Working holiday visa, living.
 

I'm not planning on this soon (I can't, you have to be 18 at least) but I'm planning ahead it in the future.

Being a UK citizen, I can get a working holiday visa for up to a year, or stay in Japan for up to 6 months without a visa. Obviously, having a visa would be much more plausible for a longer stay. Whether it's for working or renting books/ DVDs ect, I think I'll apply for the visa when the time comes.

I'm studying Japanese, and I'm looking for a few questions to be answered.

Job: teaching English would be nice. However, living in Tokyo is just too expensive. I would like to stay in the Kanto region, but somewhere less expensive, eg Atami, or somewhere near by. I'm pretty sure I could eat cheaply, and rent a 1K apartment. I'm pretty good with money.

So what I'm wondering is, if I was to budget carefully and live in a 1K apartment outside Tokyo, could I survive on the wage of a foreign English teacher?

What do you mean by "1K" apartment? Like a one room apartment?

I am assuming they mean the normal definition of 1K in Japanese - Like, 1 room plus kitchen.

MMM, I`m surprised you don`t know the abbreviations. There is 1-room, with just one room (obviously)... Then 1K for 1 room + kitchen, 1DK for one room + large enough kitchen to dine in there too, 1LDK for one bedroom + living dining and kitchen (usually just one big room but occasionally split into LD and K) and so on... I live in a 4LDK, which is 4 bedrooms, living, dining, and kitchen.

To the OP;
I`m curious - why are you limiting yourself to the Kanto area? If you`re worried about having enough money for living, it seems like it would make much more sense to live away from Kanto... If it`s city life you`re after it will be much much cheaper to live in a big city other than Tokyo rather than live kind of near Tokyo and pay tons to commute.

Slightly off the subject, but some people consider being an english teacher in japan a very bad way to be engrossed into the japanese culture because you will likely only talk to fellow teachers.

I'll probably do the same as you for a bit =]

You'd be better off with one bedroom instead of a kitchen.

It's probably easier to cook in the bedroom as oposed to sleeping in the kitchen LOL..

You won't have any difficulty "surviving" on an English teacher's salary. There are many families in Japan that live on less.

Unless the rules have changed, I believe that a working holiday visa is only good for 6 months. The good thing about this type of visa is that you can do pretty much any kind of work (cook, server, bartender), and there is no special paperwork required. On the other hand, these other jobs often pay rather poorly (1000 yen an hour) compared to teaching English (2500 to 3000 yen per hour), so you probably would have a difficult time "surviving".

Most teaching jobs will require a one-year contract, meaning that you might have trouble getting a job as a teacher with a 6 month visa. There are exceptions, another poster said that Interac offered him a 6 month contract, so that might be an option.

As for living near Tokyo, as long as you aren't too close to the city, you might find that living in Japan is not that expensive. I'm not that far from Tokyo myself (I spend my weekends there), but the cost of living where I am now is much less than the area where I lived in America. My gf's 2DK apartment in Tokyo costs about $3000 per month, my 2DK house (brand new) in the countryside runs about $700 a month, and a third of my rent is offset by the housing allowance I receive from my school.

Take your time and research your options before you come. Look for jobs/housing in the Saitama or Chiba areas, which border Tokyo, but are far enough from the metro area to be quiet and inexpensive.

UK working holiday Visa's are 1 year/12 months. Living in Japan as a UK citizen WITHOUT any visa is 6 months.

I never went apartment hunting, so maybe that's why I am unfamiliar. At least where I lived, what was a "1K" apartment was always called a ワン・ルーム・マンション. You learn something new every day.

And to Mystic Light, I was an English teacher for three years and spent almost no other time with non-Japanese teachers, and was very involved in the local and regional Japanese culture. It's not the job that determines your experience, but your personality.

Well, Nyororin says being an English teacher is a bad idea. It would certainly be the easy option, however I don't want to take the job if it prevents me from understanding japanese culture and socializing with the people.

It doesn't have to be near Tokyo, or in the Kanto region, but I would much prefer it. I am not interested in anime, but I do enjoy live music, and I think Tokyo is best for that? I could be wrong though.

Osaka would be just as good without the over crowding that Tokyo offers.

Nothing wrong with English teaching, you just have to enjoy it to do it.

I learnt a lot of Japanese culture whilst teaching in Kyoto, Shiga and Nara.

It's a good region.

My best mate in Japan was British and was originally a teacher trainer for kids at Nova.

Having said all this, I am not in anyway familiar with Tokyo, but I have always taken the advice of Japanese when they say, "Kyoto", "E-na". That means nice:vsign:

Where did Nyororin say that being an English Teacher is a bad idea. Realistically it is one of the only ideas. Easy? I don't know about that. A job is a job, and there are expectations.

However, there is nothing about being an English teacher that would prevent you from immersing yourself into your local Japanese culture. If anything it would give you more access than someone who was working for a Western corporation.

I think maybe they mean in another thread?
I have said numerous times in the past that if it`s your goal to learn Japanese and you want to come to Japan to acquire language and cultural skills... Teaching English is far from an ideal path to do so. Depending on the school, a lot of the smaller English conversation places actually strongly discourage their teachers from socializing with the locals so that there is no chance of them using Japanese in class and so they keep their fresh foreign flavor.

