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Originally Posted by johnnyboydave
Oh wow, so you mean I could apply to be a foreign language teacher without having taken courses or getting any sort of certifcation? #3 is pretty encouraging. That's really good news. You said you're a Japanese major. What do you mean by this? Do you mean you appear to be Japanese or of Japanese descent? I'm sure no doubt it helps but what if you don't? How accepting are the neighborhoods to gaijins eager to adapt to the Japanese lifestyle?
#4 was exactly what I was expecting. This brings me to what I wanted to ask should you have given me that answer. What kind of work is widely available to gaijins in Japan? What kind of degrees are going to help a gajin in Japan?
Once again, thanks a bunch for the responses.
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All they care about is that you are a native English speaker and have a 4-year-degree. (Of course, there is an interview process, and they are looking for people that seem flexible enough and interested in Japan enough to live there...)
As a "Japanese major" I took four years of Japanese language study, as well as studied Japanese art, history, culture, and literature. I am in no way a Japanese citizen. It doesn't help to be Japanse, either. It probably hurts.
Of course every place is different, but I could tell you a thousand positive stories (and a dozen negative stories) about the neighborhood. I was in a (relatively) small industrial city between Osaka and Kobe with very few (caucasian) foreigners living there. I wasn't treated like a prince or anything, but I think the neighborhood was happy I was there... gave the place a little more cosmopolitan feel. The only setback was since I stuck out like a sore thumb, everyone knew what I was up to. "Oh, I heard you went and had yaki-niku last night at such and such last night." That's no big deal, though, and it shows that they care.
Legit work available to gaijins is foreign language teacher. Other legit work will be from an American company with an office in Japan, or a Japanese company with foriegn office (of which Nintendo is one). But getting transferred to Japan in a one-in-a-million. The dream of being a game designer is probably best lived-out here (at least right now. In five years, who knows? Five years ago the Japanese and American markets couldn't have been any more different, but the interests are starting to get closer again.)