there are quite a few subtle differences between us and americans, mainly spelling like colour and favour. but main reason why japanese would be a hard language is because of the complexity of our own language, mastering another is just more of an extreme effort. i think learning any language is difficult, in the sense if you want too know how to use it properly, not just common phrases or topics

Majority of the discussion here has been about getting 'proper' work while in Japan but I was wondering what it's like from a backpacker point of view?

I mean in Australia last year I did all sorts of odd jobs here and there for a month or two at a time (Handing out leaflets, working in hostel cleaning etc) just to top up my spending money when staying in a place for more than a few weeks and I was wondering if this sort of thing is possible over in Japan with only a limited amount of Japanese Language (enough to get by).

Problem is I think it's one of those things that unless you have done it I doubt there's much information as I didn't know how to live like that until I had to

Regards,
Leon

If you come here on a tourist visa you would not be able to work.

If you want to come here on a work visa you will need a company to employ you before you can get the visa.
If you have a degree you can maybe teach English.
Other than that, you could only get a job that is a specialty.
In other words, if a Japanese person can do the job, then you wont be allowed to.

I guess that is why Japan doesn't have a lot of backpackers

Aww that's a shame. Ah well just means making sure take enough money to last when I eventually get round to heading there. After that if I enjoy myself look into the Visa/Living perm side of things.

Cheers

Cool

And you will need to bring enough money to prove that you can look after yourself for the period of your stay.
I can't remember how much but I think it is about 10-15 thousand yen a day.. something like that.

You must have a return ticket too and be able to tell them where you will be staying.

Yer quite a few countries are doing that now, I blagged it for Australia and luckily never got checked when I did NZ but that was knowing I could get work there. Would be different for Japan.

It's going to be 18-24 months before I manage to get myself over to Japan anyway as I plan to do a year in Canada before hand (gives me time to work on my Japanese as well) by then I'll have to check if anything has changed on the Visa/Entry front.