyo (for almost 6 months now) as a student and I'll probably be on for a bit.

>> No.4284605

>>4284567
I got a job at star bucks and I also tutor English, but I'm actually a student here, so i also have an 80000 yen a month scholarship.

>> No.4284627

>>4284586
>>4284605

Ever had trouble with discrimination?

>> No.4284649

>>4284586
Exchange rate was a bitch getting in, but I'm hoping it turns out to be the same rate going out, so I can change all of the scholarship I didn't use to dollars when I go back to the states.

>>4284627
Where I live, there's not really too much discrimination. But I've heard from the teachers here that this prefecture/city is much nicer in that regard than others.

>> No.4284666

>>4284627
Nahh, I live too close to Tokyo. Even the apartment agency was really nice to me. Didn't try to fuck me over with a bunch of different fees or higher rent than my neighbors.

>> No.4284774

>>4284649
This is >>4284586
People stare a lot, and if you do anything wrong you're more wrong because you're a foreigner, but otherwise day-to-day not much. However, getting a place to live will show you some of the bad sides. Many of my friends got rejected from places when the realtors found out they were foreign. You'll probably notice other things sometimes as well, but it shouldn't impede your life really. Also, this was an isolated incident, but I was spat on by some old ladies in a bathhouse with my blonder friend. So discrimination exists, but you should be ok.

>> No.4284786

Consider yourself lucky to be a native English speaker, there's always some jobs open for teaching English and the only qualification you need is really... being a native. Though teaching experience helps.

Needless to say I couldn't really get one while I was over there so worked some underpaid jobs as a waiter or a cleaner or whatever. The clue to getting a job is looking really hard, getting someone who reads Japanese to help you search is also big. There are these free magazines with lots of job ads but they're all in Japanese (obviously you would want at least conversation knowledge of spoken Japanese). Though I guess you can start of with the usual webpages (www.jobsinjapan.com gaijinpot.com etc.).

But yeah, it's really worth the trip. I spent 9 months over there and it was awesome, the convenience stores alone are worth it, haha. Also in my opinion Nipponbashi was better than Akiba, but I guess it depends on the person. I miss melon bread.

That being said, getting an appriopriate visa won't be so easy for you. I went on a working holiay visa but America and Japan don't have that kind of agreement. A student visa doesn't allow you to work so you're gonna have to have quite a bit to attend an exchange program. And you can really only get a working visa if you already have a job arranged for in advance.

>> No.4284793

>>4284666
Lucky *_* My realtor was awesome because he lived in the US and was also really good at negotiating with realtors. But I know a lot of people who had problems; luckily, they just wanted ridiculous amounts of documentation and to meet me to assess my character.

>> No.4284801

>>4284786

I've heard from students at my university who went over for a year that you can actually get like a temporary work permit thing when you get over to Japan relatively easily (I could be remembering wrong, but this one guy talked about how he just had to go to the post office or something for a permit so he could work at the conbini near his apartment).

>> No.4284804

>>4284774
I had some drunk old man yell at me in Japanese to return home one night. I decided to apologized to him in keigo and his dumbfounded look was priceless. Too bad he probably doesn't remember it, but my Japanese friends thought that it was hilarious.

>> No.4284806

>>4284786

My (American) student visa allows me to work, but only part-time. You just apply for the work permit. It's actually also not hard to work over that amount though, especially under the table.

>> No.4284813

>>4284786
I'm on a student visa right now and I'm allowed 28 hours of work a week.

>> No.4284820

>>4284774
Well I'm part asian, so I get a hell of a lot less looks and odd comments than the other American students studying abroad here.
Fortunately the college helps with a lot with realtors/jobs/everything so it's not too bad even for them.

>> No.4284830

>>4284793
I think a lot of the problems were completely preempted for me because they knew I am a student at Aoyama Gakuin University. Some reason Japanese think I'm a rich genius when I tell them I study there. I personally think the program I'm in there is a joke though.

>> No.4284849

>>4284830
You go to Aogaku? Please tell me you meet Shoko-tan when she came to your school last fall.

>> No.4284874

>>4284830

Yeah, I go to Temple University's Japan campus, which is harder for Japanese people to get into because they have to learn English (and the degree counts as an American AND Japanese one). But for Americans, it's like a community college...and rather poorly organized. :/ But the Japanese people who know it are always impressed, lol.

>> No.4284878

>>4284849
I didn't "meet" her, but saw here from a distance when she preformed at my school festival. I didn't bother to try to get into the actual performance area because I was sick of her music by then. They played the same 3 songs on loop for like 2 months in my student cafeteria.

>> No.4284892

>>4284874
I got a friend at Temple University actually. Who knows you might even know him. How big is the foreign student population there?

>> No.4284899

>>4284386
How about you go to Japan, start a fire and die in it.

>> No.4284945

I wanna go to japan ;_;

>> No.4284956

>>4284892

Haha, maybe. It's a small school. There's a lot of people that hang out in the cafeteria or game room regularly, but there are also a lot of people who only go to class and then leave.
From the website/school, apparently the student distribution is the following:
50% Japanese (but probably includes the English-learning program too)
30% "International" (mostly Europeans, other Asians, Australians, Canadians, etc.)
20% Americans
It's a pretty good mix, actually. I like the diversity.

>> No.4285025

>>4284892

Also, what's your friend's name? Even the first name is okay; i.e., I don't know any Daves so it might be easy to tell.

>> No.4285031

>>4285025
Casey, and he's a dude. American.

>> No.4285067

Presuming you aren't trolling, take a moment to consider the foolhardiness of this enterprise.

You're planning going to Japan whose economy is currently down the drain, you have a cultural and linguistic hurdle to overcome, and every possible employer is going to prefer a local over a foreigner (as it is in any country unless you're willing to work for really really cheap)

I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors

>> No.4285085

>>4284806
>>4284813
>>4284801

Guess I was misinformed. Sorry about that. Luckily whenever you make a mistake someone is there to spot it, haha.

>> No.4285142

>>4285067
As opposed to America where our economy is also down the drain, unemployment is much higher, and most employers prefer foreigners over locals.

>> No.4285158

>>4285142 most employers prefer foreigners over locals.

For basic entry level stuff, yeah. The market isn't that bad for anything related to medicine or engineering. Of course, there's always the military if you're desperate.

>> No.4285173

>>4285085
From Illinois? And did he just come here in August? If so, I definitely know him; we lived in the dorm together, haha

>>4285031
Eh, all the visa rules for every country are so different...I'd be more surprised if you knew them. I know nothing about Germany's, lol

>> No.4285370

>>4285173
Yup, we went to school together in the States.

>> No.4285632

I'm going to Japan next april to work at my country's embassy.. :3
I will get an apartment somewhere in Tokyo, all paid by the treasury.

>>
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