Of course that isn`t the case EVERYWHERE, but even when it isn`t a school policy the environment is usually not one conductive to actually learning Japanese and about Japan. You`re put into a group of people who are well known for being extremely negative toward Japan...

But teaching English is one of the few jobs you can get without Japanese skill... It`s a huge toss up though. I always encourage people who have an interest in Japanese language and culture to head down the language school route.

Living on a teachers pay is easy, even if you are inside Tokyo, if you are a bit carefull. If you dont mind sharing your Shower and kitchen, why not move in a guesthouse (if you stay in the city). I had a very good chance to speak Japanese and interact with Japanese everyday because they lived with me.

I think what people mean with: If you teach you cant get the culture.
Thats about people who go there for the money, dont speak any japanese and always hang out with their fellow teachers in Roppongi.
If you want to, you can experience the culture.

Like somebody said before, you can get other jobs ( i had 2 other jobs) but you will have a very hard time surviving with that money. I lived inside Tokyo and spend around 4500yen a day. That includes food, accomodation and commuting. Here and there some fun or a t-shirt.

i think it may depend on who you teach and what part of the culture you will actually experience.

My main experience learning about the culture was with senior classes of 60's and over..

It was like "hello", NO! - NO! Konnichiwa!

Quite funny really.. That's Kyoto for ya! and a lot of FUN:mtongue:

Where did Nyororin say being an English teacher is a bad idea?

I am not sure why you would think if you are LIVING in Japan and teaching English there would be a barrier to the full experience of LIVING in japan and interacting with Japanese culture.

I am not sure how big or small you think Japan is but live music is a part of every city and town, no matter what size. Not only Tokyo

Nyororin mentioned this in another thread.

As Nyororin said, some schools may discourage people from learning too much Japanese, to keep you as foreign as possible, and to discourage Japanese in the classroom. I have also read this from other places too, so I believe it to be a valid point.

Of course, you're right. Just there happens to be a lot of it in Tokyo, and when I check band's websites, Tokyo seems to be the main place they perform. Though if it really is cheaper, I could always live out of the Kanto region and just patiently wait for tours :3 It's why I'm here, looking for suggestions from people firsthand.

Also, a little off topic here, but I might as well ask.

They say it takes a foreigner 6 months to learn to speak Japanese outside of Japan. After 6 months, would you be fluent, or just good enough to carry a decent conversation?

Right now, I could certainly get by myself in the language. So after 6 months of using the language continuously, I'm trying to get an idea of how fluent I would be.

It appears you want to visit Japan for 1 year because of a band you like? Why even bother to study the language or get a job here? What would be the point? So you can understand the lyrics or read fan magazines in Japanese?

I had written a longer post in reply, but I see it would have been a waste of time. I'm sorry if I'm sounding mean, but help should be offered only it will be taken seriously or be of real use. You are talking about investing a lot of time, money, and traveling to a foreign country and working there for a long period of time because you want to be able to see a band you like?

This is not realistic or remotely sensible, and doesn't merit realistic or sensible advice. Of all the things which Japan has to offer (and there are many), pop culture is the most fleeting superficial; as they say "here today, gone tomorrow". In 5 years you'll have another favorite band; God forbid they sing in Antarctica or Afghanistan... I don't think either country offers a working holiday visa program.

6 months to learn Japanese fluently outside Japan? I would say its more like 6 years.

Erm, I got more the impression that the main aim isn't to see a particular band but that that was an interest he'd like to maintain whilst in Japan? That seems like a reasonable enough request; I know if I did a working holiday in Japan I'd like to have access to cities with art galleries and events :)

Excuse me. I think you have COMPLETELY misunderstood my post.

No. I'm not going to Japan to see 'a band'. I just happen to listen to quite a few, and in general, whenever I check schedules (I have checked about 12) in general it seems to be in Tokyo. Also, when western bands tour, they play in Tokyo, so I am being extremely general. All types of bands, it's just an interest I have. Just becasue I like music doesn't make me an unsensible fangirl.

For the record, I took a japanese language course a while back, and that is where my interest in Japan has developed.

I am traveling to Japan for the people, language and culture. I came here looking for sensible suggestions, and I'm more than willing to live outside of the Kanto region. Please don't jump to conclusions.

No no, I meant inside Japan.

let me just add a bit about renting an apartment in Tokyo.

If you come to Japan with a working holiday and is still not sure if you land on a long-term job maybe you can consider sharehouses first.

If you rent your own place without a company backing you up, it will be a bit costly.

Let say , Leopalace 1K in Central Tokyo ( it is possible that it is much more )

I will post this in yen:

Rent ( average )/month - 50,000- 60,000yen
Deposit ( minimum a month ) - 1 month rent --> refundable
Reikin/Thank you fee - minimum of 1 month rent -> none refundable
agent fee - minimum of 1/2 month of the rent

so for moving in you need to pay at least 4 months of the rent.

another option is to check into sharehouse. lately sharehouse have been popping up in Tokyo . Both foreigners and Japanese are opting for it rather than pay the insanely expensive real-estate fees.

you might want to check into Sakura houses, Villa Saranda and others.