Working Holiday Visa from UK (No Japanese Ability)

Heya everyone, I basically just want to outline my situation and circumstances and see what everyone's opinions are on how valid it is for me to apply/actually live in Japan on the working holiday visa. I've been doing a lot of research lately, but I am unsure as to how reasonable it is to think that someone of my skillset (or lack thereof), would be able to make a successful year of living in Japan.

So like most people, I've had a love for Japanese media and culture for many years now. I also have a deep interest in Japanese history. I did my undergraduate degree in History, but in my final year I was able to specialise in post-war Japanese history and eventually completed my dissertation with a study of Sino-Japanese relations. It was a very well recieved piece of work and I graduated with a 1st class BA in History in 2021. I also have very good A Level and GCSE results, although none of them relate to Japan specifically.

In February 2023, I was fortunate enough to stay in Japan for 2 weeks. I absolutely fell in love with the country at that point. I am at some what of a crossroads in my life as I am only doing casual work at the moment, and when I heard of the Japanese working holiday visa I thought it would be an opporunity to return to the country I love so much, but for a longer period of time this time around.

As I say, I don't have any Japanese ability aside from the random words and phrases I've picked up from anime and games over the years. I am certainly willing to learn, but I am well aware that Japanese isn't a language you can pick-up and just learn in an instant.

Basically, I want to know how valid it would be for someone like me to pursue the working holiday visa. My biggest worry is actually finding employment. I feel as though I have little chance to be able to support myself and find a job as I have no Japanese ability currently.

I'm also somewhat skeptical of finding employment as an English teacher as I previously trained and worked as a teacher in the UK, but I found I did not enjoy the workplace or the lifestyle of being a teacher. I'm unsure if teaching in Japan differs much from the UK, but I did not enjoy it when I did it full-time here.

I would really appreciate other people's advice and perspective on this. I want to make an informed decision on whether or not I should pursue this. I don't want to delude myself into thinking I can do it and then arrive in Japan to find that I cant find a job.

Thank you everyone.

by Brimless_

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