[INTRODUCTION]
I'm a 25 year old dude from Sweden with N3 passed in 2025 and now moving towards N2/ N1, graduated from highschool but with no further university degree.
I have been thinking of moving to Japan for about 2 years now but I am feeling stuck right now because of how much information there is. Also I need to think about a decision before the 23rd of june if I wanna do the language school route.
[VISAS]
Out of all the visas I have researched, the Student visa (language school) or WH-Visa seems like the most viable options for me AS THE START! I will have saved about ~$27000 in the summer, currently full-time employed, living with my dad = save lots of money. I am thinking right now to move late summer or early autumn this year, that is the current plan at least.
[BACKGROUND]
– graduated 12 years of school (no university, only high school as last graduated from)
– 1 year military school
-2 years work at factory (figuring life out phase)
– 2 year full-time trying to become a youtuber (I have 15K subs, 1.5M views, was offered editing jobs from a 200K and a 1M+ subscriber channel (not to flex but proves the skill is worth something which could increase work opportunities in Japan I guess ))
– 1.5 years working factory/ assistant teacher (saving money to Japan phase)
[PLANS]
At least 1 year in Japan, (1.5-2 years would be ideal) to fully settle in Japan and feel it out properly + want to simultaneously set myself up for a longer term stay if I like the initial stay. What I want out of Japan is improving my Japanese as much as possible, self-growth, meeting people, exploring, seeking opportunities both work and/ or making friends, creating videos and trying new things etc.
[THE 2 VISAS COMPARED]
WHV:
pros
– Maximum freedom from day one (location, work, do school or not, make videos etc)
– Lowest cost entry — no tuition
– Supplement with working = not eating up my savings as fast
– I have some connections in Japan already (homestay?)
cons
– One shot only, never again
– Clock starts immediately — 12 months and done
– No structure or built-in community
– Easy to "waste" the year if you don't have a plan
– Doesn't build toward long term residency on its own
STUDENT VISA:
pros
– Longer stay potential (up to 2 years)
– Built-in structure, routine, and community
– Soft landing — easier adjustment to Japan
– Preserves WHV for later use
cons
– Expensive ($4–7k+ tuition on top of living costs)
– Work limited to 28 hours per week
– Less freetime, probably need a part-time job = little time over for travel, content creation, exploring hobbies etc.
– Limited to location
[POSSIBLE ROUTES I AM ENTERTAINING RIGHT NOW]
(note: Regardless of which visa I have, as a Swedish citizen I must return to my home country to renew/extend/change my visa at the Japanese embassy in my home country's capital. Meaning I can’t for example transition from a WHV to Student visa inside of Japan, either way I need to return when I want to transition to another visa.)
OPTION 1: WHV 2026, early autumn
This is the fastest way and easiest I think to start with. I'll have lots of freedom, location freedom, work wherever etc. But the thing is I can only use this visa ONE year in my life before I turn 30
I'm worried about when the year is done. I don't have a plan to stay longer if I really like it, and a year isn’t that long and I think there might be a high chance I wanna stay longer.
OPTION 2: Language school 2026 October (urgent)
Quite an urgent matter since I am quite late to the October intake and a Swedish guy working at GoGoNihon in Tokyo recommended me to start with school (to make use of the WHV better) and he found a particular school in Shinjuku Tokyo (the city I wanna start trying to live in!) but the last application is in JUNE, that's kind of the reason I am making a decision soon or at least have to!
Downside is that I haven't researched a lot of different schools and making a fast decision like this might just put me with a sour mouth if the experience is bad and money was just "wasted". But It would make an easier start -> instant community, softer landing with getting help with finding jobs etc, instant structure, can ask the teachers directly about anything about Japanese, more time in Japan since I can do the WHV after.
But school can cost a lot and I can't see the real benefits of actual language learning in classes other than getting direct feedback from teachers, asking them about whatever and learning proper business Japanese etc.
I am already doing a lot of Immersion and learning new words everyday already, I have just self-studied all the time since I started. But if I WOULD go with this option and I didn’t end up liking it, the person from GoGoNihon said it was hard to transition into another school.
