Once you have made the decision there are four fairly obvious ways to go about getting your first job:

1. Apply from abroad and get a company to sponsor your Visa

2. Move to Japan and find a job while you’re here.

3. Get alternative work in Japan that sponsors your Visa and switch to the game industry when convenient.

4. Join an international company back home and ask/hope to be relocated to the Japanese office.

From anecdotal evidence I can positively say these four methods all work as I have known and met other foreigners in Japan whom have all made their way here following one of these routes. They all have their drawbacks though.

If you apply from abroad you are in for a long wait. Correspondence is already notoriously slow in Japan and putting extra distance between yourself and your desired place of employment will slow things down even more. On top of that you won’t be able to come in for interviews in the short term.

Do not expect companies to fly you out to Japan for the privilege of interviewing you, as that most probably won’t happen. The best you can hope for is to gather a few favourable responses and try to schedule a series of meetings and interviews in the same week. Then you fly over to Japan out of your own pocket and hope for the best.

Alternatively you could move to Japan first. Holiday or student Visas give you some time, though limit your working hours. Being on the ground though makes the whole thing a lot easier and quicker. The main drawback is that it’s expensive!

Without an income to support yourself you’ll need a pretty decent nest egg to wither away. Also, should you land a job and apply for a working Visa you’ll need to re-enter the country to validate it. Luckily a short trip to, say South Korea isn’t expensive but it is an added hassle.

Easier is probably getting a different job in Japan. Many English conversation schools hire aggressively and sponsor Visas. Working conditions can be harsh and the wages low, though not for the hours you’ll work. Be careful where you apply, though, as some schools have the smell of scandal around them. Once you have a job and a Visa you have all the benefits of being in Japan and applying locally plus the added bonus of an income. Your new company will only have to transfer your Visa, which requires some red tape but not so much as acquiring a new Visa from scratch.

The last and possibly longest route is to join an international company and asked to be relocated to the Japan offices. For a start you’ll need to land that job at home first and even then you’re not guaranteed a transfer. But if you do your wages will probably be better, your company will sponsor or help you with the move and take the brunt of most of the expenses. It’s absolutely the safest route to go, but it is only for the patient or patently lucky.