You can say it's a bad idea, a waist of time or anything, you can even keep talking about how hard it is to live in japan but what you say will not change the fact that foreginer's will go to japan with a dream to live their and adapt you may say the samething over and over that they need to graduate from college if they want to live their, but they dont have to it's possible to do anything you set your mind to thought plans might not go as expected but that's the reason why this is called life people may fall if they do the opposite of what you say but it's a lesson learned time is the greatest teacher and expereiance is the greates substitute teacher if they wan't to try and live in japan let them go ahead before all you need to get in japan or any distant country was a boat now you need passports green card's etc. How will any body live their life to the fullest if they don't do anything of course I want to live in Japan that's why im going for it rember this it's better to alway's say I did instead of I should have.

Wow, having to read this hurt my eyes. By the way, its "There" not "Their". To correct you, even if I set my mind to grow wings on my back, that will not happen.

I think you deeply misunderstood the objective of this thread. We are not trying to discourage people, in fact, we are trying to encourage them, encourage them to DO IT RIGHT. "To get the job done right, you need the proper tool", thats the message that we are trying to convey, the college degree is "THE TOOL" in this case.

Think about this, you can either get a degree, and strengthen your chances of getting there "SOONER" so you can start making a living and live life.

Or, forget about a degree, try all kind of things, keep trying, keep waiting. Your choice

Being encouraging is one thing, but promoting a false personal belief is another. Many who made a comment here have first hand experience concerning this issue. Some in particular, know the system well enough to rewrite the residency rule, and they are voicing out the need of a degree, I would like to belief that they are probably more accurate

Of course, you may just be writing this in hope to find supporters who will tell you that you don't need a dgree, since thats what you are aiming for....

Never was the intention to squash anyone's dreams. This thread is to help make those dreams come true. The idea is to prepare people and get their dreams on the road.

Time and experience are both great teachers for life. But life doesn't give out work visas, the Japanese government does.

Reporting in on a good post, there have been some lulz.

Would people at least come to Japan before saying they want to give up their US citizenship/fight for the emporer/etc :mtongue:

now i'm indonesia... i want live and school in japan ... T_T

sry if this question is mentioned befor but i don´t have the time to read the whole thread :o :(
Should I also study first in germany with all the fincancial support I get (it´s a credit I don´t have to pay back fully^^) and move to japan afterwards, or should I move befor it to japan to study there? (i don´t know what college in the usa would be in germany so xD) Cause it´s somehow easier to find friends in school I think and it´s not really funny to sit in japan somehow alone^^

agreed
 

I completely agree 110%! Japan is an expensive place to live, and working at a fast food restaurant just wont cut it.

I will probably say repeated phrases!:) Just like (wolf) said, I admit too my dream of going to Japan started with mere anime and video games. I even made myself a loser because of that! I gave up on college and stayed at home for one whole year out of frustration. Then having plenty of time to think, I realized I was just making my dreams harder to achieve. Forcing myself, I went back on the path of education once again. To say the truth, I'm proud of myself. The same loser today is a 2nd year student (21yrs) in the IT field along with other certifications. But I gave up on that dream I had during younger days for some personal reasons.:o Though I won't deny fact I would have been happy if my dream came true...Well, never mind maybe next lifetime!:) I am not saying you guys should do the same thing. I believe you should listen to MMM's advice...Good luck guys...I could not be there...Hope you guys can...:)

Well I am gradutioned high school of May 2008 It's my choice not need go to college it's my life. I will work and save money try my best work hard time wait move to Japan and hope stay with my friend (in Japan) for my dog and I like as roommate/friend like as family..I'll study more Japanese language I still need for JSL (Japanese Sign Languages) and try my best for them I think i need wait for few years then moving in Japan.

The fact that society takes more importance in a piece of paper rather than actual work skills irritates me.

Eventually there's gonna have to be a reform on that. Paper can say only so much, and sometimes the diploma just might be faked. Phony. So what if you came upon the decision of hiring a guy with a grand college diploma.

More on that, he has very little skill in the medical field. Then, you have a guy who's really studied up on his med training and all that, but hasn't gone to college.

Based on what you've said, the guy with the diploma will be hired, and the guy with actual skill will be rejected. That's risking people's lives.

All of this diploma and college crap is overrated. WAY overrated. I think it's more important to actually test people on what they can do, not just give them the job based on what a diploma says.

I'm not flaming. Just venting on how everyone emphasizes on college and diplomas too much instead of actually going for people with skills. I'm not saying that all people with diplomas are faking it, having no skills: some do, but not all, I know.

actually lots of japanese will opt to get a part-time job rather than 9-5 job and they do get more than enough salary to support their lifestyle, and they get to choose their own time..

unfortunately, i rarely see foreigners working in this establishment, and the main reason is the language

this probably have been repeated here thousand of times , but don't you think you should first try and see what kind of a country you are trying to move into?

if you are still a student, there are "exchange programs" that you could join for a specific amount time, not necessarily move in, just to get a taste of the life here.

just take a look at "Nyororin's thread" and get some tips from there on to do it...

For someone with writer's block you seem to have been pretty busy today.

The importance is not the piece of paper, but what the paper represents. I have never had to show my diploma when applying for a job, but it isn't uncommon for employers to contact Universities to confirm graduation. It isn't likely a faker would make it through.

That being said, I understand your point. Just like graduating from college, graduating from high school is a rite of passage that opens doors for your future.

It's like saying "having a driver's license is over-rated." No one is making you do it, I am just saying your opportunities increase 10-fold, 100-fold, 1000-fold if you have it.

You don't have to like my first post, but it is the truth. If you want to live and work in Japan, the easiest door-opener is going to be a college degree. I wouldn't expect a reform on this any time soon.

