Hello! I’m looking to move back to Japan next year and really want to spend 1-2 years at a language school to improve my Japanese before I start working again.

I’m really interested in living in Kansai (preferably Kobe/Kyoto or possibly Osaka). Kobe doesn’t seem to have a ton of options and I’m overwhelmed by the amount of negative reviews I’m seeing online for most schools… I also was looking into studying at universities that offered intensive Japanese programs, but all of the universities I’ve seen recommended now require you to be a current student at one of their overseas partner universities. I’m in my late 20s so that’s not an option unfortunately.

If you’ve studied abroad or have heard about someone’s experience at any of these locations I’d love to hear about it!

Kyoto:

ARC Kyoto
- Seems to have higher ratings from previous students than ISI kyoto did
-I like that they use the 'minna no nihongo' textbooks
-Worried it might not be intense enough? I want to make huge improvements in a year and want a school that will push me. 

ISI Kyoto 
-Was my #1 choice, but then I saw so many bad reviews
-Has a really beautiful campus
-It seems like this school might be a little more intense than ARC kyoto, which I like

KCIS 
-Seems like an amazing choice and seems to be really well rated from previous students
-I am serious about my language learning and want to spend this year REALLY improving my Japanese
Kanji is my biggest weakness and my Kanji level is extremely low. I'm afraid this is going to make this school too challenging for me and I will fall behind immediately...
- I love the campus and that it offers extracurricular classes I'm very interested in 

Kyoto Minsai
-Saw some really good reviews from students
-Seems smaller? Not a lot of info online

Kobe:

Communica Institute
Seems nice from the outside, but a friend had warned me to not go here
Many bad reviews from students, it seems like their textbook system is pretty disorganized

Kobe: interculture Language Academy
-pros: uses Mina no Nihongo textbooks
-limited reviews, some students saying they wished they’d chosen Communica Institute

Osaka:

Human Academy Osaka
Mixed reviews, seems more good than bad though
Osaka is not my dream location but it could grow on me

Does anyone have any information about how I can move to Japan by taking language courses? How much does it cost, and how long does that take? Also, is it possible to stay in Japan afterward by finding a job or continuing my education there?

Hello everyone! This is a bit of a long story, so sorry.

I'm from south america but lived in the UK for 6 years, just finishing my A-Levels on June with A*AB on humanity-related subjects. Due to visa issues, I am unable to go to uni in the UK despite having a deferred offer from King's College. Because of this, I'm looking at other countries; I have already looked into Europe, however I'm also looking into Asia. My original plan was to apply to a Chinese university and do an english-taught degree whilst focusing on learning the language, since my ultimate goal all along was to do a humanities degree and then in the UK do a PGDL, SQE and practice there. I figured that if I got an undergraduate degree and managed to learn Chinese on top of it then it'd be great. However, the CSCA has made this difficult since most unis require it and I haven't done any maths at all in like 3 years. I still applied to XJTLU since it gives me a degree from Liverpool but I'm still undecided.

This made me look into Japan, since I figured it'd still be great to learn Japanese since I've always had an interest in it, and try to look at all this in a rejection is redirection type of thing. For now I'm planning on applying to Waseda and Sophia university.

What I am wondering is:

1. Will getting an undergraduate degree from one of these universities and then attempting to do the PGDL in the UK put me into a disadvantage compared to other international candidates?

2. Will I just be better off doing an undergraduate degree in Europe (Uni of Amsterdam) or are they naturally the same, (same opportunities of doing a PGDL as long as I do well?)

3. Whats the structure of the uni in terms of difficulty, professors, and tests?

I guess those are my questions for now, I've done tons of research, but any advice offered is very very welcome. Also I don't know if this is the right sub-reddit for this so if it's wrong feel free to say so.

Hi all,

I've lived in Japan on and off for the past 11 years, passed the N2 a few years ago and am now prepping for the N1, and am currently a junior associate at a big law firm in the US. I will be gaiben eligible pretty soon. I have experience working in a Japanese-only workplace and could communicate fine, but haven't done legal work in Japanese yet outside of reading cases and contracts in Japanese for law school assignments.

