I noticed the talk about people thinking about moving to Japan and thought I'd offer up a bit of what I know. I've lived in Japan for most of my life and have seen people come over many different ways but teaching seems to be the easiest. If you have a college degree (any major) it's actually quite easy and generally you'll find yourself in a good situation as long as you're not the typical idiot teaching English in Japan.
Going over on the JET program is only one way of doing but probably the most difficult. You'll have to submit essays and go to a number of interviews and the selection process is much stricter. As a JET teacher you will be in a public school which is good and bad. You won't actually be teaching but an assistant to a Japanese English teacher. Generally your day will be spent as a glorified tape player just repeating sentences or behind a desk wasting your day on the internet.
The easiest way is to try and get a job with one of the thousands of "eikaiwa" (English Conversation School) in Japan. There are a number of major chains as well as thousands of private schools. It's probably best to go with a big chain because you can actually read up on current and past employee opinions. In addition the big chains make the process of getting to Japan easy as they sponsor your Visa and will setup an apartment for you. After you get to Japan you can actually start looking around for one of those coveted jobs at private schools that only hire teachers who have been in Japan teaching for at least a year.
The three big names in the game are probably Nova, Aeon, and Geos. They all have hundreds of schools throughout Japan and will sponsor your visa and setup an apartment for you.
DO NOT CONSIDER NOVA. They have been in financial trouble for some time now and the end of last year it came to a head when they stopped paying the office staff and then their teachers. Not only were they not paying their salary they stopped paying for their apartments so the literally thousands of teachers have been evicted and the ones without enough money in the bank for a plane ticket are stuck in Japan homeless.
Aeon is probably the best of the big schools. I've known plenty of teachers and for the most part they've all been happy and the schools I've seen have been very nice in comparison with the other chains.
I've heard mixed reviews about Geos and some of their schools are really run down and the apartments they provide for their teachers are pretty poor.
All the chains are generally the same and pay around 30,000USD a year (this can fluctuate up or down slightly depending on where you are placed) and will sponsor your work visa and setup an apartment for you. You will have to pay rent (taken out of your check) and the amount depends on where you are at.
It's a great deal considering what you would have to pay to get yourself in an apartment. The last place I had only cost me 600USD a month but I had to pay over 3,000USD for the deposit, key money, etc.. The big chains pay these fees for you and all you have to do is pay rent.
You may or may not have a roommate and if you do you will probably hate them unless you are a drunk, loud-ass, tool like they are.
In regards to the job some people really like it and some people hate it. You're going to be teaching people "Conversational English" in groups of 1-4 students. You will be basically introducing vocabulary and correcting sentence structure. You won't need to know any complicated grammar. It's all very basic stuff.
The only reason you need a college degree to do the job is because the Japanese government requires you to have one before they give you a work visa. The schools aren't the ones requiring it. In fact if you lived in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and I think Canada you could get a Working Holiday visa and make your way to Japan as a part time employee (no more than 30 hours a week) without a degree.
If you go through the process and manage to get a job with one of the chains you're going to have to request placement. Generally they give you two choices of locations. If you want to get yourself a car and spend your time off tuning and drifting DO NOT put in requests like this:
1: Osaka
2: Tokyo
1: Tokyo
2: Kobe
If you get stuck in the middle of a big city you won't be near a track, it would cost a fucking fortune to park a car (more on this later), your apartment will be small as shit and expensive, and it's crowded and frantic.
You're going to want to try and get yourself situated outside of a big city but not Inaka (in the boonies). The best place in my opinion for someone that wants to drift is the Okayama prefecture. You'll be between Hiroshima and Osaka and their are two nice ass tracks to drift at in Bihoku Highlands and Nakayama Circuit. Okayama is very nice and the people are great and everything is nice and mellow. There is plenty to do and see and the Okayama-city/Kurashiki area has a ton of shops including Sun Line Racing, RunDuce, etc.. There is also an UpGarage and plenty of small drift specific shops as well.
If you do end up getting a job with one of these schools and making your way to Japan you'll want to bring at least 2,000USD with you for start-up. You will only be paid once a month and that will be at the end of your first month. You won't be given money to eat, to buy things, to setup your internet, etc..
After a couple of months teaching and saving some cash (you can save plenty if you don't go out drinking every night with the other teachers) you'll be ready to buy a car. It's not as easy a process as it is here but if asked for a good placement and got it you'll have friends at a tuning shop by now and they can help you. What you can get depends on what you have in the bank. If you're looking for a drift-spec 180SX or S13 3,000-4,000USD will be enough for something nice and competitive.
