Coming to Japan for school whether it be high-school, college, or a language school can be a really fun and rewarding experience, but there are also some huge downsides to coming to Japan on a student visa instead of a work or spouse visa. I want to share a few of the biggest inconveniences and issues that you might come across during your stay in Japan on a longterm student visa (2+ years).
You can watch my YouTube video on this blog's topic here...
What No One Tells You About Your Japanese Student Visa
Everyone's situation is unique. What one person experiences in Japan can be vastly different for the next person. Please don't let this discourage or stop you from coming to Japan as a student. I am simply sharing a different perspective and giving you some personal advice based off of myself and my own experiences living in Japan on a student visa. There are three problems that you can potentially come across while living in Japan on a student visa. Depending on how much money you have, your country of origin, your living standards, and your duration of stay in Japan some of these things may not be an issue for you on your visa.
1.) Most Landlords & Housing Agencies Won't Rent Out Their Apartments to Foreign Students
Most students that live in Japan either rent a dorm room in a share house or they stay at a share house disguised as a "normal" Japanese apartment so they may or may not ever experience this strange form of application rejection. If you are living in Japan for more than 6 months then you will probably get fed up of having roommates and neighbors that aren't Japanese because well let's face it there's a huge difference in the way that they behave. I have lived at several different share houses all of which have been noisy, had guests that purposefully would break the rules and do other weirds dirty and trifling things that got on my nerves. Even if you have a private room you'll still be able to hear and unfortunately see somethings that you'll wish you hadn't. You will begin to buy clothes, games, furniture, souvenirs, and books and you will quickly begin to runout of space to store your belongings. You'll find it annoying having to put everything under your bed and into cubbies around the share house, you will want to bring your dates and friends over to your place every once in a while, and last but most certainly not least you will want to feel like an adult and have the freedom and space to do whatever you want to. The best way to do this is to get your own private apartment but there's a catch. Most apartments in Japan don't rent to foreigners unless they have problems or unless they're a gaijin apartment (aka a share house).The reason for this is once again based on stereotypes and rooted in prejudice/racism. All it takes is for 1 foreign student resident to move out without paying their rent or to move in and "damage and dip" from the unit and then the landlord or agency will decide that they simply cannot trust or risk renting out their unit to another one.
The most common excuse is that you'd need to have a full-time job (which they know foreign students can't legally have) or they will tell you that you must show proof of income that can cover the rent for the duration of the contract (generally proof of 2 years worth of rent in a bank account).
While the initial excuse makes sense in a way at first you'll find that they are so stubborn that they don't care about your background, references, or proof of income. Most agencies will simply tell you that they're sorry but they simply don't rent to (foreign) students.
You'll still be able to rent an apartment through a gaijin agency but most legitimate Japanese apartments that are available to students are run down, roach infested, old, and in need of repairs. They also tend to cost a lot more than they're worth, aren't conveniently located, and lack amenities such as hot water, free internet, free water, bicycle parking etc.. Your housing options will be very limited here. as standard Japanese complexes won't be willing to rent to you and the one that do allow students usually start at about $1400-$2,000 USD a month (not including the endless list of ridiculous move in fees) which most students in Japan can't afford to pay alone. Keep in mind that if you wait too long you'll have difficult finding an apartment because your visa isn't valid for as longs your leasing agreement which is usually for a minimum of 2 years.Yes, of course there's thousands of rental options available for foreign students in Japan, but most of them are only willing to rent to you because no sane Japanese person with a job would be willing to pay for such a crappy old apartment that's small, smells, bad and is far away from the closest station.
2.) You'll Have Difficulty Finding a Job
There's a few problems with working on a student visa that nobody talks about for some reason. While some of you might already know that you are only permitted to legally work here part-time for about 28 hours a week what you might not know is that it is hard to find a company that will give you 28 hours a week yet alone that will even hire you whether it is for a part-time or full-time job.
There is also a catch-22. You need to have a permit in order to legally work on a student visa or else you risk getting found out fined and deported and most employers aren't willing to hire you until you already have this permit despite immigration asking you to fill out information about your employer on the application (permit request form) so it basically requires you to lie. It really makes no sense. This work permit process is similar to changing your status of residence just without the all of the official documents and stamps (that your employer/visa sponsor) is required to submit alongside your application. Depending on who accepts your application they can give you a hard time and be a real stickler about this while others will understand and process your application with ease.
You will also be the last applicant choice in most circumstances. Most schools do prefer native English speakers, but since student visa holders are stereotypically more likely to quit and go home, are limited with the hours that they can legally work, and generally have less experience they are often times looked over unless they are seen as very attractive or have connections to get them hired at a particular company. Most students work at retail stores and restaurants in Japan which only pay ¥900-¥1200 an hour and provide you with no more than 25 hours of work per a week but usually it's even less than that. English conversations schools are pretty much the only teaching option that you'll have in Japan while on this visa as it is nearly impossible to become an ALT or a headteacher at an international school or eikaiwa on this visa. While some schools don't care about the fact that you are a student others usually don't offer visa sponsorship at all (even upon you graduating). They also tend to pay students lower wages on average although some can pay as much as ¥2700 an hour. If you are living in Tokyo you might find it a lot more difficult to land a job as a teacher on a student visa as it is significantly more competitive than other cities in Japan. It is more profitable for schools to hire staff as full-time workers and it provides you as a foreigner with a more stable income as well as job security and help with taxes and insurance. However eikaiwas offer higher hourly rates BUT can be competitive and usually require you to be available during school hours with the earliest classes starting at about 2:00pm on weekdays which could interfere with your studies. Most schools on sites such as Gaijin Pot ignore applicants from those who don't have an appropriate work visa even although you can legally work here on a student visa most schools either #1 don't know this or #2 don't see how your limited availability will benefit them (remember what I said about them believing whatever they heard from another foreigner). They'd rather avoid going through the hassle of hiring students who have work limitations and lack experience and would rather hire someone whom they can have work around their schools schedule instead. Even if you show them proof from immigrations website they will stand their ground and refuse to hire you simply because you're a student with disregard of your age, country of origin and work experience.