If any transactional attorneys are on here I would love to hear about what current job aspects are like and how busy you are with M&A and/or funds work. I have experience in funds, secondaries, and M&A. I heard M&A has been really growing there, but given the state of the world wanted to hear from current transactional attorneys about whether there is a lot of work and U.S.-based big law offices are hiring, and if so whether they are currently looking for mainly Japanese attorneys who are fluent in English or would someone like me would be a potential candidate, especially if I pass the N1 before moving out there?

Thank you for your time!

Edit: I'll also have the CA bar and can currently waive into NY or any other UBE state.

Hi, I’m currently in the process of applying to both language schools.

I still can’t decide to which one I should apply, both meet some of my requirements (at least of what the staff told me), to have a balanced nationality ratio, 15-20 size classes and the age ratio is both 20’s to 30’s (again of what they told me).

They are both fairly priced compared to other schools so that’s also a tie.

The location, Yoshida is (at least for my taste) better located, it’s still in waseda, in a walkable distance to the center of Shinjuku, Arts is near idabashi which is nearer to chiyoda than to Shinjuku itself.

Still I would not like to take a decision merely because of the location of x or y.

Reviews on Google in my opinion are bit tricky because most of positive experiences don’t get to be told, mostly are only the negatives, still both of them have almost identical rate, 4.1 (53) vs 4.5 (65)

At least of what I have investigated, they both seem to very similar that’s why:

I would like to ask if there ir anybody who had attended to any of these, your real experience would help me a lot.

Thank you very much in advance.

I know it depends on the university but most of the japanese courses I am looking into require you to take the entrance exam on Japan. Can you guys share me any universities with an engineering/science program that doesn't require a physical entrance exam test?

Hey there, I’m 30F from Canada who has been researching and wanting to go to Japan next year with a Working Holiday Visa. My plan is to stay in different places like Tokyo for a month, Aomori, Hakodate, Sapporo, Mt Fuji for a few days, Osaka, Yamagata, Kyoto for a few weeks, Nagoya for a month, Fukuoka for a month where I work and travel, to name a few places I’d like to visit and experience. I want to mix in slow travels too - to enjoy and experience more too.

I read that as a WHV holder, you need to register in the ward you’re staying in within the first 14 days of your arrival to get your Zairyu card, which triggers government mail. But I plan on starting my trip by staying at a hotel and then transitioning to a hostel to work at in Tokyo—and ward offices require a permanent residence address for that registration, not a transient hotel or hostel.

I don’t want to pay for a room in a share house in a city I won’t be in 98% of my trip. It’s a hefty, added expense, and I don't want to double the cost of transit just to return to a "home base." I technically wouldn’t even be able to access the physical government letters because I want to travel all around Japan on a geographical route that makes sense without having to double back. I don't plan on using a share house because I want to travel and work at places with accommodations provided, stay at hostels, or stay at hotels. I've already found some places to work at, but don't want to apply until I submit and get visa approval.

For those who have travelled more nomadically and worked while travelling in Japan on a Working Holiday Visa: How did you navigate this?

Ps. I'm not trying to break laws, but I also don't want to be stuck in one place. Will I realistically have to rent a formal place, de-register and re-register at local ward offices every single month, or slow down my travels entirely? There's so many beautiful places to explore in Japan 🥺

Let me preface by saying that I'm a Dentist in my home country. Bachelor's in Dental surgery. Graduated in 2021 and still havent been able to secure a job meanwhile Japan has always been a place I really love, Stemming from my love for their media (anime,manga) and their rich traditional values. I even admire the Japanese work ethic and I think that country is suitable for a introverted person like me.

Now the problem is that to practice Dentistry in Japan, I would need to pass their Dental licensing exam (which isnt the hard part). The hard part is that it is conducted entirely in Japanese and atleast Jlpt 1. I have studied some Japanese here and there but I guess I can only pass Jlpt 5 right now. The thing is, First learning the language and then passing the exam will take me years and right now I'm 27. So I'm seriously considering another option that is to use my Dentistry degree to secure a basic english or minimal Japanese speaking job so I can atleast get a work visa.

