Hey, I’ve tried to look for some answers online before asking here but I can’t really get the answer I’m looking for.
I’m planning on going on a language course in Japan for around 3 months (some courses are for 20 weeks). I’m looking for some information regarding living expenses and what immigration would look for.
Firstly, I know a 3 month ~ course might not be the wisest idea. However, I’ve long had this goal of finishing my degree and then looking for an opportunity to teach English there. I’ve visited before, for 3 weeks, and had a nice time, but it was a vacation so it’s not exactly a good representation of life in Japan.
How much would you say I’d need for a 3 ~ month stay? I understand lifestyle choices vary person to person, so an exact figure isn’t really in the question here.
I’m planning to stay in the outskirts of Tokyo, commuting to the class via the trainline. I’ve covered the phone cost, but I’m curious about little things that add up which I should be aware of before going.
Sorry for the long-ish rant, just really need to get this out here as I don’t have anybody to ask in the country I live in.
7 comments
First, if you want to stay outside Tokyo, you need to be able to speak Japanese, because there are few Japanese people outside Tokyo can speak English. Unless you choose some places like Osaka or Kyoto.
As for the question about is it 3 months enough to taste life in Japan, I think it’s not enough, unless you have some Japanese friends being with you every day showing how everything feels like in Japan. I mean real friends, not teachers or staffs.
It may cost JPY 300K-500K for 3 months in Japan I think, including residence traffic and food. Rent for 1 room is about JPY 70K/month on average, hotels cost more. One meal may cost about JPY 1000 or more.
Living frugally, I’d save 600,000 JPY (around 6K USD)
Living your best life, the sky’s the limit.
You CAN get by with less, but it won’t be much fun. More will just give you plenty to do a bit of tourism and shopping while you’re there. You’ll need to be sure you can cover rent, phone, transportation, gifts or sudden expenses, etc.
First off, if the term is three months , it sounds like the school is relying on people to have a tourist visa to attend, and those aren’t being issued right now. Look into that.
Living expenses: share houses are fairly cheap at around 40k per month, transportation varies but you should look at commuter passes, I’d say 20k per month. Everyone thinks food is so expensive in Japan , but it isn’t. Even if you eat out for lunch and supper you can do it for ¥500 a pop easy. The person who said 600k is about right, but you can get by with 400k.
Japanese ability : there are people who have lived here for twenty years and still can’t order hot coffee in Japanese. The out skirts of Tokyo are still major metropolitan areas, English language options are ubiquitous
>However, I’ve long had this goal of finishing my degree and then looking for an opportunity to teach English there.
I don’t see how a language school fits into this plan. If you’ve finished your degree you can apply for JET or other ALT companies from abroad and get sponsored for a work visa straight away. Are you talking about a 3 month vacation before you finish your degree?
3 months at language school means tourist visa, which can’t be changed to anything else while in Japan. So any potential employment you find will still have to go through the initial visa sponsorship process.
The larger operations actually make it more difficult to apply domestically. They want fresh meat for the grinder.
>How much would you say I’d need for a 3 ~ month stay?
You could rent a room at a guesthouse for 40,000 or 50,000 a month and cook most of your breakfast/dinners. Plan around 800yen for lunch (cheaper if you buy bentos, more if you go sit down in a restaurant). Someone mentioned 200k monthly which seems pretty reasonable. You can come in under if you’re careful and you could blow it out of the water if you’re not. It’s a good middle ground.
“I’ve long had this goal of finishing my degree and then looking for an opportunity to teach English there.”
So… **finish your degree and then look for an opportunity to teach English here.**
Living in Japan on a travel visa for three months and going to a Japanese school every day to study the language isn’t going to prepare you for “real life” in Japan. Do your time, get your degree, save up enough so you can leave if it’s not for you, and then come here to “teach.”
Hey, just wanna say thank you to everybody who commented on this thread. You’ve all been a great help and have provided me with some real good information that I was looking for.
I’m absolutely going to re-evaluate my plan. I still want to go, but there’s a lot of factors in play that you’ve all helped me with which will shape my decision for the better. Going to hold off for now, u/Mindaroth & u/Mr_Inaka have been really helpful, so thank you for taking the time to reply to my concerns and queries.