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 Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:01 pm
I appologize if this has been addressed in a sticky, previous post, or a subforum post somewhere, but how would I go about moving to Japan? Seeing as I plan on doing it in the future, after college. I want to know what I need, such as items to bring, things to pack, etc. I know I at least need a passport and visa.
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Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:42 pm
I think you generally need to have a specific job or study program lined up. JET is pretty popular, as are the other English teaching jobs such as AEON, Geos or ECC (Nova, not so much right now), but there are many other jobs and study/research opportunities as well. Generally, once you get that chosen, they'll help you as far as your move is concerned. Some pay for your flight and some don't, and many will make your living arrangements.
As far as generally living there, one thing I do always recommend is that you bring a lot of deodorant and possibly toothpaste and floss (they do have Western toothpaste and floss, but I think it's a bit more expensive there. I hear Japanese toothpaste is vile).
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:41 am
If you're a foreigner, don't make plans to just "hang out" in Japan, since immigration is strict as far as who they let into the country, and obtaining a visa by yourself is generally a painful process with no guarantee of a successful outcome. Coming over through an organization, like the ones that okonomi mentioned is optimal.
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Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:08 am
Ok so for the visa thing it's bloody hard. I got my visa due to going with GAP Activity Projects. I have a volunteer visa for one year only. However when I got the airport me and the others who were on the same project were called into a side office so they could check the validity of our passports. Then when you are there you have to apply to your local city hall for a gaijin card to show that you are a resident.
However on a visa you can't leave the country easily without contacting your local embassy and getting a pass to go out of the country and come back in on the same visa.
Other things you need are mosquito repellents. Paracetamol, lots of deoderant.
The toothpaste here isn't that bad but it tastes like citrus and has these horrible bits in that aren't very nice. I found aquafresh but it is expensive. As your female if you are above a UK size 5, US 6 Or a japanese 25.5 then bring your own shoes. My friend is a UK size 7 and she can't find shoes to fit her. Also they are bloody narrow. Also if you are above a 32 inch waist bring your own trousers and jeans as the japanese women have no hips or curves.
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Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:12 pm
My friends didn't seem to have much trouble getting re-entry permits when they went abroad. It took them like 30 minutes at the consulate, I believe.
I wear size 8.5 American, which means I'm about 24.5 cm in Japan, which is the biggest size you can find in most shoe stores. At some shoe stores and department stores, you can find bigger than that (not sure if they have bigger than 25.5, which I believe is like size 9-9.5), but they tend to be really expensive. But even if I could fit into some of the 24.5, sometimes they were a bit tight since my feat are a bit wide.
(Highight next part for girly stuff)Also, I hear it's good to take your own birth control pills if you use them (and if you have a non-Japanese boyfriend coming with you, condoms) . Some other people recommended bringing your own tampons. Maxi pads there were perfectly fine I found though.
To keep in contact with family, I would definitely recommend getting a microphone and using an internet calling service (like Skype) rather than using pay phones (international pay phones aren't exactly prevalent from what I could tell) or your cell phone (I paid a pretty penny for that).
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Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:00 am
You want to >move< to Japan? That's a bit more complicated than visiting, that's for sure. I don't know the details myself, but I hear that it's difficult to leave the US (although if you're in Europe or somewhere else, it might be different). For US policy sake, I hear that you can only come back for like 2 weeks out of the year or something...I dunno...
I'd definitely go with some kind of job program, like everyone says.
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Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:07 pm
wow eek eek it is that difficult. What if u r rich and u want to go their on a vaction is it still that difficult.
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Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:44 pm
quick question. is it really harder to move out from U.S? I never knew that
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Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 6:25 pm
I don't think that's true. If you try to change citizenships, that's one thing, but I don't think it's that difficult to move outside the U.S. as far as U.S. policy is concerned. You do have to keep up on your taxes though, and I don't know what policies go along with that, but there's definitely no problem coming back to the U.S. to visit.
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Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:02 pm
I lived in Japan for two years, but it was in the marines, so it was no problem for me. But I want to move there soon too. If you learn more, please hit me up.
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:39 pm
i do believe if u plan to move there permanently you have to give up citizenship in your home country. they do not allow split citizenship.
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:58 pm
That would be hard but be better if your specialty is like game development or graphic arts.
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Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:54 pm
cloudfenrir85 i do believe if u plan to move there permanently you have to give up citizenship in your home country. they do not allow split citizenship. They don't allow dual citizenship, but you could live there your entire life without becoming a citizen. Actually, since being born in Japan doesn't make you a Japanese citizen, there are lots of people who are born in Japan and live their whole lives there (and in many cases speak only Japanese and have Japanese names) but aren't Japanese citizens. Some of them don't even know they aren't until they apply for a passport or some such thing.
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Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:33 am
Damn, you're mad lucky if you get to move to Japan
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