Moving to Kyoto without a job... STUPID?
 

Hi Everyone,

Question: I really want to live in Kyoto. A few people have told me to get a work visa here in Canada, and then job search on the ground.

**Most schools dont want to deal with your visa.
**I can be there to see/check the school/conditions/curriculum.

AM I STUPID? Going to Japan without a solid job?

I have 4 years experience in ESL, A TESOL certification, worked in 3 countries, and a 4 year degree.

THANKS!

Joel.

You'll do fine. lots of ppl went there with worst. basically if you have a uni degree it will help your chances to stay there a lot. try being a teacher i'd reccomend, learn the language than achieve ur profession.

To get a work visa, you need a sponsor. To get a sponsor you need a job. Look for work from Canada, and you will be able to go to Japan with job in hand.

Stupid? No. Less than ideal? Yes.

Kyoto is proper is actually not a good place to be looking for a job. JET has control over most contracts with schools, because Kyoto is the cultural center of Japan. In addition, it is a place many people (including yours truly) who already are set up in the area would like to move to.

Jobs are rarer period, even for people with visas and experience, and more people are competing for them.

You would be much better off getting a job near Kyoto, and trying to get there after you have more experience in the area.

I'll note, we're hiring, and we do visa sponsorship. One of my coworkers just got a job working for a university in Osaka, and he will need to be replaced.

Because you have loads of experience working in Japan....

If you do move to Kyoto without a job offer in-hand, be sure to have a lot of money saved up. It'll take a couple of months at least just to get a paycheck even if you find a job immediately after arriving. Also, the move-in costs for Japanese apartments are very high, even a $500-a-month apartment will set you back as much as $2000 to move in. You'll also have to face day-to-day expenses for food and transportation, I wouldn't come to Japan without a job unless I had at least $5000 to see me through.

If you are under 31 you can get the working holiday visa for Japan wich will allow you to live and work in Japan for up to 1 year. Because your employee wouldn´t have to bother with your visa your chances of getting a job might be better than without the visa. After the year you might´ve found someone to sponsor you. Here the link with some infos Working Holiday Visas for Canadians Going to Japan

You´ll need to be max 30 to apply for the visa and you have to enter the country before you turn 32

I would recommend finding a job before you move anywhere, even if it is just to another town in your home country. Just hoping something will land in your lap sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

People, places and things are generally fucked up anywhere you dip your hook.
Saying that, I would suggest that many an oppotunity is to be found in Japan.
I cannot speak for Kyoto, but in Tokyo you would find work.

As pointed out before, you would need a buffer of $2000 just to make sure you can survive 1 month and at least $5000 to make sure you can secure a good base of operations in a big city.

many other options are avilable but each with their own issues.

Sorry to be controversial on my first post, but i think you guys are wrong about the amount the OP would have to save. My wife and I just moved back out here in October, It wasn't until January that she started working. Didn't get her first check till the middle of February. She is Japanese and was only out of the country for 3 years. The only way we survived is that her parents are basically loaded. As well as connected in the community, so I was able to get work at a carrot processing place. I just don't think you could prepare for something like this...

There are ways to do it, but it does indeed mean moving with a fair bit of cash. Knowing what I know now, if I had moved here without a job, I would have needed closer to $10K. As it is, I came with $2K, and I had a job. Waiting for everything to be set up meant that $2K went pretty fast.

The best way to do it, honestly, is to stay with a friend. I have a two bedroom apartment, I have offered to put people up for a little while, as long as they're actively looking for a job, and are helping me out as much as possible with what money they do have. I pay rent regardless of my occupancy, since it is my lease.

But for most people, this just isn't possible. Especially this crowd, which I find is generally 1) underage or 2) undereducated for the positions. Clearly OP is neither. He is an adult, he does have qualifications. I just think Kyoto is a bad choice. Japan in general? Two months, tops, and he could have a decent job somewhere. It just may be in the middle of Farmsville-shi, Rural-ken.

That was our problem, If we were in Tokyo my wife thinks she would have gotten a job faster, but we are in a farming town near Narita. Even though she has worked in exporting so long, nobody wants to hire here because "she would be bored" They come to this conclussion because she scored almost a perfect score on the professional level english exam (TOEIC) she only missed like 5 points on listening. Its actually all worked out because she is starting an english school through ECC and that could be something the OP could look into though I don't think they would sponsor a VISA.

Oh by the way i agree on $10K maybe more but somewhere around there. The only problem is if its too rural transportation is actually necessary.

why dont you come to japan for a one month trip trial to se around. i dont advice to come to japan determined to find a job at any cost. your first trip will help you a lot. as an english teacher you may find a job easily but for other occupations it is not always easy and companies prefer that you:
1.speak japanese
2.have a working experience
3.are ready to work for them fo a long long time
ETC