OPTION 3: Wait with language school until 2027
Don’t know if I wanna postpone the move for another 7-9 months… yikes. But in the meantime I could actually do a tourist visa for 3 months and go stay with a host family or do “woofing” where I live with a family and work at their farm or something to get free food and accommodation and exposure to the language everyday and then do school in 2027 to still travel to Japan this year without having to “wait” 7 months extra for the beginning of next semester language school.
[MY MIND IS ON LOOP!!!]
My mind keeps circling back to the same worry. If I take the WHV and the year ends without finding a way to stay longer, I'll wish I had done language school first. But if I do language school first and then WHV, I get potentially 2 years in Japan, likely reach N1, and enter the WHV year with a much stronger foundation for work opportunities. The tradeoff is that language school costs roughly half my savings, ties me to one location, and gives me less freedom — whereas on the WHV I'd barely touch my savings or even earn money. So it's basically freedom and money now versus a stronger foundation and more time in Japan overall.
Questions:
1. What would you do in my situation?
2. What really is the benefit of language school if one can study it online and practice Japanese in Japan in real life anyways?
3. Anyone gone from a working holiday to content/ media work to a longer term visa without a bachelor's degree? How realistic is that path?
4. If you did a working holiday – what did you actually do to make the year count and not drift?
by Gullible_Curve9269
8 comments
whv first if you’re already decent at self study imo, you don’t need to pay a school to memorize decks and do homework. use that year to network like crazy and build a portfolio. japan immigration loves papers and boxes ticked though, so long term with no degree is super scuffed unless you find that one company willing to bend over backwards. and even then, different headaches. plan for a great year, not a forever move
are you ok with going back after WHV or language school ? you have no university degree which will make it very, very, very difficult to stay beyond that as you kind of need that for a white collar job work visa. that’s not decided by the companies, it’s a requirement from immigration. youtube is self employment / business and wont get you a visa just like that unless you are really big like certain youtubers their agency or management company or whatever gets them a visa somehow. final straw would be marriage but I wouldnt come banking on marriage. I know a couple of guys who were in that situation and ended up marrying the first girl that seemed interested. all of them ended up divorced.
WHV no questions asked. Find a part time job in the evening, and a cheap school to study at. Get a year of studying in, then switch to a student visa. You’ll get 3 years instead of 2.
Also you won’t get a job after language school without a BA.
I’m from Sweden as well, and I recently did a year on WHV and will soon go back on a student visa for language school. But I’ll take this in English.
It kind of sounds like you want to stay there long term, so if you do… you need a degree. Just get it out of the way first, or do it online while you’re there. Why not study at a university in Japan for your degree? You have money saved which is enough if you also use CSN. The degree might not be worth much if you decide to come back and work in Europe, but great if you really want to stay long term in Japan.
In hindsight, I kind of wish I would have gone to language school first, before my WHV. I did have a great year, met tons of great people and improved my Japanese. I also got a job which would have sponsored my work visa (I have a degree) but I was absolutely miserable and decided that I wanted to go back home rather than stay at that job. While my Japanese was between N2 and N3 (I have N2 cert), it wasn’t good enough for me to get the jobs that I wanted.
So, get a degree. If you don’t want to stay there long-term and you’re fine with two to three years, I’d do language school first. You’ll have a routine, a way to meet people and you’ll be more motivated to study (easy to slack off on a WHV, especially when you start working). If you use CSN for this (different weeks from the university pool!) you’ll definitely be fine financially.
(Jag använde också GoGoNihon, så jag antar att vi snackat med samma kille. Jag ska också plugga vid en skola i Tokyo, men jag kommer inte börja förrän i april nästa år.)
Just go to college in japan that will make things less complicated
Neither without a university degree or practical work experience. Not gonna be able to get an actual work visa and stay long term otherwise. Even with the degree, it’s pretty difficult for foreigners to find a job in a field they don’t have years of relevant practical work experience.
you need to be employed for WHV. without a degree it’s pretty much impossible in japan. so your plan is basically gap year in japan. I would do it, cuz yolo. but short for some
miracle, doesn’t seem to set you up for much.
You won’t be able to get a job or work visa without higher education or 10 years of relevant work experience.
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