Making friends with some drifters is key. Tracks aren't as easy to find as you would expect and drift comps and practice days aren't going to be advertised in the local newspaper that you can't read. Find a small tuning shop or car lot with a bunch of drift cars for sale (it will be owned/staffed by drifters) and introduce yourself. Be humble and joke around a bit. If you're an arrogant ass that acts like you know how to drift they will give you the cold shoulder. Just say you like drifting and would like to go with them sometime. Tell them you'll change their tires. That's humble!
Once you know your lay of the land, have a car, guys to drift with you'll be able to spend plenty of time at the track. Generally they are open every day of the week and will cost anywhere from 40-100 bucks to drift all day. Don't worry about tires. It isn't America. You can get full sets of used Neovas, Direzzas, etc.. on Yahoo Auctions for less than 100 bucks.
For example I would generally get a full set of used (70% tread) Neova AD07s to run up front for around 100 bucks. One pair would last me 4 events and then I'd throw them in the rear to get one more day out of them. So that's 100 bucks for 8 events up front. In the rear I'd usually run Direzza DZ101 and pay about 40 bucks a pair. They'd generally last an entire competition but if it was a practice day I'd go through 1.5 sets. The reason for this is at competitions I'd only make 5 or 6 passes during practice so I didn't have to change the rears half way through the comp.
Once you've got some time on the track and feel like you're ready to compete go for it. To run in MSC or local comps you don't need any sort of license. You'll definitely want to have a relationship with a shop or some drifters so they can help you with entry though. Generally it will cost you 100 bucks to compete and all you will need is a pair of gloves, harness, and a helmet. No roll cages required.
You'll have to pick a class and it should be beginner. Even if you are, or think you are, an expert class driver be humble! Also keep in mind that drifters in Japan drift all the time (at least once a week with at least 4 hours on the track) so with that much more seat time and the lower costs the talent level is obviously higher.
You should start in beginner class. Once you win or get on the podium a couple of times move up to middle class and then up to expert class. If you just jump into expert or even middle class and you're still rocking the side brake entry no one is going to have any respect for you.
This is just all pretty general so if anyone has any specific questions about moving to, working, living, or drifting in Japan feel free to ask.
Going over on the JET program is only one way of doing but probably the most difficult. You'll have to submit essays and go to a number of interviews and the selection process is much stricter. As a JET teacher you will be in a public school which is good and bad. You won't actually be teaching but an assistant to a Japanese English teacher. Generally your day will be spent as a glorified tape player just repeating sentences or behind a desk wasting your day on the internet.
The easiest way is to try and get a job with one of the thousands of "eikaiwa" (English Conversation School) in Japan. There are a number of major chains as well as thousands of private schools. It's probably best to go with a big chain because you can actually read up on current and past employee opinions. In addition the big chains make the process of getting to Japan easy as they sponsor your Visa and will setup an apartment for you. After you get to Japan you can actually start looking around for one of those coveted jobs at private schools that only hire teachers who have been in Japan teaching for at least a year.
The three big names in the game are probably Nova, Aeon, and Geos. They all have hundreds of schools throughout Japan and will sponsor your visa and setup an apartment for you.
DO NOT CONSIDER NOVA. They have been in financial trouble for some time now and the end of last year it came to a head when they stopped paying the office staff and then their teachers. Not only were they not paying their salary they stopped paying for their apartments so the literally thousands of teachers have been evicted and the ones without enough money in the bank for a plane ticket are stuck in Japan homeless.
Aeon is probably the best of the big schools. I've known plenty of teachers and for the most part they've all been happy and the schools I've seen have been very nice in comparison with the other chains.
I've heard mixed reviews about Geos and some of their schools are really run down and the apartments they provide for their teachers are pretty poor.
All the chains are generally the same and pay around 30,000USD a year (this can fluctuate up or down slightly depending on where you are placed) and will sponsor your work visa and setup an apartment for you. You will have to pay rent (taken out of your check) and the amount depends on where you are at.
It's a great deal considering what you would have to pay to get yourself in an apartment. The last place I had only cost me 600USD a month but I had to pay over 3,000USD for the deposit, key money, etc.. The big chains pay these fees for you and all you have to do is pay rent.
