Thinking about moving to Japan?

Question:

Hey im 15 and im thinking about moving to Japan when im about 20, im aware ill need a 4 year working visa so i would need a degree so can i get a degree in college over IT and is it hard to get a degree? Also please could you tell me when i do get a degree how much would a working visa be? (UK not US) I have alot of close friends in Japan too so they could help me find accommodation. Oh im looking to move to Okinawa because i heard that its not as pricey as Tokyo. Yeah so anyway please leave a answer and no this is not because i like anime or any of that s**t and i don't want to see any answers that have been copied from other peoples questions or 'sorry you cant' none of that bull**** i just want to hear this from someone who has accomplished this. Oh and yeah im learning Japanese i have mastered Hiragana and now onto Katakana and i would be taking Japanese as a course in college aswell. Domo arigato.

Answer:

I'll tell you a few things about living and working here:

1) You need a 4 year degree. It doesn't matter what in, but if you're interested in anything outside of teaching English, you must be very, very good at what you do. It's nice that you're planning to come here, but keep in mind that it's very unlikely to be hired by a Japanese company. They don't want to go through the pains of pulling in international workers when there are people perfectly suited to the job here.

2) Visas don't cost money, but you need to be sponsored in order to get a working visa. It is very difficult / impossible to come to Japan to work without having been first hired by a company. I recommend looking into your options while you are in college; if you are interested in working for a company, do your research and work hard in college to make yourself a better prospect.

3) You're aware that Okinawa and Tokyo are not the only places in Japan, right? There are loads of gorgeous, low-cost-of-living cities in the Kansai/Kinki area, and by the time you get there, Northern Japan (Touhou) may well be habitable again. Personally, I recommend against Okinawa because it turns into a sauna in the summer and is swarmed with tourists year round. It's also very difficult to find work in Tokyo or Okinawa unless you apply for a company specifically located in those areas; they're very high-demand places.

4) Keep working on your Japanese - I recommend starting to study kanji as soon as possible. If there's one thing I wish I had studied more of before coming here, it's kanji. Ganbatte!

If you're interested in coming here for college/university, ignore the first two things I said. I don't know much about coming here as a student.