Any tips?

Soon I will be leaving for Israel, where my girlfriend lives, and after that I'll start learning japanese and get a job so I can apply for a visa in japan.

That's the short version of my story, and I'm aware of the difficulties I'll face in going live in japan, but I'd like to know some tips from some of you guys who are already living there.

So far, what I know in a nutshell:

-I should pretend that my girlfriend is canadian like me, and not israeli.
-I should not act like a weeaboo in front of japan (my girlfriend knows, too.)
-godzilla doesn't really exist.

So, any tips? :x

 

I've heard of that. I'll definitely take up this test.

Unlike when I was learning english, I will actually be able to measure my skills with this test.

(for the little history, I learnt english entirely by myself starting from 1999 because back then in quebec, in the laurentides, teachers were pretty anal about teaching english so the lessons themselves were pretty useless.)

 

so I take it that you used to speak french in canada?

 

It's my native language. I still speak it since I'm currently living in montreal.

As much as I dislike french, it's the most useful language in this city.

 

Going on the working holiday visum I assume?

 

I was more thinking along the lines of going live there, go through the hoops to get citizenship, stuff like that.

I've heard it's hard and complicated, but in the end I'm sure it'll be worth it.

and yeah I'm aware of the xenophobia, but still, I won't be feeling weird about that. After all, I'm a french canadian. we're kind of used to be seen as clowns by the rest of canada.

 

You should do more homework on the expat/gaijin in Japan forums as you don't seem to fully realize what you're in for.

You don't apply for a visa, a reputable company should sponsor you.

Even if (a big if) you can get citizenship, you will be a 2nd rate citizen like the zainichi (Japanese born Korean) who don't get full citizen rights. How will you even go about getting citizenship without having a job and a long history of living in the country?

There's much much more you need to be aware of and think through....

 

You have far better chances of Carmen Electra calling you for a titty fuck than getting Japanese citizenship.

 

Well, I know which one I'd rather have :yatta: :bedsex: :yatta:

Yakumo

 

No trades, Yakumo.


I was under the imrpession that there were three 'easy' options.
1. You're married to a Japanese person.
2. You get into teaching english, and get a visa through that. (Bachellors degree required)
3. You speak FLUENT Japanese (as good as a native, give or take) and prove yourself useful to a company and get some job, and thus a visa.

 

Sorry for the late reply D:

I fully realize what I'm getting into. This isn't something I'm making for shits and giggles, and I know it'll be hard, but knowing I might be happier in a country with an actual culture, and with a better future (seriously, canada's going down the shitter with the kind of politicians we have over here. our canadian obama's not going to show his face anytime soon), I'm ready to take the risks. Besides, I have an unfulfilled sense of adventure and japan would fill it pretty hard.

There are also challenges I wish to undergo just to prove myself as a worthy human being, and that won't happen in canada or in israel.

It may take 5, 10 or even 15 years, but I'll get to the land of the rising sun, and when it'll happen, I'll be sure I know the customs and that I speak fluent japanese.

That's exactly why I asked for tips about the traditions, and most especially about things to avoid doing so I wouldn't get in trouble and/or look like an idiot in front of these guys.

Though I guess I should have worded my original post better. but with my current grasp of the english language, I sometime have difficulty thinking up sentences.

 

If you are still dreaming of naturalization, after never having stepped foot in the country, then you really don't. Seriously, there's like 8 naturalized Japanese, and they've all got something more to offer than anyone here.

The up side of the place is long-term residence is not hard to pull off. Seriously suggest putting your big toe in first. For me, the quirks and bullshit of Japanese life literally bounced off of me until I got married and realized that my social status changed almost none in 10 years even though I now support 1.5 Japanese nationals, pay more tax than most Japanese, and am more pleasant to be around than the average salaryman.

 

To be honest, I don't see why you wouldn't take the holiday visum way out as it means you can:
-Enter the country with a proper visum that allows you to work or study without having to be sponsored by a company and thus having a contract you're stuck to.
-You can extend quite often, I'm sure there's a limit at some point but my friend just got his 3 year visum extension after he already had a one year extension twice.. All of this on a working holiday visum with no steady employment at a Japanese company. He is also Canadian btw.
-As said, you can do almost anything with the working holiday visum such as getting an appartment, getting a cellphone, opening a bankaccount etcetera.
-You're simply not becoming getting the citizenship without being hired by a Japanese company who provides you with a green card.

I curse the fact that my country doesn't have the working holiday program, it's simply fantastic to get into the country easily. Take advantage of that fact.

 

You should probably believe the people in this thread who live in Japan....Japan doesn't have a future in the scheme of things, it has old money which countries target but it will run out and Japan will become the dystopia often portrayed in sci-fi flicks/games. Growth in Asia is in India and China.

 

co-signed a billion times.

and this unfortunately.

 

That makes plenty of sense

 

This is what scares the fuck out of me, and is basically what has told me I've grown out of my geeky boy phase at 34. Long term residence seems far less attractive than it did when I first got here. Unless disturbingly bizarre pornagraphy becomes a world-wide craze, Japan needs a new pony to bring to the show.

 

I was thinking they would come up with either sex robots or transforming flying cars....the former is more likely with the robotics race going on here.

Now that I own property in the country, I will be looking for the peak to dump and get out...we'll see how long the strong yen lasts but I'll be riding that wave for the duration of it!

 

That's the ironic thing for all the expats that were forced to leave. It's a great time to live & save if you're retirement currency is different.

I'm too afraid to buy, and I doubt I could get a loan considering I've been turned down for credit on multiple occasions...despite the fact all of my company funds go through one single bank account, and I've had at least 3x the credit limit in there for the last 3 fucking years.