I am 19 years old almost 20- I've had a sincere interest in Japan and its culture for some time now. The art amazes me most and I was hoping to go visit Japan one day. I never had the chance to actually study Japanese culture or anything, I am out of school now too and all I have is a GED. So far I have had almost no luck researching on how to go about achieving this goal/dream of mine. I don't know a lot of people so I don't have connections to find information on these types of things. If you are someone who has been to Japan before or at least knows a lot about Japan, please help me. What should I start doing? What are the best jobs to look into that will help me if I go to Japan? Please give me any information at all that you think would help me.

From Traqqer: You don't need to learn Japanese because they are so ...
You don't need to learn Japanese because they are so americanized. But you need to be aware of their customs. Also, they are heavily into sex.....the whole culture is perverted.

From Stimpson J. Cat: If you had a college degree you could get a job teaching ...
If you had a college degree you could get a job teaching English. Such jobs usually require a one-year committment, which gives you plenty of opportunity to enjoy the country and meet people without being there longer if you end up not liking it. Any large American company with an office there probably requires a college degree for the job. You could try getting a job as a baggage handler for JAL (Japan Air Lines). Then maybe you'd get free or discount airline tickets as a benefit. Or, maybe other airlines that fly to Japan are options for you. If you do go to college, Temple University has a campus in Japan, I think.

From ishkabobbleindustries: If you're female, you can get a job in a hostess bar. ...
If you're female, you can get a job in a hostess bar. Contrary to popular belief, these are not sex industry jobs. You just chat up bar customers and get them to buy more booze. Otherwise, the only job you can HOPE to get is teaching english, which you need a college degree for. And YES you DO need to learn Japanese. I'd start with Rosetta Stone or Pimsleur language systems. Or a great on-line course is YesJapan.com.

From My Curious Wife: Visiting Japan and working in Japan are quite different ...
Visiting Japan and working in Japan are quite different things. As long as you can afford the plane ticket, you can come and stay in Japan for up to 90 days. Let's talk about living and working in Japan because I think that's what you're interested in. First, to get a working visa in Japan, you have to have a four-year college degree. Doesn't matter what major. If you're from the UK, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand, you may be able to look into getting a Working Holiday Visa. In that case you could go and get any job there for awhile (e.g. teaching, working at a bar). If you're American, you're out of luck on that one. If you're serious about coming to Japan and working (legally) for awhile, my advice is to first get that college degree. If possible, do a study abroad program for a semester or a year to experience Japan as a student. From there you can start to weigh options. Teaching English is going to be the easiest way to get here because there are many options. Nova, Aeon, Geos are a few conversation schools. If you want to get into art and animation, there might be some programs especially designed for that but I don't know anything about that unfortunately. I've been here for seven years now and for someone who sounds interested in Japan, I would highly recommend it. Good luck with everything.