I'm sorry in advance, it turned out way longer than I expected
You mean this?
ドヤ街 - Wikipedia
I had to look this up because I'm not familiar with that term. Apparently ドヤ is a flip of the word ヤド (宿), and refers to tiny cheap rooms for day laborers. Basically, a slum, or a very cramped version of old dorm-style accommodations with shared bathrooms (possibly no bathing facilities, traditionally you'd go to a sento to bathe); I've crashed with a friend who lived in one of these low-cost dorms back in my college days. My guess is you'd have to know where to look to find these, and you probably can't book them online or in English. I can't really give you any info because I didn't even know about this, maybe @Toritoribe could shed some light?
Wow, thanks, that's exactly what I was talking about! I'm glad you were able to uncover what that strange term is about. And yeah, I'd really have to know where to look, and it won't be easy (my friends in Japan know nothing of them either). If I can't book them online or in English, then it's alright, I'll settle for something a little more expensive until I can meet the requirements for booking one.
If necessary? Japan isn't going to let you in if you don't have a departure ticket, either back home or to another country. This is probably going to be another non-starter if you touch down without an ongoing flight scheduled. Even if your hope is to find employment or get visa sponsorship, you'll be required to leave the country and re-enter (citation needed, I'm not 100% on this).
I should've worded it differently. I meant if necessary to come back to Japan. With that said, I was indeed also wondering how it will go if I wait until a later date to get a departure ticket, since I haven't 100% determined the best option for me when it's time to leave (back to the US, or a different country, and which country if a different country). It's something I would have decided closer to the end of my trip, so is there any way I can avoid paying for a return that I may or may not use? I can say with confidence that I most likely will go to another country if I get some of my money back during my time in Japan. There's no way to be 100% sure now, as it depends on circumstances that will occur in the future.
Look, I get it, you're young and don't need creature comforts. I've been there, I've got a whole story about staying in a mah jong hotel in China, I've slept in airports, hotel lobbies, manga cafe, karaoke rooms, etc. I stayed at a cat rescue in kyoto that ran an airbnb and did video translation in exchange for a couple night's accommodations, and I've done a fair amount of volunteering around (almost always with an introduction from a trusted friend). The biggest challenge as I see it is these unconventional places to stay will require some language skills and some experience/Japan-savviness--or friends on the ground--that you are lacking.
Just searching for "Tokyo cheap accommodations" or something similar should bring up many options to give you an idea of the cost of living. Check out
tokyocheapo to get ideas.
WWOOFing is usually a short commitment, but it'll probably be out in the countryside and a totally different experience from being on your own in the city; volunteering on the farm is part of the deal, and you wouldn't be able to do the night-owl thing most likely.
I'm glad you understand how I feel then. Well, there's still time from now till then, so I'll be gaining more friends for sure, and I feel that Japan savviness is just something I'll have to pick up by being there. Language skills, I can totally understand your concern, and I've already done my best to address those concerns below (I wrote this backwards, sorry)
google "WWOOF Japan" for tons more information, and you can also google "volunteer Japan" to find sites like
this that gives you opportunities that have more structure and support to frame part of your trip. Just something to consider.
I did do a quick look on the japan site for it, but I'll have to look into it a lot more to see if it's for me. From what was easily accessible on the page, I couldn't quite tell for sure how it would be, but I might have to dig a lot deeper to find out. I'll also check the other sites (including the one you added) that you say I can find from searching "volunteer Japan", and see if I like anything
thanks
NEET is probably(?) a better term if you have to describe yourself, but I would remind you that when you travel, you have a million opportunities to reinvent yourself; be honest in your dealings with people, but you don't have to wear your past, or flaws, or trauma, on your sleeve, unless you really feel a need to talk about them.
Thanks. I wasn't intending to carry it around and call myself that all the time, but if the time comes, I still think it's important to share experiences with someone who needs to hear it. I wouldn't wanna use the wrong word, and conversely, I wouldn't want to use no word at all and end up avoiding sharing my experiences with others. But yeah, I definitely do intend to reinvent myself.
I can tell that you've got a lot going on upstairs, but honestly, I'm very concerned that your plans are not fully baked, as you seem to be unaware of some basic requirements for you to get in the door, and you are talking about going on an extremely limited budget that is going to prevent you from getting the most out of your time in Japan. If you're talking about that tight of a budget then you have at least 6 months to get a job and save; I don't want to see you fall flat on your face, or literally get turned away as soon as you arrive. Japan doesn't like it when people come intending to work without the proper paperwork, so if your intention is to eventually get sponsored to live and work in Japan, either try to secure that prior to going, or use this trip to network and lay groundwork, then come back later with the proper visa. Or, get yourself some kind of remote work that pays for your travel and living expenses, and bounce around Asia on tourist visas, coming back to Japan as often as you can. Your American passport is a great tool for a nomadic lifestyle (you're a double-threat with a 4-year degree, for an actual expat lifestyle).
