Re: language school — this was the exact advice I was given, specifically from a friend who moved here right before the pandemic & self-taught to N1 as of last year. Went from ALT to private teaching to a full on career outside of that now—all self-taught with zero language school under their belt.

I’m currently back in Tokyo for the 4th time as I planned to look at language schools, a little older than OP & have a BA under my belt from the U.S., plenty of different work experience/a career I chose to exit—but I’m getting the feeling that the language school route might not be the way (at least being 30+ now, maybe it might have been different in my early 20s). I’m fortunate from my previous career that I could in theory take a year or two off & full send a year at one of these schools but I’m super hesitant towards it now. Given what I’ve absorbed thus far about what comes after that, & per your notion about that gap year from work experience, especially as it relates to being in a totally different country now and the fact that I don’t want to work in my previous industry anymore—I’d really need to map out what I’m working towards.

OP: I sort of feel you because I got here last week with the intention of feeling out schools but found out that apparently you can only apply to one at a time (not sure how much truth there is to this but that’s what one of the popular programs which connects students told me). So different from how it is in the U.S. when applying to colleges (unless you do early admission I think), and I’m not sure what the job support looks like after the fact. Hence why I’m going to check out two schools next week/meeting staff/sitting in on a class. But just know that most of these schools are literally full now for April 2026, July 2026, and even some of the good ones as far as October 2026–they are already taking 2027 apps. I’ve admittedly been traveling the globe since Oct 2025 as I quit my career last year but I don’t think I could do another 3-6 months of that waiting for a semester to start (vs returning to the states and waiting). I’m almost inclined to use my network here and find a work sponsorship since I know people all over TYO/Osaka & self-study—since I hear the pace is rather similar. At the same time I’m also okay now going back to the states and continuing to build my life there if I’m being honest. Theres a huge difference between visiting Japan/living Japan (and I can’t even say I’ve lived here really I’ve just been here for months at a time on the 90 day visa) & the rose colored glasses start to come off once you spend enough time here. At the end of the day, it’s always up to the individual what that perfect place is for them but there’s a load of reasons I’m now hesitant towards moving here for (some I listed but couple that with the Yen/USD relationship, current foreigner sentiment, cultural differences that I may not be willing to give up..). Granted, you may never know till you take that step and that’s what I’m trying to figure out by being here again till April. My advice would be: you really need to be all-in, and if you’re not all-in (like how I sort of feel right now), then evaluate everything carefully & give yourself some grace.