Question:
Will they need citizenship and can children obtain citizenship with out the language equivalency tests?
Answer:
hello
Could you answer a few questions ...
1 - are your kids half Japanese? (Ie - is your wife japanese?)
2 - Do your kids speak and read Japanese to the level of their peers already?
3 - how old are your kids?
So If your kids are halfus, they will not need citizenship as they are already citizens. If they are not, then they will not need citizenship to live in Japan, but they will need a valid visa to enter and live in the country. You do not need to pass a language proficiency test to get a visa, but you will need it for citizenship, regardless of your age. Citizenship is not available until you have lived in Japan for a fixed time (I Think its after 10 years.)
If your kids are babies, it will be no problem. They can go to Japanese kindergarten and will learn the language naturally like any other bi-lingual babies. And will grow up doing well.
If your kids already speak English (ie are over age 2 or 3) It is going to be an awful lot harder.They will be able to attend public school, but how much they will understand if they have no prior knowledge of Japanese is probably very little.
You will possibly find they are teased or upset because of their skin colour and how little they understand, and that sooner or later you will end up moving them to an international school with kids who can speak their language and make friends with. International schools are very, very expensive however - probably the same per month as an English teacher here makes.
Unless you are going to be a lecturer in English at a university, and can absolutely afford for them to go to an international school if it goes horribly wrong, I would think long and hard about this move. The English teaching industry in Japan is not a cash cow, and you will be seriously uprooting your kids, and it will be very hard.
Just my ¥2 of course :)
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