I really want to teach english in japan, i have a burdening fascination for the country and culture which will not go away. The catch is, everywhere i have researched says to get a work visa you need an accepted job offer, a sponsor, a 4 year university degree, and a TEFL certificate.
So, my dilemma is this. Im from england, our university degrees are only 3 years for BA, and 2years for Fda(foundation), what's confusing me is, 4year one's dont really exist, and the one's that are 4 years are usually something clever like Biological science or Doctors, if your going to japan to teach english i dont see how these 4year aforementioned Uni degrees are relevant.
So, the qualifications i do have are a 4 year modern apprenticeship in Aircraft repair and overhaul, i spent nearly four years at an institution and gained an NVQ 2 and 3 (number 3 being equivalent to a BA, apparently?) among other Certs.
Can anyone point me in the right direction, and tell me these certs are accepted?
Thankyou

My degree was 4 years - Italian/Philosophy BA Hons.

It's not necessarily true that you need a degree at all, a TEFL should be enough. There are hundreds of language schools in Japan.

as long as you have a bachelor's degree from a recognized university, you should be fine. your 3 years degree may be the equivalent to a 4 year degree at a different university.

you're apprenticeship probably won't count unless it leads to a bachelor's

to make sure you should write to japanese immigration.

The bachelor's degree requirement is set by the Japanese government for all work visas, to prevent unskilled foreign labor from flooding the Japanese workforce. If you can get a bachelor's degree in 3 years, that would satisfy the requirement. They only mention "4 year degree" to distinguish a BA from lower degrees like those certificates you get from tech schools or correspondence schools.

To get the work visa, it has to be applied for by the company that will be hiring you, which basically means you need to be accepted for the job first, and then they can start the visa application process; i.e. you can't get a work visa first and then come unemployed to Japan to start looking for a job.

The requirements for a working holiday visa are less stringent though.

As for a TEFL or similar teaching certificate, most private schools and foreign teacher programs at public schools do not require them. Universities may require them for higher level professors of English classes. Some programs actually prefer that you DON'T have any teaching certificates or experience, because they want you to stick to their own teaching methods and evaluation criteria.

I think a BA is sufficient and you would qualify for a working holiday visa. Depending on where you work, they may accept your certification. There are a lot of english classes for engineers and people working in high tech careers, so they may accept you based on that criteria.

Try Shane English schools. They try to hire only teachers from the UK and try to specialise that teacher with classes appropriate to their knowledge and experience. Also, if you have any teaching experience whatsoever it would be helpful. It is one thing to want a teaching job, but you have to be able to teach as well.

http://www.i-to-i.com/
Send them an email to see if you can qualify for teaching in Japan.

My advice would be to talk to aircraft repair companies in Japan, since I expect that aircraft manuals are written in English. Chances are that you can get a job teaching English to aircraft mechanics in Japan.

You would receive better pay, avoid the certification requirements and be dealing with highly motivated students.

http://www.enigma.com/e/customers/jal.cfm

degrees in england are much higher then in Japan, so I think you will get accepted try to enter a college in Japan, you have to know the language too...very handy =P