The Working Holiday Visa is also only good for 6 months, can only be done once, and you can't get it once you're 30. I knew about it years ago, but various issues prevented me from being able to do it anyway.
The Bachelors degree is probably the easiest legal route, but you'd be competing with all the English speakers who are also already in the country.
It seems you're conflicted on what you really want to do though. IMO, it seems you want to goto Japan for romantic reasons (people and culture.) If you want to work on games, you'd actually be better off where you live now (California.)
From a legal point of view, unless you plan on marrying a Japanese guy, or wait for Japan to change (or the US to change,) you'd face the same kind of problem in Japan that legal aliens hold in the US... you have to be legally employed, legally married to a legal resident, or leave the country when the visit period expires.
I'm not sure if this applies, but if you had the money, you could just rotate through countries every 90 days (Japan 90, Korea 90, Taiwan 30) so that you don't need a visitors Visa and it can be done by ferry(JP-KR), if you're just visiting and know people.
But this isn't a permanent solution. There are also more economical ways to visit (eg working on a cruise ship that goes to those places) that don't involve paying huge amounts of money, but they aren't for long periods of time either.
A 6 month working holiday visa would allow me to apply for jobs for a longer period of time than just 90 days and most can be converted into a year long work visa very easily
I'm not conflicted on what I want to do. I already said I want to go Japan and listed reasons. I am not going to Japan just for culture and people, I want to improve my Japanese and that is not happening here. Basically the whole package and the fact that it'd be much easier to do doujin work there. Improving my art and my Japanese skill are top goals at the moment. I don't mind teaching English to support that. I can't just show up in a country without means to support myself.
Of course I'd be competing with all the English speakers who are already in the country. No shit. But I can make it. I know plenty who got hired overseas and if they can do it, I can.
From a legal point of view, if I can get hired overseas as an ALT I will get a work visa that will at least last me a year. I don't need to marry a Japanese guy, and I don't care about issues I may need to face as a foreigner--even not relating to legal issues. I already know that Japan is a different country. No shit do I need a reason to stay in the country, that is the same for all countries. Getting married to a resident, getting permanent residency-- I think you are looking way too far ahead. I am only seeking a 1 year work visa. It is much too early to decide factors like that. I don't need to seek permanent ways to stay in the country. And yes, I never said I would stay in Japan to work in the game industry. I am fine with any location if it's for the game industry. I just want to go to Japan for a year or two. I don't have to stay there, and if I decide staying there is my thing after all this, then I can worry about the next steps later.
I don't have that kind of money to travel every 90 days, that is why I have to get a -job- overseas if I want to stay there. So it does not apply. I only previously thought about Korea and Taiwan because I know family/have friends there. However, none of them helps my Japanese as much as living in Japan, so I crossed them off the list, as cushy as they sounded. I should be going for me, not for friends or family. And that's why I'm going to Japan.
I think your perspective on life is too pessimistic. Something I've been thinking of while reading your posts. You need to be more positive and try for the impossible. Sometimes you can get it. I'll be in Japan in the future and I will prove it is possible.
I may have written down my thought process, but I am not confused on what I want to do. Thanks a lot, but I really did not enjoy your comment.
"I think your perspective on life is too pessimistic. You need to be more positive and try for the impossible. Sometimes you can get it. I'll be in Japan in the future and I will prove it is possible."
I'm not trying to put you down. I'm just saying that teaching and doing anything else is unrealistic and runs counter to your point of wanting to learn Japanese better. I just think you'd be miserable and not something you'd want to do for very long.
I never said I'd do it for a long time, and I have already read this article and plenty similar it. In fact, the article you linked is one of the most famous articles for the ALT industry. I've done so much research and know exactly what you're talking about, but I don't think you realize that I have already accepted the pros outweigh the cons. My Japanese is not going to improve here in the States. I can take as many classes as I want and self-study for hours on end and it will NOT improve as quickly as it did when I spent only two weeks in Japan not too long ago. If two weeks makes such a huge difference for me, I can only imagine what a whole year could do for me.
Why do you think I'd be miserable? What if I ended up enjoying it? There are plenty of people who enjoy the ALT job. I think you don't know my personality well enough and it will depend on my luck of placement and my attitude / outlook. Maybe YOU wouldn't enjoy it. And where did I write I would ONLY teach English? I wrote in my entry I'd also be studying Japanese and releasing doujins! In fact, I'd be studying Japanese even if I didn't try to study Japanese, no one speaks English there. I'd have to be using Japanese! I can't just "study" Japanese without a means to maintain myself in the country! Where are you getting these silly ideas?
I am not doing this for the pay or for the "job experience" as there isn't any. I'm aware there are few ways to advance from this position in a career sense. There is nothing stopping me from coming back to the States after a year or two and finding a job. I did not write I want to live in Japan permanently and you are filling in too many details for me and answering them. There is NO WAY I could maintain myself in Japan for a year or two without finding a job and the chance to get hired overseas for a job other than teaching English is VERY LOW. I cannot simply just go to the country and seek a job until I find one-- the 90 day limit is much too difficult, and I currently am employed with a very kind boss and it would be difficult for her if I quit now. She and I have already talked about this and she is actually quite supportive of me going overseas even if it means she loses an employee. For being so understanding, I really want to work hard for her until the end.