After that, Once I'm in japan, I can look for part time Dental assistant jobs where I'm eligible without a license and steadily and gradually learn Japanese little by little and eventually pass the exam.

My main motive for going there is because I come from a third world country and there's no future for Dentistry here unless you own a private practice (But thats not affordable for me).

I'd like advice on people who moved to Japan via some English teaching jobs or ALTs and did they pursue some other career there after working for a while.

A part of me wants to just lock in and learn Japanese but even Jlpt1 isnt enough for the exam, Its just a requirement, the real challenge is learning almost native level japanese (writing) and being able to understand the complex medical terminologies aswell.

I'd like advice from people from my country or others too. I'm in a standstill, I have the option of US, UK but their fees is abysmal. Japan's fees isnt that much but the hurdle is the language requirement. I completed my Bachelor's in english totally.

My goal is to ultimately live self sufficiently in Japan.

Thank you for reading!

Hi Everyone,

My partner and I are moving to Japan for the winter and are really interested in buying a car. We have had friends do it previously and the ease of having one seems like it is very much worth it. In saying that, I am really confused with the registering of the car and all of those processes that come with it.

We are looking at buying the car in Tokyo as we are going to have excess luggage we aren't to keen to take on the train with us. Our original plan was to purchase a guy, drive around Japan for 2-3 weeks before arriving in Hakuba where our residency will be. From everything I have read, it seems like you need to register the car within 14 days of the transfer of keys, and you cannot register it without having your residency set which we cannot do for about a month after we land. So is it possible for us to purchase a car in Tokyo, drive that car around for say 3 weeks. Then arrive in Hakuba, set our residency and then register the car in our names there.

Any tips with this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I'm well-aware this is a bit of a needle in a haystack situation, but I've got a great job opportunity that will require my wife and I and our 2 cats to relocate to Osaka if I accept, but I really don't know where to begin in terms of finding an apartment that will accommodate our 2 cats.

I've reached out to Wagaya for both a property search and for various individual properties on the site and never heard anything back. I reached out to 2 other companies as well (Best Estate and Maido Estate) and both just left me on read.

I knew finding an apartment that fits this specification would be challenging, but I didn't expect to simply never hear anything from all of the companies I normally see mentioned in this sub.

Does anyone have any recommendations on where I could go next? I'm starting to wonder if this simply isn't possible.

I'm not really picky about location or size either, a this point I'll take whatever allows the 2 cats. I just don't know where to find it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm considering moving to Japan. Not decided yet, just looking up information and educating myself to see possible options and mostly out of curiosity.

I investigated a bit and I'm still unable to find the information I need regarding my studies. I am from Spain, finished highschool and studied what's called here a 'professional formartion': two years of a technical/professional formation + another 2 years of an advanced professional formation. Including internship in two different companies, which is required here to be able to obtain the title. Both related to the audiovisual industry. From what I understand this education is not officially recognized in either the US and Japan? Please correct me if i'm wrong. I have also been working as a video editor, graphic designer and illustrator for almost 2 years now.

So what I'm wondering is if my education and professional experience would have any value there. If I would have any future in this industry. If getting a university degree in Japan would give me more chances or it wouldn't really make a difference.

And yes I am also learning japanese.

Hello. I need help with some clarification. Last month, I sent the Mizuho’s 取引明細証明書 of one year duration to my brother’s language school application. But now the school is asking me again for 入出金明細 for one year. I asked the bank and they said it is the same and they only give the history in that format. I am stuck as I cannot also view online for one year worth of transaction history as the website only shows me for last three months. Do I need to explain it to the school? I am confused as the school did not also give me a reason for this.

I don’t have a japanese bank account yet. And I am currently in my home country (waiting for visa to get processed).

I heard Western Union is super expensive. And there is something called Wise I saw.

which services do you guys recommend?

