opportunities to travel to tokyo???

Hello everyone, i am new to the forum and decided to see if anyone could educate me on ways to travel to japan that are cheap or possibly lucrative.


Money is not my goal but rather to be immersed in the Japanese culture. I am 24 and just graduated college. I was looking at programs where one would sign a year contract to teach English in Japan. All that is needed for most of these programs is a bachelor's degree. Before i become committed to one, i thought it might be a good idea to see if there are any other options out there, and thought what better than a Japanese forum. Hopefully you can help me out.

I want a lengthy stay, a minimum of a month- maximum of a year. I've wrestled a long portion of my life and now compete in submission wrestling at a high level. i would like to have a job like the teaching one, but still want adequate time to train with some of japans best in Tokyo. Are there other programs offered to young foreigners that don't require a 40 hour work week? A more relaxed one if possible? Any help would be much appreciated; i am pretty much clueless outside of the teaching programs. Thank you for your time

On a side note I'd like to explain some of my attraction-I'm from Chicago and find a city like Tokyo 3 times the size very appealing. I think the technological capital of the world is very attractive, enjoy ryu murakami the author very much, and have seemingly identified with a lot of the Japanese culture.

nobody???? i saw something on guest houses here. how much recommended to save if i'm living in tokyo for a month????

are people really social?

You might want to give us more than 20 hours to respond.

A fresh college grad with no work experience and presumably no Japanese ability, right? What do you think you are qualified for? Most non-teaching jobs require fairly high (JLPT2) Japanese ability. Teaching jobs themselves are in desperate straits here, as the market is terribly flooded, although you are right in assessing the market for newbies as open to anyone with a BA degree.

Have you thought of internships or volunteering? You're not qualified for much else. And, you need an employer before you can even get a work visa.

How about getting a student visa or cultural activities visa and then special permission to work (PT only, but I wouldn't begin to imagine doing what, if you have no J ability)?

Tokyo, with no Japanese ability, a bachelor's degree, a non-40 hour workweek with time to work out in gyms with (I'm assuming) MMA/jiujitsu/wrestling folks, and an uncertain contract length...sounds impossible to me.

Jobs like JET are actually closer to 35 hours a week, with fixed ending times. I'm out everyday at 4, regardless of whether we're in the middle of a meeting or there's sports practice or whatever. Sometimes I choose to stay late and play with the kids or help out, but usually I'm out the door. 4-whenever I sleep is my time, and that is a substantial amount of time to work out, if that were my main goal.

Some private companies would probably offer a similar number of hours a week, but perhaps working afternoons and nights instead of during the day. A friend of mine has a 3-10 schedule, with Mondays and Tuesdays as her weekend. Clearly, you have to teach when your students aren't at work/school.

The catch with most teaching jobs is that you aren't guaranteed placement anywhere, and least of all in Tokyo. Like Glen said, the market is indeed flooded, and JET has a competitive and lengthy application process for positions that are 99% located far enough from Tokyo to make regular travel there to train difficult or impossible.

I'll say one thing though: if you want to be immersed in Japanese culture, the countryside is pretty good for it. None of these new-fangled, foreigner-friendly English speaking folks to help you at the store, far fewer English signs, and more traditional attitudes than you'd find in a metropolis like Tokyo.

thank you for the responses. and i apologize for expecting a quick response, i'm not on alot of forums and was bummed to see 30 views and no responses at the time. I appreciate the honesty from both of you, that is certainly what i need in this situation to set realistic goals.


Everything is pretty much new to me as far as traveling goes, and i don't know the different types of visas let alone how to get any. Before commiting to a company (for a year) or trying to get a teaching english as a foreign language certificate, i figure i should just visit first.

I plan on saving around 3,000 dollars and staying at a guest house in tokyo for a month. Like i said i am certainly a newbie to traveling and am wondering if this is the easiest way to spend time in tokyo rather cheaply. Do you think i'll be fine if i travel alone???? Especially staying in a guest house??

And as far as training, MeAndroo do you think it will be hard for me to join a gym for a month. I certainly feel as if i'm a skilled grappler, but had no plan rather than finding a gym and walking right in. Is this fine, or are there some cultural rules i should know about? I have a couple of gyms in mind, but just have to find their exact locations and see if there are any guest houses nearby.

anyways any tips for a first time travel would be greatly appreciated. thanks for the help

CreekJohnson said:

I plan on saving around 3,000 dollars and staying at a guest house in tokyo for a month. Like i said i am certainly a newbie to traveling and am wondering if this is the easiest way to spend time in tokyo rather cheaply. Do you think i'll be fine if i travel alone???? Especially staying in a guest house??
And as far as training, MeAndroo do you think it will be hard for me to join a gym for a month. I certainly feel as if i'm a skilled grappler, but had no plan rather than finding a gym and walking right in. Is this fine, or are there some cultural rules i should know about? I have a couple of gyms in mind, but just have to find their exact locations and see if there are any guest houses nearby.
anyways any tips for a first time travel would be greatly appreciated. thanks for the help

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Well, most English teaching jobs here only require your bachelor's, no certificate. And the degree can be in something completely unrelated...I was a marketing major, for instance.

3000 seems a bit low for a month, especially in Tokyo. If you're going to be doing any kind of traveling around the city and have no source of income, the last thing you want is to run out of money. I guess it depends on your lifestyle, though. Being alone shouldn't be too much of a problem, as long as you're willing to get lost, ask questions, and be patient.

I'm not really experienced with those kinds of gyms here (normal exercise ones, yeah). My experience with trying to join Japanese groups doing any kind of training (sports, cultural stuff like taiko, etc) has been that they like to see a commitment of both time and energy. I spent 4 months at my taiko group just watching, not playing, until they decided to let me start getting in on the drums. If they're used to foreigners, like my basketball club, then they'll let you start practicing pretty much straight away but not let you play in games.

I would think a martial arts/wrestling oriented gym would let you participate fully, especially once they've ascertained your level, but depending on the gym, you may not get the best treatment until they know you're in for the long haul. I feel like saying you'll be there for a month is maybe not the greatest strategy in the world, but again, I don't know.

Ev

erything is pretty much new to me as far as traveling goes, and i don't know the different types of visas let alone how to get any. Before commiting to a company (for a year) or trying to get a teaching english as a foreign language certificate, i figure i should just visit first.

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Sound reasoning. Just bear in mind that tourist experience, while better than nothing, are not a true sampling of what you will experience while working and living here.