What are my odds? - Going to Japan soon, need some input.

[paradoxbox]

Hi all. Here's my situation.

I am about to finish my first year at university in August, I'll be 20 in the beginning of September. I've got around $3,000CDN saved, plus money for airfare. Around December or January, I'm heading off to Japan. I'm gonna try to save a bit more money for the trip, but $3,000 ought to cover the initial months.

I am going to stay for 1 year on a working holiday visa, with a slight emphasis on working, rather than holiday.

I'm curious as to what the odds are for me finding work in Japan. I'm a native English speaker, I speak passable Japanese as well as French.

I've heard NOVA accepts people to teach in Japan if they have their own visa already, and have at least some university experience. Can anyone verify this? Are there any other large English schools that do the same?

I don't care if the working conditions are crap, or the rent expensive. As long as I can work, earn enough money to survive (And maybe around 100-150$/month in pocket money) I am a happy camper.

Please consider that I am -absolutely- leaving within 6-7 months, I will not wait another 3 years to finish my degree before going- so if you were thinking about telling me to wait, don't

Thanks

 

[duff_o_josh]

i left last year when i was 20, i got a job just before i turned 21, it was hard with out a degree but it was worth it, i had a tesol certificate so i think thats how i originally got interviews...maybe...

 

[paradoxbox]

I don't have a TESOL cert though. I have looked into it but I don't think I've got the cash for it, or enough time- I was supposed to be leaving in September but I've already bumped my departure date to December. Won't bump it again.

Thank you for your input though. How did you go about your initial month or two in Japan, where did you stay, how did you find your apartment, etc?

 

[Mike Cash]

Please consider that I am -absolutely- leaving within 6-7 months, I will not wait another 3 years to finish my degree before going- so if you were thinking about telling me to wait, don't

Thanks

Alright, then, I won't tell you to wait.

But I will point out that your impatience means that should you decide you want to stay here beyond the period allowable under a working holiday visa your options are 1) get married or 2) return after finishing your degree.

Also, should you choose to return, you will have the same expenses to deal with to get set up again.

There are definite benefits to waiting....IF....you think you might like to extend your Japan stay beyond that working holiday period.

But I won't tell you to wait.

 

[Windy]

remember you're not limited to english teaching.

 

[duff_o_josh]

unfortunately now ii am in the boat that mike just rowed to us. me and two friend came here together. i found us an apartment in shin-osaka, it was relaly convient to go everywhere in osaka kyoto area. i arrived in japan in october but i didnt get a fulltime job until january but i did have smallﾂ part time jobs. the working holiday foundation in tenmabashi helped a lot...atleast i think it was tenmabashi, haha i dont remember.

 

[paradoxbox]

This is all good info. It is a possibility that I will get married (Have a longtime Japanese girlfriend). It's also a possibility that I will return to Canada. Though I would prefer to get married (Simply because I love my girl) she doesn't feel any particular rush, maybe I've got some salesmanship to do..

I am a qualified cook here in Canada and I've worked at a famous culinary school before, but I've heard from several people that it's difficult for foreigners who are not CHEFS to get jobs at restaurants (I'm able to cook, I'm not a chef, very different words). What kind of jobs other than hard construction labor and English teaching are there?

At this point I'm almost a power seller on EBAY, I run most of my products through a person in the United States though so I don't deal with any actual goods, I just collect the money and deal with the paperwork. What is the legality of this in Japan? It's strictly online on my end, but am I going to have to file with any particular government offices in Japan?

Thanks for all the assistance.

Cory

 

[Windy]

you can always wash Mike's truck.

Then there's bartending. Waiting tables. Wearing big Pikachu costumes and waving at children.

But I don't see what's wrong with continued Ebaying over here. Or starting a new venture. Japan is very entrepreneur friendly. As for filing with any govenrment offices, nobody small league seems to do much of that. Not people here for a year on working holidays, anyway.

 

[Mike Cash]

This is all good info. It is a possibility that I will get married (Have a longtime Japanese girlfriend). It's also a possibility that I will return to Canada. Though I would prefer to get married (Simply because I love my girl) she doesn't feel any particular rush, maybe I've got some salesmanship to do..

Cory

Speaking from personal experience here, let me tell you that the life of a gaijin in Japan minus a college degree is not something I would recommend.

A college degree here is, as far as being a ticket to employment goes, the functional equivalent of a high school diploma back home. That is to say, it is the bare minimum required for practically every job the typical Westerner would both considerable acceptable to themselves and for which they are most likely to be suited and most likely to be hired.

If you have even the slightest idea you might end up living in Japan beyond the typical 3 year max that most foreigners seem to stay, then I cannot strongly enough urge you to have a bachelors degree as a minimum before you embark on this.

 

[budd]

"Please consider that I am -absolutely- leaving within 6-7 months, I will not wait another 3 years to finish my degree before going- so if you were thinking about telling me to wait, don't"

i am thinking about telling not to come back crying afterwards
all the same though, good luck

 

[paradoxbox]

Don't think I'd have reason to come back crying. I've lived on my own from 16, I know what the real world is like.

Thank you all for the information. I'll begin applying at some of the big chain English schools soon, and see how that goes. If that doesn't work out in the short run, I can at least fall back on my ebay income for some period of time while I work a new angle.

Cheers.