Hello everyone, I am looking to study at a language school in Japan and initially tried to apply through gogonihon, but thry never got back to me. Therefore, I looked into other options and came across Coto School Finder, but I can barely find any information on them online. Does anyone have any experience with them? Are they legit? Please let me know and thank you very much :3

I work fulltime as a freelance video editor, and am planning on moving to Japan within the next ~5 or so years (so I can learn enough of the language to feel comfortable moving/continuing my education). Would I qualify for the artist visa, as my work could reasonably be considered "artistic creation activities that earn income or have commercial value"?

Additionally, how reasonable would it be to retain my current clientele in the US and work from Japan?

I have checked all the comments from users i could find but almost all of them were students and remaining already had some sort of address.

I will have Seishain position but don't want to register a temp address for residence card + nenkin and hoken + mynumber just to change it all again 1 month later, is there really no way of long term renting without registering a short term address from an airbnb/share house first?

And if there is no way out of this first step, is it possible to only register address for zairyuu card but not start the process for nenkin, hoken and mynumber until moving to a permanent place so that at least i won't have to submit address change for them?

I am looking to come to Japan with a Working Holiday Visa soon. I'm 19 years old, Italian, I have no paid work experience, and I know Italian, English and Spanish. I am starting to study Japanese.
From what I know, you are able to work full time on a WHV. I plan to stay for a full year and try to cover my living expenses. I will be open to almost all jobs.
The plan I'm trying to follow right now is to get a job in Ski Season, Hospitality, or from anybody that could offer me accomodation, as that is what I would need to start out.
Given the sheer amount of offers I've been able to find online (Workaway, Facebook, Resort sites)
I estimate I would actually be able to find a job with accomodation in time for winter.
After I'm done with my first Job because that season ends, or I wish to be somewhere else, I plan to look for work elsewhere, preferably Tokyo.
With a residence permit and a national phone number I understand it will also be possible to look into more websites (Gajinpot, WorkJapan, YoloJapan)
However, I understand that given my very barebones CV, it is a very risky situation jobs wise.
If I found myself without any job, I would probably have to fly back early and it would be a bummer, I'd prefer avoiding that since the WHV is one-time only.

So I ask, how risky is my plan? Do you think I would be able to find a job a second, or even third time?

Hi everyone. I’m an American planning to start teaching in Japan in fall 2027. My wife and I want to live in Osaka with our cat, and I’d appreciate practical advice from people who have arranged a similar move or worked in recruitment.

Quick context: I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology and nearly six years of English teaching experience in South Korea, including head teacher, curriculum development, and teacher training responsibilities. I’m currently in the US and would need initial work-visa sponsorship.

Our main requirements are:

Living together in Osaka. My wife plans to attend language school on her own student visa, so she wouldn’t need sponsorship from my employer.

Arranging our own housing from the beginning: a cat-friendly 1LDK or larger that permits both of us.

Knowing the work location or a clearly defined assignment area before accepting and committing to the move.

A maximum 90-minute commute each way for me, door to door. Work outside Osaka city could be fine if it fits that limit. We’d also need to keep my wife within about 45 minutes of her school.

I’m flexible about my first teaching job: ALT, eikaiwa, children or adults, and multiple teaching locations are all possibilities. Evening/weekend work could also work. I’m willing to travel for an interview once we establish that our requirements are compatible.

I’m looking into Gaba, Yaruki Switch/Kids Duo, and ECC, and considering applying to several employers simultaneously, then accepting an offer that meets our needs.

For anyone with firsthand experience:

Which employers have accommodated overseas hires in this situation?

When did you receive your actual work location? Was it before or after accepting?

Did arranging your own housing with a spouse and pet cause any problems with the employer?

Are there Osaka/Kansai schools or recruiters I should consider beyond the larger chains?

Did networking or a referral help you secure a particular area?

Specific experiences, including roughly when you applied or moved, would be especially helpful. Thanks!