You may or may not have a roommate and if you do you will probably hate them unless you are a drunk, loud-ass, tool like they are.
In regards to the job some people really like it and some people hate it. You're going to be teaching people "Conversational English" in groups of 1-4 students. You will be basically introducing vocabulary and correcting sentence structure. You won't need to know any complicated grammar. It's all very basic stuff.
The only reason you need a college degree to do the job is because the Japanese government requires you to have one before they give you a work visa. The schools aren't the ones requiring it. In fact if you lived in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and I think Canada you could get a Working Holiday visa and make your way to Japan as a part time employee (no more than 30 hours a week) without a degree.
If you go through the process and manage to get a job with one of the chains you're going to have to request placement. Generally they give you two choices of locations. If you want to get yourself a car and spend your time off tuning and drifting DO NOT put in requests like this:
1: Osaka
2: Tokyo
1: Tokyo
2: Kobe
If you get stuck in the middle of a big city you won't be near a track, it would cost a fucking fortune to park a car (more on this later), your apartment will be small as shit and expensive, and it's crowded and frantic.
You're going to want to try and get yourself situated outside of a big city but not Inaka (in the boonies). The best place in my opinion for someone that wants to drift is the Okayama prefecture. You'll be between Hiroshima and Osaka and their are two nice ass tracks to drift at in Bihoku Highlands and Nakayama Circuit. Okayama is very nice and the people are great and everything is nice and mellow. There is plenty to do and see and the Okayama-city/Kurashiki area has a ton of shops including Sun Line Racing, RunDuce, etc.. There is also an UpGarage and plenty of small drift specific shops as well.
If you do end up getting a job with one of these schools and making your way to Japan you'll want to bring at least 2,000USD with you for start-up. You will only be paid once a month and that will be at the end of your first month. You won't be given money to eat, to buy things, to setup your internet, etc..
After a couple of months teaching and saving some cash (you can save plenty if you don't go out drinking every night with the other teachers) you'll be ready to buy a car. It's not as easy a process as it is here but if asked for a good placement and got it you'll have friends at a tuning shop by now and they can help you. What you can get depends on what you have in the bank. If you're looking for a drift-spec 180SX or S13 3,000-4,000USD will be enough for something nice and competitive.
Making friends with some drifters is key. Tracks aren't as easy to find as you would expect and drift comps and practice days aren't going to be advertised in the local newspaper that you can't read. Find a small tuning shop or car lot with a bunch of drift cars for sale (it will be owned/staffed by drifters) and introduce yourself. Be humble and joke around a bit. If you're an arrogant ass that acts like you know how to drift they will give you the cold shoulder. Just say you like drifting and would like to go with them sometime. Tell them you'll change their tires. That's humble!
Once you know your lay of the land, have a car, guys to drift with you'll be able to spend plenty of time at the track. Generally they are open every day of the week and will cost anywhere from 40-100 bucks to drift all day. Don't worry about tires. It isn't America. You can get full sets of used Neovas, Direzzas, etc.. on Yahoo Auctions for less than 100 bucks.
For example I would generally get a full set of used (70% tread) Neova AD07s to run up front for around 100 bucks. One pair would last me 4 events and then I'd throw them in the rear to get one more day out of them. So that's 100 bucks for 8 events up front. In the rear I'd usually run Direzza DZ101 and pay about 40 bucks a pair. They'd generally last an entire competition but if it was a practice day I'd go through 1.5 sets. The reason for this is at competitions I'd only make 5 or 6 passes during practice so I didn't have to change the rears half way through the comp.
Once you've got some time on the track and feel like you're ready to compete go for it. To run in MSC or local comps you don't need any sort of license. You'll definitely want to have a relationship with a shop or some drifters so they can help you with entry though. Generally it will cost you 100 bucks to compete and all you will need is a pair of gloves, harness, and a helmet. No roll cages required.
You'll have to pick a class and it should be beginner. Even if you are, or think you are, an expert class driver be humble! Also keep in mind that drifters in Japan drift all the time (at least once a week with at least 4 hours on the track) so with that much more seat time and the lower costs the talent level is obviously higher.
You should start in beginner class. Once you win or get on the podium a couple of times move up to middle class and then up to expert class. If you just jump into expert or even middle class and you're still rocking the side brake entry no one is going to have any respect for you.
This is just all pretty general so if anyone has any specific questions about moving to, working, living, or drifting in Japan feel free to ask.
