[Nyororin]

The apartment plan sounds fine - if you`re going to be here for 2 years and have a sponsor (you`d have to in order to get a visa for that long), you should have no trouble finding a place to stay.

As for the working bit - I`m pretty sure I`ve mentioned this to you before, but until you can speak Japanese well, pretty much your only option is part time English teaching... However, no matter what you would be doing, you would be limited in hours and you would have to have permission from the school you were attending. The student visa DOES NOT prevent you from working. It only puts large restrictions on your employment (20hrs/wk, requiring permission from the school.)
Also, the degree bit doesn`t make a bit of difference if you have a visa to stay in Japan. Jobs don`t require degrees - visas do. If you have a visa they won`t even ask about your degree.

However, I personally think it would be pretty hard to earn enough to live on while on a student visa.

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Anyway - here is what I think you need to figure out.

You need to pretty much pay in advance for Japanese language schooling in Japan. It isn`t a "pay-as-you-go" sort of deal. If it`s a place where you will be able to get a visa, they almost ALWAYS want the full lump sum for the year in advance... And on top of that, you have to prove you have enough money available to you to survive the length of your stay. If you can`t do that, you won`t be able to get a visa. And nothing will be possible.

If you are able to figure that bit out, I recommend studying Japanese language at a Japanese university that offers it. They generally teach courses in preparation for the JLPT 1 - which is what is required for attending normal classes in Japanese. They also often have programs where you take the Japanese course and can then enroll directly into their normal university after you pass the test. If you are studying in Japan, you should be able to reach fluency within a year.

When it comes to student visas though, it`s all money. Sure, they may officially permit you to work a limited amount on the visa, but they certainly don`t want you to have to in order to survive.