 

[budd]

word! do that then
because we already have enough of these
Fighting with host family
again, good luck and make sure to get lots of good info to help other people here

 

[GaijinPunch]

Unless you are quite clever (EVEN if you were I should say) I would take Mike's advice regardless of your intentions of living in Japan. I agree that it doesn't necessarily make you smarter/better prepared, but the rest of the world does...especially Japanese immigration officials.

 

[clive00]

But I don't see what's wrong with continued Ebaying over here. Or starting a new venture. Japan is very entrepreneur friendly.

That makes me wonder, a lot of these Australian ebay sellers sell large quantities of new items (some of it being poor quality counterfiet items shipped China.) Not only is this stuff fake, but they are getting away with not paying and sales tax.

Since they are based in Australia and sell large amounts of new items, I think that they should have to pay tax.

Sure, I have nothing wrong with small scale selling, but some of these people are making a living out of ebay. Why should they be tax free, when the rest of the world has to pay a proportion of our earnings to the state?

 

[Mike Cash]

Unless you are quite clever (EVEN if you were I should say) I would take Mike's advice regardless of your intentions of living in Japan.

The number of people who have ever taken my advice on anything I can count on one hand, with five fingers left over.

I suspect that there may be quite a few who, with the benefit of hindsight, wish they had.

 

[Matadon]

$3000CDN? That's a month's worth of living, and that's if you're frugal (can't rent an apartment without a Gaijin Card, etc.). You don't speak the language, have no degree, and...yeah, you're pretty much screwed. Let us know how the homeless life is!

 

[duff_o_josh]

ﾂ??000cdn can last for a long time in japan if you are not stupid.

 

[duff_o_josh]

i survived on half for three months including accomidations.

 

[Matadon]

i survived on half for three months including accomidations.

? How? The ticket over is going to be a minimum of $500 or so, and I can't see accomidations being less than $20/day (cheapest hostel I could find in Osaka that wasn't a complete ********), with food coming in around the same (let's say $15 for three combini bentos a day and some tea), plus $5 per day on trains. This would work out to $1200/month with no paid-for entertainment, shopping, or 'oops I need a pair of shoes' money.

Seriously -- I want the details. How the hell did you pull that off?

 

[syntax]

u survived on half in 3 months?
now you got my attention ^^

mymy, I am leaving for 14 days in August and I was wondering if
1500 euro was enough for daily living

 

[paradoxbox]

You sound like me!

I think the easiest way to save money is on food. Last year I was needing to save money (And had a low paying job) so I just ate rice with soy sauce & ate vitamins for 2 months. Sure it sucks but I like rice and I saved about 500 dollars. A 7$ bag of rice can stretch more than a month..

Other things like not spending for entertainment (Bring your own) and finding deals for transportation, or knowing people that like to give free stuff away to you (You can sell it on ebay or yahoo auctions japan, just don't tell your friends you're doing that)

By the way staying in a hostel is a no no. Get yourself an apartment before you go in.. At least don't stay in a short term residence more than a week.. It's trouble.

FWIW: I have now secured a very nice apartment (I've seen it, it's modern) with balcony in Osaka about 10 mins from Shikansen station, including utilities and no key deposit.. $600 CDN per month. I make more than double that on ebay alone.. Life is good!

 

[Matadon]

You sound like me!

I think the easiest way to save money is on food. Last year I was needing to save money (And had a low paying job) so I just ate rice with soy sauce & ate vitamins for 2 months. Sure it sucks but I like rice and I saved about 500 dollars. A 7$ bag of rice can stretch more than a month...

Um, that's more than a little unhealthy. Vitamins are no substitute for real food, and you're missing a lot of important amino acids. At the very least, have a real meal (with fish and vegitables) once a week. Even if it's just combini bento, you'll be doing your body a favor.

Other things like not spending for entertainment (Bring your own) and finding deals for transportation, or knowing people that like to give free stuff away to you (You can sell it on ebay or yahoo auctions japan, just don't tell your friends you're doing that)

Smart source of revenue, but not terribly dependable in any way, shape, or form.

FWIW: I have now secured a very nice apartment (I've seen it, it's modern) with balcony in Osaka about 10 mins from Shikansen station, including utilities and no key deposit.. $600 CDN per month. I make more than double that on ebay alone.. Life is good!

Give us an update after your first few months; I'd be interested to hear how things work out.

 

[paradoxbox]

You're right, it ain't healthy to eat like that, but you can survive on it if you need to. I'd say it's probably more healthy than the average flight instructors or college student's diet

Most people think ebay is not dependable as a source of income (I thought it too) but my business has been expanding at a steady 4% per month for the last 5 months which is good. I might look into expanding into Japan (Yahoo Auctions Japan).

RE the ebay taxes thing, this is why I asked the question. I'm not registered for taxes on my company yet as I fall underneath the minimum taxation bracket (Just barely, and if I expand the business more I will need to register my business for taxation). I have no idea where to start if I wind up opening a location in Japan. Do I pay taxes to the Canadian government, or is there an office in Japan that collects money? What about a foreign owned business operating a location in Japan, rather than a business (its own entity) starting up there?

??? Help appreciated on that issue.

I am also looking into a return ticket to Tokyo, unfortunately ticket prices go way up if you want a return ticket with a return date 1 year from the departure date. Anyone here used navitour?

Anyone from Canada know if they will issue you a visa if you buy 2 one way tickets rather than 1 return ticket? It's much cheaper this way through the places I'm shopping at.. Consulate has not been much help as of yet. Still waiting for them to get back to me.