You'd be right about that
but still, as I mention in the section below (kinda writing this backwards, sorry), I don't truly understand when the plan will be fully baked. I've been mixing and matching different ingredients and the plan has never 100% turned out right, but at least I can say I tried even if there's holes in the plan which turn out to be a disaster. If I fall flat on my face, I want that to teach me real life and show me that I can't simply get what I want through determination and hard work. I can understand everyone's concerns, which makes it difficult to have these conversations, because if I explain more, it will just cause more concern for many people. I'll explain anyway, as this is a forum about Japan, so maybe some people will get it. I am okay with going and failing. What I'm not okay with, is staying here continuously, because "my plan has an error", "I don't have enough money to do this with ease", and the like. How I look at it, running to patch one hole just leaves room for another to open up. For example, I can stay here for longer, hold off on leaving in the month I intend to in order to fill in my plan. Suppose I actually
can fill in my plan, well, all the time I spent doing that, my money only drained, and now there's another problem to deal with. "Simple, I'll just go get some money real quick", and although I have to postpone the trip even longer, at least my plan will finally be complete ー but then, something changes, and the plan that previously worked will no longer 100% work due to future circumstances. The loop could seriously continue like this for a very long time.
It sounds crazy, but there's real life references I can point to where this kind of thing has happened, both to the world, and to my very own family that had been trying to plan a trip for 3+ years, with something happening every time that postponed the trip. Just when they thought, "for sure, we won't let anything stop us this time", something did. That repeated over and over until we finally were able to go, but at what cost? Maybe not much since it was just a family trip, but if it were a trip in an attempt to plant life's seeds in a new location... That kind of delay could mean life or death. And I'm not even saying that lightly, cause it can happen... as for the whole world, we all know about the pandemic that halted so many things that were not supposed to ever be halted. Imagine if something just half as big occurs and burns a hole in the plans of the likes of me, and proceeds to defecate in that hole? Well, at some point it'll end up worse than being rejected at the airport, I'm sure...
Anyway, I feel that staying here longer and longer is even more of a failure than going there and being sent back. I can go back in honor knowing that I gave it what I had at the time to get there, and if I can try again, then I will, and if I can't then I will have to accept that and live a completely different life, both from the one I live now and the one I would live in Japan. That's more okay to me than continuing to stay here, postponing, and postponing to seemingly no end to fix the plan that keeps getting broken, the plan that I can never even see the full picture of... I think that's the real defeat. And this may or may not sound very silly, but I feel that this "experience" is trying to keep me in the same place, and I won't allow it to do that any longer. I'm going. (I firmly say that, to the boundaries of this realm, not to you)
You need to fully research what you intend to do or you're going to get blindsided by reality when it hits. I don't know what your life is like, but if you're dead set on making this happen, I would be throwing myself into whatever it takes to save up enough for a comfortable travel budget and safety net, and also looking into whatever courses I can take, to get that practice necessary to hit the ground running. I'd also budget for some kind of phone service, either a sim card or wifi router so I can check train routes and schedules (maps.me is good and uses pre-downloaded maps but doesn't do public transporation), and more importantly it gives you the ability to connect and message with people you meet. Your ability to network will be stunted if you have to go duck into a conbini or starbucks to check your messages (and I'm not sure about the state of free wifi anymore).
I agree, but how much research does it take before my research becomes complete... I don't know the answer to that question, as I've been learning about and researching Japan for over a year intensively, but still, it's apparently insufficient :/ I feel that no matter how much one researches, one can never be fully prepared anyway, no matter how much they think they will be. With that in mind, it could be a large part of the reason my plans are the way they are. Either way, I am definitely dead set on making this happen (more literally than you think), so I'll do my best to make up for my shortcomings within the next few months. I also strongly feel that, backed by
@mdchachi 's words, I should be able to strengthen my command of the language while on the trip as well.