You're right, I am filling in to many details, I hope things work out for you. The miserable comment comes directly from a place I applied to under the Working Vacation. I got too excited over it and then in one of the questions they asked, they responded that I'd be unhappy and bored working out there. I didn't prepare enough before applying.
The Bachelors degree is probably the easiest legal route, but you'd be competing with all the English speakers who are also already in the country.
It seems you're conflicted on what you really want to do though. IMO, it seems you want to goto Japan for romantic reasons (people and culture.) If you want to work on games, you'd actually be better off where you live now (California.)
From a legal point of view, unless you plan on marrying a Japanese guy, or wait for Japan to change (or the US to change,) you'd face the same kind of problem in Japan that legal aliens hold in the US... you have to be legally employed, legally married to a legal resident, or leave the country when the visit period expires.
I'm not sure if this applies, but if you had the money, you could just rotate through countries every 90 days (Japan 90, Korea 90, Taiwan 30) so that you don't need a visitors Visa and it can be done by ferry(JP-KR), if you're just visiting and know people.
But this isn't a permanent solution. There are also more economical ways to visit (eg working on a cruise ship that goes to those places) that don't involve paying huge amounts of money, but they aren't for long periods of time either.
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I'm not conflicted on what I want to do. I already said I want to go Japan and listed reasons. I am not going to Japan just for culture and people, I want to improve my Japanese and that is not happening here. Basically the whole package and the fact that it'd be much easier to do doujin work there. Improving my art and my Japanese skill are top goals at the moment. I don't mind teaching English to support that. I can't just show up in a country without means to support myself.
Of course I'd be competing with all the English speakers who are already in the country. No shit. But I can make it. I know plenty who got hired overseas and if they can do it, I can.
From a legal point of view, if I can get hired overseas as an ALT I will get a work visa that will at least last me a year. I don't need to marry a Japanese guy, and I don't care about issues I may need to face as a foreigner--even not relating to legal issues. I already know that Japan is a different country. No shit do I need a reason to stay in the country, that is the same for all countries. Getting married to a resident, getting permanent residency-- I think you are looking way too far ahead. I am only seeking a 1 year work visa. It is much too early to decide factors like that. I don't need to seek permanent ways to stay in the country. And yes, I never said I would stay in Japan to work in the game industry. I am fine with any location if it's for the game industry. I just want to go to Japan for a year or two. I don't have to stay there, and if I decide staying there is my thing after all this, then I can worry about the next steps later.
I don't have that kind of money to travel every 90 days, that is why I have to get a -job- overseas if I want to stay there. So it does not apply. I only previously thought about Korea and Taiwan because I know family/have friends there. However, none of them helps my Japanese as much as living in Japan, so I crossed them off the list, as cushy as they sounded. I should be going for me, not for friends or family. And that's why I'm going to Japan.
I think your perspective on life is too pessimistic. Something I've been thinking of while reading your posts. You need to be more positive and try for the impossible. Sometimes you can get it. I'll be in Japan in the future and I will prove it is possible.
I may have written down my thought process, but I am not confused on what I want to do. Thanks a lot, but I really did not enjoy your comment.
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I'm not trying to put you down. I'm just saying that teaching and doing anything else is unrealistic and runs counter to your point of wanting to learn Japanese better. I just think you'd be miserable and not something you'd want to do for very long.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/rss/nn20080105f1.html
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Why do you think I'd be miserable? What if I ended up enjoying it? There are plenty of people who enjoy the ALT job. I think you don't know my personality well enough and it will depend on my luck of placement and my attitude / outlook. Maybe YOU wouldn't enjoy it. And where did I write I would ONLY teach English? I wrote in my entry I'd also be studying Japanese and releasing doujins! In fact, I'd be studying Japanese even if I didn't try to study Japanese, no one speaks English there. I'd have to be using Japanese! I can't just "study" Japanese without a means to maintain myself in the country! Where are you getting these silly ideas?
I am not doing this for the pay or for the "job experience" as there isn't any. I'm aware there are few ways to advance from this position in a career sense. There is nothing stopping me from coming back to the States after a year or two and finding a job. I did not write I want to live in Japan permanently and you are filling in too many details for me and answering them. There is NO WAY I could maintain myself in Japan for a year or two without finding a job and the chance to get hired overseas for a job other than teaching English is VERY LOW. I cannot simply just go to the country and seek a job until I find one-- the 90 day limit is much too difficult, and I currently am employed with a very kind boss and it would be difficult for her if I quit now. She and I have already talked about this and she is actually quite supportive of me going overseas even if it means she loses an employee. For being so understanding, I really want to work hard for her until the end.
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http://interac.generalunion.org/
http://www.generalunion.org/alt/
http://fukuoka.generalunion.org/alt/index.html
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