[tommasi]

Unfortunately, nursing in Japan is not open to foreign labor yet. Many hospitals are understaffed and some of them are desperate to bring in nurses from Southeast Asia but who knows how long that would take. So don't rely on it.

Another thing to keep in mind is that professions like pharmacists and nurses do not make much in Japan in comparison those working in the US.

I think your best chance at this point is to teach English in Japan and if you want to do that, I would recommend you to get a bachelor's degree in the US first.

However, there would be more practical degrees if your focus is to get a job in Japan and stay there for long term. Business or engineering would be good one but you should do more research as well. Some research scientists get to work at labs in Japanese Univ. and companies so that field might be good one as well.

For Japanese programs in the Southern US, most of major universities offer Japanese courses so maybe you should pick a city where you want to study. Why don't you check out Univ. of Texas? I believe it has the largest population of international students in the region.

Good luck!!