Considering moving to Japan long-term. Looking for advice.

Hey! I'm an American looking into the possibility of eventually living in Japan long-term. I'm 22, currently planning on going to college next year, and I just started learning Japanese. I've considered potentially emigrating in the past, but nowhere really stood out to me until recently with Japan. It's far too early for me to say whether or not I really want to live in Japan, but I DO want give myself time to come to that decision while setting myself up for success if I ultimately do. I've had two main paths in my mind to do this. I was hoping for input/insight about what people here think would be the best way to go about this.

1. I could put off university for a while and attend a Japanese language school. From there, I could make a more informed decision about whether I want to keep learning or return home early. If I stayed, the next logical step in my mind would be to attend a Japanese university once I had the necessary skills in the language. If I went this route, I'd be able to experience living in Japan and accelerate my learning of the language. This is also assuming I have the funds to do such a thing, and I believe I will. My primary concern with this route is that I might feel way out of my depth. I've never lived far from home, let alone another country, so it would all be new to me. It's exciting, and I really want some life experiences like it, but it's still scary.
2. I could stay in the US, keep studying Japanese, and go to college in the states. I could periodically visit Japan, or maybe even try some sort of program that would let me study there for while. The upsides to this are that it's obviously much easier and more within my comfort zone. It would also just give me many more years to let the idea simmer in my mind. What I worry about here is that I wouldn't be learning Japanese fast enough to be able to find employment in a reasonable time. I also wouldn't ever get the chance to truly dive as deep into life there as I would If I attended the language school.

Are either of these options realistic? If I went to language school, is learning Japanese well enough to apply for higher learning (N2?) a realistic goal to achieve in a reasonable time? Would finding work in Japan after attending school in the states be overly difficult if I'm not at an N1 level by then? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!