Trying to work in Japan

4 comments

1. Good luck.

2. Bachelor’s degrees are free in Ireland for Irish citizens. There really isn’t any better way for you to meet immigrations education requirements.

   Ireland has a working holiday agreement with Japan, so you could use that for a year. If all you’re looking for is to get Japan out of your system then that’ll do. But once the year is over that’s it. You’ll have to leave.

3. It isn’t impossible, but it’s very difficult and not having a degree will limit your options. Are you planning on spending more than a year in Japan? If you only want to go for a year, as others have said, the working holiday option may be a way forward. However, even on the working holiday not having a degree may become a barrier to entry for some teaching (or other) jobs. After the working holiday is over, I think you would find yourself back at square one in terms of not having a degree.
   The issue with the visa is that a degree acts as proof that you can do grownup jobs. Otherwise you have to provide evidence of 10+ years experience as proof. https://jobsinjapan.com/working-in-japan/can-i-teach-in-japan-without-a-degree/
   Your degree can be in *anything*, it doesn’t have to be in teaching or English or anything else related. It also doesn’t have to be an ‘academic’ subject, if arts or sports is more your bag there are degrees out there.
   I would highly recommend getting a degree/diploma programme in something tolerable to you, and enjoy the student experience. If you’re interested in Japanese, you could even focus on a Japanese language degree. Some of them offer a built in year abroad. Then once you have your degree you will find it easy to get an English teaching job in Japan.

4. TL:DR – Choose 1:

   – don’t bother at all
   – suck it up and go to uni and get a degree
   – strictly limit working holiday, then be done with it

   Your problem is this:

   Why should any potential employer bother choosing you over an applicant who does have a degree?

   Some will say “working holiday!” but that only lasts a year, why choose somebody who can definitely can’t stay on after a year when you can hire somebody who – at least potentially – could fulfill the position year after year. That said, if you just want a taste of life in Japan there is no reason not to do this.

   IF you are married and can thus work indefinitely on a spouse visa then you could pick up some English teacher work – or indeed any work that is in English and requires no other other qualifications. Gonna hazard a guess that you don’t want to marry some random Japanese girl/woman given you are 20.

   BUT if you did decide to try the marriage route you are setting yourself up for an awful 30’s onwards because you will be the perpetual loser gaijin who can’t do anything other than bottom tier English teaching and eventually your wife will hate you because all of her friends’ husbands have had many salary increases over the last 10 years and you are still earning a pitance.

   “Yeah but I’ll be fluent in Japanese by then!” you may say.
   Maybe you will, but there are plenty of gaijin who reach N4 in their 1st few years and then stay there forever.
   Even if you get to N1, you won’t be able to get any decent jobs because you’ll be competing with Japanese people who are fluent AND have a degree.

   If you are decent looking and don’t mind sucking blokes off for 50 quid a time you could come as a student and then be a sex worker on the side. But you already said that you don’t want to be a student, and I’m guessing the average young Irish guy isn’t keen on sucking off secretly gay Japanese 50 year olds.