Well, now i would like to share my experience about how to study in Japan. There are a lot of my friends who are interested in Japan and want to study here, but they just don't have enough information, especially in my motherland. Even if you try to search how-to books, I don't think that it is really helpful. I might be new in Japan, but I'll try to share my experience in these 9 months.
First, what do you need to prepare before going here?
1. Set your goal
What do you want to do here? Do you want to study in university? Is undergraduate or graduate school? Or college? Or getting jobs? Etc etc. You have to undergo different way in order to reach your goal. This is the most important thing to do, because it will affect all of preparations here.For example, if you want to go to undergraduate school and study in Japanese, you need (minimum) level 2 Japanese language proficiency test (N2) and the result of EJU, for job it is level 1 and other test (I will explain about JLPT later)
Just for your information, whatever your goal is, you need to enroll yourself in Japanese language school first. It is almost impossible for anyone to aim for their goal without going to Japanese language school even though they have N1 qualification. By going to Japanese language school, you don't only give yourself the time to adapt, you will also get used to listening Japanese conversation, writing essays, knowing Japanese customs, and many others.
2. Financial Preparation
Well, let's say you have already set your goal. Now, the first step to reach that goal is the financial preparation. As you know, the living expenses in Japan is the most expensive in this world. It is probably due to the extreme cleanliness by Japanese people which makes everything so expensive here. Geez.For the education fee itself, I think it is probably cheaper than any other country, especially if you go to the national university. At least, you should consider your financial preparation for the language school and the first 3 months you got here. Even if you want to do part time jobs, you need at least a month to find some, because you need to wait the permission from the government.
3. Search for Japanese Language School
There are a lot of Japanese Language Schools in Japan, and you need to be smart enough to choose the right one for you. You should consider the school's facility, services, reputation, location, etc. Every school has their own advantages and disadvantages, so just take your time to think and choose.You can try to browse the internet to get information, but I suggest you to go to Japanese education fair, because it more credible. You can meet face-to-face with the representation of the school, and ask many things. You can get many valuable information that you could not obtain from the internet.
4. Learn Basic Japanese
YOU HAVE TO DO THIS! Believe me. Most of people here could not speak English. Even if some language schools welcome you even though you have zero experience with Japanese, I suggest you to stop that. To live here, you have to be at least understand basic Japanese, could speak basic conversation, and read kanas (hiragana and hiragana), or else you'll get into trouble. You would be fine if you have someone you can depend on here, but if you don't, please learn Japanese.
5. Ask from Your "Senior"
Well, it is not really important, but it indeed helpful for people like you. Ask the people who have already gone to Japan and studied abroad here. You might get interesting and important information from them. Relax, they won't bite, so even if you don't know them, just be brave and ask them. =)Well, for now I think all of this the basic preparation to go study abroad in Japan. Hope this helpful for you ^^