That's if their lifestyle is convenience store bentos and rarely setting foot outside.

If their part-time job is working as a hostess in snack bar, maybe she can live on a part-time job, but your typical fast food worker lives at home and lives a hardly lavish lifestyle.

And why would a fast-food restaurant hire a foreigner. The legal red-tape HARDLY makes it worth it.

im not doing college, but im doing a 4 yr apprenticeship, (trade) to be a qualified renderer.

but i guess that wouldnt be enough to get a job in japan?

Without a degree you need either 5 or 10 years hard experience in the field you are entering to get a foot in the door.

This is what I usually do when I'm have writer's block. I just surf the net and talk to people. Listen to music.

But still, this is bull. What if you're homeschooled or something? What if you just learn more at home or some other place outside of school? What then?

There's some things society needs to change for, mainly this "Oh, you've gone to Harvard. Welcome to the business" crap. What if somebody cheats all through college and it isn't noticed?

I can probably keep going on with this all day.

hmm i see.

here in aus, we also have TAFE

if i complete a tafe course aswell, would that help?
the more skills you have, the better chance on getting hired?

Homeschooled people go to college all the time.

I am going to take a wild guess and assume you have never been enrolled in college. No one "cheats all through and isn't noticed". You have to major in something and focus on something. There is no way to cheat your way to graduation...at least no way that is easier than actually just studying.

Graduating college proves you can accomplish something. Yes, graduating from Harvard opens up many doors. But the reason is graduating from Harvard is pretty hard. It is silly to think you could cheat your way through college then last more than a month in a real job.

I'm a sophomore. I'm fifteen years old, so of course not.

Yeah, but you can simply find someone who's taking the same courses as you, and "study" with them. Then, you can just get the diploma and there we go with the stereotyping of intelligence and skill.

I just can't stand this diploma crap. You don't have to go to college just to show that you can accomplish something.

Another example of stereotyping, this is.

I am not familiar with TAFE...and it might depend on what field you are entering.

DSX, I wish I could tell you life gets more and more fair the older you get. In fact the opposite is true.

So what if you want to become a novelist/author? You gotta go to college for that too? It's basically being your own boss, so I don't see why you'd have to go other than just getting more knowledge in the writing field.

I've been through enough in life to have realized that VERY early. This fact I've known for years, because things only got harder on me.

But still my point stands. Society needs to make these changes or at least even things out so its fair for everyone.

Maybe something like you get more pay for a job if you've gone to college. People who didn't go can still get the job as long as they show their experience.

People don't hire novelists or authors. They sell what they write.

Famous people with special skills can get special visas. That's how foreign pro baseball players and soccer players can live there. If George Lucas said he wanted to buy a summer home in Japan, I am sure the government would make sure that could happen.

So if you were a famous author, you could apply for a special visa.

Just like graduating high school, graduating college proves you can do something. This will never change. It's like the person earlier today who had a 200 word vocabulary in Japanese, and wanted to be able to understand movies. It doesn't work like that. You have to put in the time, energy, and money, and then get the rewards. There is no lottery in life.

And that's what I want.

But the fact that I have to wait until I get a degree to go to Japan just angers me. Going there would crucial to most of my stories, because as I've said before, most of them take place in Japan.

That, and I'm writing now and would like to go. All the more to help me in learning the culture and language. The only words I know are konichiwa, arigato, and just names I have for my characters in the stories.

For life in the stories so far, I'm going off what I see in movies, read off wikipedia, and read on here as well as other things on the Japanese life.

But having to wait until after college? I'll probably be like twenty something, and I'm not a very patient person with things I really wanna do.

Which makes it bullsh**, flatout.

You can go at any time as a tourist for up to 90 days.

Why achieving a difficult accomplishment is BS is beyond me. All I do know is no one regrets graduating from college, but plenty of people regret not graduating.

For how much? Do you have to find your home and all that?

forgot to point out that most of them have 2-3 part-time jobs :D

also i don't think working in fast-food chain would qualify for a working visa :cool:

I'm not saying that achieving a difficult accomplishment was BS. It's just the overrating on all this stuff. If you worked hard through college to get that "rewarding" diploma, good for you.

But what about the rest of us? What if we can't even afford college? We can still work in big time businesses with the smarts. Just give us a test. Give us a chance to prove ourselves.

Just because you didn't graduate college doesn't mean you're a worthless little turd who can't do anything right in big time workforce.

Sadly, that's pretty much exactly what it means in Japan.

I just happen to be from Milwaukee, myself. There's two universities there that teach Japanese, and there's also a top-knotch Japanese program in Madison. If you really want to live in Japan, apply for federal aid (you can get enough to go to a state school easily), learn some Japanese, and graduate. If you do well during your first couple years of university, it's also pretty damn easy to get a scholarship to study in Japan for a year - now wouldn't that be nice?

I never said or would say that people that haven't graduated from college are worthless turds. I am just saying graduating opens doors...like being able to work in a foreign country.

2-3 part time jobs is probably more work than a 9-5....and no, you would never qualify for a work visa...unless you were playing Donald McDonald or The Colonel for a promotion.

They base it just off of that? Ugh, this pisses me off. I know that foul language isn't really liked with the rules on here, but I just have to say:

THAT IS BULLS***.

I can't stand it when people base your intelligence off of schoolwork. Society is too damn shallow.

Fine. If it comes down to it, I'll FORCE those friggin' doors open. You won't be able to keep me down, and I'll shove back when it comes down to it.

Welcome to reality. What else would it be based off of? Give you a test? Guess what. They have tests. I have taken plenty. But it was the graduating that got my foot in the door.

That is the perfect attitude for a lavish and luxurious career in Japan that will last about a week to 10 days.