What's wards? Do you mean like small cities all in once place (i.e. Tokyo)?

It has to do with the way Japanese addresses work.
Think of prefectures as states.

The Japanese address goes from largest area, and gradually zooms in to a specific house.

You start with the prefecture. Then (in the case of a large city) the city. Next is the ward - a chunk of the city. Then the neighborhood name. Then the block number. Then the house number.

Addresses don`t use street names (in fact most streets in Japan don`t have a name at all), so the division of areas is important.

It's not that a four-year degree is legally required, it's the fact that all the job positions required to obtain a working visa are jobs that would normally require a four-year degree. The only exception to this is the entertainment visa, however, those aren't exactly easy to get either.

See the following site for more information: Embassy of Japan

Bottom line is that it is possible to get a working visa and work in Japan without a four-year degree, however, the chances of finding such a job are very low, and you'd also likely be underpaid and so on...

My suggestion would be to go for the four-year degree, especially at an institution that offers Japanese classes. If your 2-year degree came from an accredited institution, it may not take the full four years to get a bachelor's.

Does a bachelor degree earned from a community college count as a "degree" when applying for a work visa?

Well, like I said, it's the job itself that will most likely require a degree, not the application for the visa. You actually need to have a job secured prior to getting your visa.

That said, if your bachelor's degree comes from an accredited community college, then you shouldn't have a problem. If you don't know what that is, accreditation is basically an "official" recognition of the academic quality of a school.

If you're from the US, your school would need to be accredited by the following organizations (based on where the school is located) -> Regional accreditation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If your degree comes from somewhere that's isn't accredited, you'll be playing your luck. It depends on whether the employer who is considering to hire you decides to research where your degree came from. A Japanese company might not want to go through the hassle of finding out whether your degree comes from an accredited institution or not.

So basically speaking, if you get a bachelor degree from a community college that is accredited, there shouldn't be any problems applying for a work visa, correct? I mean, everyone keeps saying you need a degree from a "university" to apply for a work visa, yet I don't understand since a community college can basically get you that "degree" as well.

a bachelors is a bachelors. as long as it is from an accredited university, there should be no difference. it is my understanding that most community colleges only provide a certification of completion or an associates degree, though yours may be different.


side question here... was looking at apartments in tokyo earlier today, and i began to wonder, are there laundromats all over the place? does the building usually have one built in? are they open all night? i've lived in las vegas most of my life and i've _really_ gotten used to the fact that everything is open 24 hours here. which reminds me, do bars have last call in japan?

no. the next would be to have a company to hire you. if they are willing to sponsor you then whether you came from a university or community college won't matter. The company will be the one to apply for you COE ( Certificate of Employment ) , once you have that, then you can go an apply for you visa.

If you are a fresh graduate in a foreign country and you want to apply directly to a japanese company without any experience, you chance of getting hired is very slim. Japan will always prioritize its local fresh graduate.

If you are a foreign worker, you have to have a very good employment background. Working experience is first basis. Most of the people I know, either graduated in a Japanese university and then where offered/accepted a job, or have 3-5 working experience before coming to Japan. Then there is the Japanese skill. :vsign: :D

Ah, so basically a "degree" has nothing to do with applying for a work visa, only relatively. Its just that companies are always seeking out employees that have a degree, right? Also, what do you mean by "fresh graduate from a foreign country", do you mean a college graduate student? If so, that shouldn't matter in the least if you have the necessary experience in that particular working field or area. I'm going to assume you mean speaking Nihongo when you say "Japanese skill." Lol.

I don't think community colleges have a bachelor degree program. I spent two years at a community college to complete my general education classes and transferred to a university in order to work towards my bachelor's degree. You'll have to go into a 4-year college or university to get a bachelor's degree.