Also, I haven't been working because I mainly want an online job if it's not in Japan. I technically have one but since it's freelance, I don't get to receive a sufficient amount of money most of the time (I think I made $100 so far this year, and overall about $300). I have a small business agreement as well with someone, so I receive a small percentage of their sales because they all have to go through me. I've also been looking for ways to fix the fact that I make insufficient income from these tasks, but it's quite difficult and competitive, as you may know. I think I found some ways to cut through the competition, so if I'm successful with that, I'll finally start making a steady income again, and if not... that's just too bad for me, I guess. I am only going to sacrifice my body physically for work from now on if I do it in Japan. This may be very hard for others to understand but one compromise I won't make is that I won't do anything that inhibits my ability to move normally, unless that happens in Japan. If I had stayed at my last job any longer, I'm almost certain that I would be incapacitated right now and have limited mobility (I still suffer from some issues because of it) due to the intense physical labor I had to do in order to make a mere $15/hr (which was $14 for half the time I was there). Take it from me, as someone who did the things I mentioned in my last post about biking many many miles and walking for many hours. This job made that type of stuff feel like a piece of cake honestly, and what made it worse was because I was the fastest at doing my job, I naturally ended up accumulating the majority of the work often times. I couldn't slow down for my own sake because it meant I wasn't doing my best, and I only wanted to operate at my best for the sake of others. And to make all this make sense, this was one of the only jobs that would hire me... I say one of the only as if there were even others :/ If I have to sacrifice my body again, I want to do it in the land I love, which is not here. Getting a regular job again will once again mean that I get paid probably less than the work is worth, just so I can make pocket change, after all I was lucky to even get $14/hr, most jobs would be like $12/hr here even though the cost of living requires like $18/hr... anyway, if I work physically that harshly again, I can guarantee that some parts of me aren't going to be working correctly anymore. It was hard to explain, but I hope you get the idea of why I've avoided a physical job. I've tried to get an online job as well, but it's also difficult, and easier to just try and build up my own services which might allow me to get paid more in the future. Well anyway, I forgot to even mention that I think my travel budget is comfortable enough for me at least.
I am also planning to have a portable wifi router, so for that at least, we're good. I'll keep the maps.me website in mind, thanks for that! And you're right, that it would be difficult for me to network without a connection other than in public shops and such. I have first hand experience so I know what it's like, in fact I had to experience that every time I left the house for the past year. I don't even have cell service now because my phone is locked to t-mobile, and i have a TextNow sim card in my phone, so you know how that goes. I'm holding off on getting a new one since I've still been able to get by fine without service, even when away from home for an extended time, but I know that I'll most likely need wifi in Japan.
repeat what you hear on the videos (and visualize how the sentences are written so you understand it fully), or try responding to it. Pretend you're in a conversation with the video; an imaginary conversation partner is better than none at all.
I've been repeating some things I hear on the video, but it never occurred to me that I could have a pretend conversation with it (other than the grammar videos which have those conversation sections to make you put the grammar to use). I will definitely try that from now on as well, and I think it might help. I always have random japanese words bouncing around in my head, so when something useful for the situation pops up, I'll use it on the imaginary conversation partner
You might want to consider an online course. There are many of these availableFull transparency: I've started consulting for a language school in Tokyo that is offering 8-10week online courses for a few hundred bucks; they're intense and immersive and force you to participate, which sounds like something you'd benefit from. I'm meeting with them tomorrow, next course starts sometime in May. Honestly, if you had the resources, I would recommend going to attend in-person classes somewhere and getting a strong foundation in the language (it's also an easy way to get an extended visa and go to Japan with some kind of support structure around you). I've been relatively comfortable in Japanese for years and I still feel like I might benefit from taking a course; learning a language is a lifelong affair.
You know, sure, online courses aren't out of the question, now that I think about it. I was worried about not being able to get anything from it, since when I was forced to do online school during the pandemic, I had a very bad experience, but I'll chalk it up to traditional high school being a not so good way to learn in the first place, especially when courses are just birthed from nowhere online. I'll trust that these Japanese online courses might be worth it, so I'll look into it after all, although I'll have to make sure I have a decent place to attend the classes, since my dad usually works right outside my room, and I can hear everything he's saying (and his coughs) loud and clear... I don't want to find out if it's vice versa, and also I'm almost guaranteed to need a do not disturb sign on my room door... but I'll make it work. Thanks for the suggestion! Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to go to an in person Japanese class, and I don't even know if there are any worth going to around here. Anyway, I do still want to consider the idea that I can essentially activate my dormant Japanese as well, if I just immerse myself in the real Japanese world. After all, as I said before it's not like i've spun my wheels and learned nothing, but I've actually gained almost all the pre-requisites to holding an average conversation, I just need the practice itself, and though it may be beneficial to have that in a classroom setting, it might also be equally beneficial in other ways to have it in a survival setting. Don't worry, I didn't forget that the classes you mentioned may reproduce the feeling of survival, but I hope you can understand why I feel that it might still be different, at least as an online class. I'll weigh my options! And I agree, learning a language never ends, after all, English is my first language and I still learn more English every other day.
Wishing you luck, I'm not trying to discourage you, but to temper your expectations and remind you that there's much you still need to research to make this a reality.
You have no idea how much I appreciate that
honestly there are many people out there that just want to crush your dreams or make you believe you can never do anything outside the average expectations from someone like one's self, but I've come back time and time again because this community actually cares and just wants to make sure I'm on the right track. Thanks everyone, for caring
I wrote a lot, so I'm sorry if something was incohesively written. And once again, sorry for the length...