If you are financing your stay in Japan with your own cash then this could potentially be a very scary situation as you'll be desperately searching for a job that can work around your class schedule while also giving you enough hours to afford your stay in Japan (this is where that $10k+ that you should have saved before arriving in Japan comes in handy).
The good news is that you will be able to teach your own private students but this is very competitive in Tokyo as there are thousands of teachers offering lessons and those that are desperate for work have spammed teaching sites and classifieds with their ads charging rock bottom prices that can be hard to compete with.
You will eventually land a "real" teaching job, but it could unexpectedly take some time.
3.) You'll Have Difficulty Changing Your Residence Status
Most employers (both Japanese and foreign) are unfamiliar with student visas. The reality is that most of the students who come to Japan on student visas either go back home for various reasons or jump into a relationship, tie the knot and get a spouse visa to avoid doing this and to save money (college in Japan is NOT cheap people) so there is very little known about student visas. Unfortunately most Japanese employers are rather stubborn and don't care to look into this so they will listen to and believe whatever they have been told by their foreign employees. The foreign staff that I encountered before I got my first work visa acted a bit jealous and appeared to have been quite obviously trying to sabotage my chances of getting hired by highlighting and emphasizing on the fact that I just had a student visa and insisted that it wasn't possible to change to a work visa (change your residence status) without first living Japan which of course would instantly make the Japanese school owner or hiring manager freak out and make up a quick white lie to avoid saying "no" and rejecting you to your face.
I believe that being an American with a relevant degree was also a gift and a curse during this time as Japanese employers loved this as it made their school look more professional and it was assumed that I wouldn't require much guidance and could easily be the headteacher and help them develop their school's curriculum. However most schools have their foreign staff conduct the interviews either alone or side by side with the Japanese manager so if they (the foreign staff) feel threatened by you they can very much indeed sabotage your interview by nitpicking at your demo lesson, resume, or by flat out lying about the visa status change process claiming to know it all.
In most circumstances you will be at the mercy of the foreign staff and because the Japanese manager or school owner will pout 100% of their trust and faith into whoever the headteacher or assistant manager is (aka the "chosen one"/foreigner). I also believe that the foreign staff often times saw me as a threat because I had some Japanese ability, I was American, a young female, and I studied in Japan. I think that my background made people assume that I'd be conceited and could potentially replace the person them (the foreigner conducting my interview). A lot of foreigners are envious of those who come here on student visas because it costs a lot of money upfront whereas those who come here on work and spouse visas don't need to make much of an investment if any at all as you aren'trequired to prove your finances and some schools will pay for your ticket to Japan as well as offer you discounted or free housing.
While you can get an extension on your visa and apply for a "designated activities visa" while you continue job hunting in Japan it is not ideal and it is time consuming. There is also no guarantee that your request will be approved.
The next problem that you may also encounter with changing your residence status is that most of the employers that are willing to hire you will NOT sponsor your visa until it is about to expire. While this might make sense to you and be okay it is actually taking a huge risk. You are encouraged to apply for a new visa about 2 months before it's expiration date so if for any reason it gets rejected or if your company decides to fire you or changes their mind about being your sponsor now you have to start over with your job hunt and the closer your visa is to it's expiration the less companies you will have to choose from. This is rooted in racism/prejudice. English schools here in Japan are used to being burned and stabbed in the back by their foreign staff so most of them want you to show your worth and prove your loyalty by working for the school for as "little" was 30 days to as long as 1 year before they'd be willing to sponsor or help you renew your visa. All it takes is for 1 foreign teacher to take advantage of and abuse a school's kindness and then the owner/hiring manager will become bitter and decide that they cannot sponsor any visas until the teacher has worked for a designated amount of time. There is no contract promising or guaranteeing that they will keep their word and I have personally been victim of this scam. You basically provide cheap labor for the school by working as a student and then once you finally need them to keep their word and give you the visa renewal support and sponsorship that you wanted they'll let you down and replace you with another teacher who already has a work or spouse visa.
You will eventually find a visa sponsor without having to leave the country or jump through any hopes but it will take sometime unless you're really lucky or have connections already.
Is It Really That Bad?
Everyone's experience in Japan is unique to that person as an individual so once again please don't be afraid to study here. It is possible to get everything that you need without going through all of these bad things. I am simply sharing my story and telling you what can potentially go wrong or cause some problems for you while in Japan as a student. I wish you the best of luck in your studies and I hope that you will never have to go through any of the bad things that I did to make it where I am today. What was a nightmare and hellish for me can be a heavenly experience for you. Japan is a beautiful country and a fun place to go to school in. Despite all of the crazy and bad things that have happened to me I have continued to fight to make it all workout. As long as you are willing to work for it you too can get through any of the crazy challenges that are put before you.
Thank you so much for reading!
Did you study in Japan before? Are you a student in Japan now? What were some of the things that you found challenging or difficult to do on your student visa? Do you have any tips and advice for students who plan to work and live here? If so please leave a comment and help out future students!
Did you study in Japan before? Are you a student in Japan now? What were some of the things that you found challenging or difficult to do on your student visa? Do you have any tips and advice for students who plan to work and live here? If so please leave a comment and help out future students!
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