Moving to Japan...a good idea?

Question:

I've wanted to live in Japan since I was 12, I'm almost 16 now and I still want to move there. I am learning Japanese right now actually on Rosetta Stone learning it right now. Anyways if I did move to Japan I was thinking to be an english teacher because I heard that it pays a lot of money. I have done a lot of research over a few years and though everything I read I still want to move there once I'm 19-20. I am planning on going to collage just for basic classes before I move there.

So would it be a good idea? Has there been a lot of americans move there and actually be successful?

Answer:

You need a BA / BS degree to qualify for a work visa. Plus a job offer before you get there. There is a lot of competition, so it's not as easy as it once was to get a job teaching English.
The job averages about 250,000 yen a month, and it's been there for years. Some schools pay more, some less. The more skills you have,the better chance you have a being hired.
Knowing Japanese won't help you get hired, as most schools don't want to have Japanese spoken in the classroom.
Many people are successful. And many get burned out after only a year or two and quit. They get homesick, or saying " this is a pen " a million times. I know three people in Japan who teach English.
An American man who is sick of it, and two Japanese women who just see it as a job.