I'm from Serbia, currently finishing high school. i will have a diploma but it is a low payment job with no career paths. i cannot go to uni because no money. due to some bureaucratic and political problems absolutely no scholarships. my family wants to move to one country in asia but I can't because it will be too expensive, i need to finish school and foreigners can't work there.

So I'm kind of interested in SSW, either care or hotel stuff, and then get SSW2 or go back to serbia if things are bad. I will learn the language and stuff but I wonder if it is worth it? because:

1. I heard that they deny to people not from third world countries. I can travel somewhere to take the exam but do they allow you to do this if you are not the citizen of that country? is it even possible at all to be accepted if you are from europe?

2. How possible is it to get SSW2 or that Certified Care Worker visa? do people manage to follow that path and find a stable job in Japan?

and it is worrying how much people call it a slavery visa and tell about all the abuse. i mean it is a problem in most countries with immigrant workers but is it more prevalent in japan? i heard that you can change your workplace, so can you escape from bad environment?

I'm in the process of applying to study with a Japanese language school for the April intake next year.

My understanding is that your CoE will be issued (if accepted) around one month before the term starts... which has me a little worried that I'll need to wait till this point in time to have 100% certainty of moving to Japan.

For those that were packing up life beforehand (e.g. quitting a job, selling belongings, renting etc) when did you begin tackling these? Did you only begin once you received the CoE or prior to?

Any other tips or guidance on how you managed this if you began preparing well ahead of the CoE issuance would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

I will be moving to nishikatamachi, Tochigi prefecture from January, I am really worried about making new friends so want to join a casual football team, I tried asking my company people they had no idea about it, would love to get some tips from you guys on how to find one.

Hi everyone!
I’m a 35-year-old Italian citizen currently working as a Store Manager in retail in Italy.
I’ve been working in retail since 2022. My experience includes team management, staff training, KPI analysis, sales performance, budgeting and store operations.
My long-term goal is to relocate to Japan, through an employer-sponsored management position with an international retail brand.
I’m not looking to move immediately. I’m planning to spend the next 2–3 years improving my Japanese (ideally reaching JLPT N2 or higher), building my career and saving money.
My main concern is that I don’t have a university degree.
I’ve been researching Japanese work visa requirements, particularly the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services and Intra-Company Transferee residence statuses.
From what I understand, the former may require 10 years of relevant professional experience without an appropriate degree, while the latter may have different eligibility requirements. However, I’m unsure whether retail store management duties would qualify under either category.
I’m considering three possible paths:
Progressing within my company or another international retail company and eventually requesting an intra-company transfer to Japan.
Building enough relevant professional experience to qualify for a work-related residence status without a degree.
Attending a Japanese language school on a student visa, potentially working part-time in retail, although I’m concerned this wouldn’t solve the underlying work visa eligibility issue.
Has anyone here successfully relocated to Japan through a retail management position without a university degree?
I’d be especially interested in hearing from anyone who:
Transferred internally from a foreign retail company to its Japanese operations.
Obtained a work visa based on professional experience rather than academic qualifications.
Worked in store management, retail operations, training or a similar field.
I’m aware that Japanese proficiency and finding a willing employer are significant challenges. I’m specifically trying to understand the immigration eligibility side before making major career decisions.
I’m also planning to consult a Japanese immigration professional, but I’d really appreciate hearing about real experiences from people who have gone through something similar.
Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi everyone!

My husband received a job offer in Japan and might move there for 1 year (with the possibility of an extension).
I'm an Italian citizen and I could get a Dependent Visa through him.
However, I currently work full-time as a freelancer (40h/week) for clients outside Japan.
As far as I know, the Dependent Visa doesn't allow me to work more than 28h/week.

I’d love to keep my current full-time freelance job.

• What options do I have?
• Has anyone been in a similar situation?

We are considering the Working Holiday Visa as an alternative to avoid the 28-hour limit for the first year, but I’m confused about the tax implications:

• Would I be considered a tax resident in Japan and/or Italy?
• How does double taxation work between Italy and Japan for remote freelance income on a WHV or Dependent visa?
  

Thanks in advance for your help!