[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by tsurumaru

No problem - I stayed for about 5 and a half months overall.

Hmm for work purposes? It really does depend on:

A. Where you are from.
B. What type of work you intend to do.

Some of the advantages to working there that I can think of are:
...
Low Tax threshold (I cant remember off the top of my head but Tax was only around 10-15% when I was there). Obviously if you are working for cash in hand then you might not even need to worry about this.

Its a great way to meet (and understand) people, this might sound obvious but I found that working in a bar was a fantastic way to meet people (both foreigners and Japanese) that I would not have done under other circumstances.

If you are interested in learning Japanese then having to confront everyday life in Japan is probably the best way to learn I can think of. Constant immersion in the language and culture (that you might not get from say a vacation) really does force your mind into learning mode.

I think the tax rate for the first year is generally very low, but it jumps afterwards in the second year and so on? As for learning the language and getting to know the country's people and culture, yeah, they are certainly factors that I'm considering. Since I'm interested, long-term, in getting to know the Asia-Pacific region, staying in Japan should give me a good place to travel around the area. As best as it could be done, anyway, within a couple of years.

From a career point of view, having an ex-pat experience should also be a plus.

Working will definitely help top up your funds, I think the cost of living in Tokyo worked out slightly more expensively than in London (UK) which if you dont know is ridiculously expensive. Your funds will decrease at an alarming rate if you don't do something about it.

LOL! Tell me about it. I just about broke even when I totalled up my expenses for London and compared that number to my salary that I was drawing down, and the only thing that made that possible was that my company was picking up the rent on my apartment. It's really the use of weekly rent, I think, that threw me at the time. Multiply that number by 4 and convert into USD, and

Disadvantages:

No interest on savings, Japanese banks give close to 0% interest on savings due to the financial situation. Most foreigners ship any savings home via international money transfers. Watch out though as there are thresholds for the amount you can transfer without having to pay fee's (in addition to the cost of converting Yen to $'s or £'s)

Very true. OTOH, I think that inflation is near zero also, no? Helps somewhat, I suppose.

In Japan like in most of Asia long hours of employment with few holidays are usual. This will eat into any amount of time you have to actually visit anywhere! It would be best to plan in advance what hours you can afford to work to leave yourself some time to actually experince the "Living" part of "Living in Japan"! You might find teaching for cash in hand a good way to organise your own time but the disadvantages of this are that you will spend a lot of time finding willing clients to pay for your lessons and therefore should not guarantee on any form of immediate income.......

That's what vacation days are for. To go play wide-eyed tourist at every major tourist trap in the region. Isn't Saturday also an "official" work day in the country? I know that a holiday like Christmas is just another day, but they, for 2004, get Jan. 1st, 2nd, and, I think, 5th off.

Getting caught, if you were ever caught working illegally then you would probably face immediate deportation/ a lengthy jail term, or both..... You would probably forfeit the right to ever reenter Japan...(or at least face a lengthy ban). Depending on your level of exposure/ how much your legal employer is paying the right people depends on how likely you are to ever experience a police bust. (ie in Roppongi not since the late 80's).... ^^;

No worries. I don't want to deal with the hassles of Immigration anyway, so I'm not going to work without getting a work visa sponsored first. Don't need the rep of being a hardened criminal.

I'm in the process of applying for a job in my company's Tokyo office, which is why I'm asking all these questions. Our HR dept should cover all of this, but since I didn't go through that dept... Oops. Unfortunately, there's also time pressure on their side, it seems, so everything feels really rushed. Blegh!

If you wanted to stay legitimately and are a native English speaker with a degree then I would definitely recommend the JET scheme (Japan English Teacher Scheme). this is a one year (usually) Governement funded placement teaching English in a Japanese school. the money is good, its stable and you will be provided with accomodation without having to organise your own (which can be a bit of a mare to say the least).

That is actually quite a sweet deal. There had been a thread of this in the old forums, but it may not have gotten rescued by the Big Reset of November 2003. I wonder if it can be resurrected?

Types of Visa:

Also take into consideration the type of visa that you will be issued with upon entry to the country:

...

Important point if you enter the country under any visa except working or spouse Visa and are offered a job then you will have to leave and then re-enter the country to be issued with your working Visa. (Most people take a short trip to Korea for example). If you are planning on this tactic then remember it can take up to two months to find employment so budget for at least this amount of time before depending on any income). Getting a place can even involve up to 5 months equivalent rent in advance! Therefore see if you prospective employer can help you secure decent accomodation. Also remember that a lot of the posts that will become free are because someone hads just left a year or more placement. These opportunites can be quite "seasonal" ie around the time a school year ends.....

That's what I'm hearing too. That along with the use of key money and such that, as you had mentioned, can really eat into your savings. So long as you're willing to commute into the city - not to mention which city you're near/in - the rent should be more reasonable than a place like New York or London, no?

Do you know anything about (I think they're called) gaijin houses? I did some digging around, and they sounded okay. Not the same as having your own apt, but they basically sound like dorms that aren't owned by a company or the government. Cost-wise, they look reasonable, but you do give up a certain amount of privacy.

In any case, tsurumaru, thanks a lot for providing such great information. Much appreciated!