[dbosch]

I don't know your citizenship. But if you are from an eligible country (france, UK, Germany...) you are still eligible for a Working Holiday visa. It's a 1 year visa, quite easy to get. Unfortunately, the US citizens are not allowed to obtain this visa.

I lived in Tokyo for a year, and it's actually quite easy to get a job as a computer engineer there. Several of my friend came with a tourist visa (or Working Holiday visa) and managed to get a visa sponsorship from companies who wanted to hire them. I'm not saying it's super easy, but it is doable. And believe me, there is a shortage of web / mobile engineer in Tokyo.

Finally, don't worry too much about the gap year. Just go there and you'll find something. Go to events and meetups and you ll find plenty of people to talk to. You'll find a lot of opportunities that way.

Wish you the best

[japanaway]

Unfortunately my US citizenship precludes the working holiday route. I will look in to attending meetups the next time I'm over there, though.

[dbosch]

check out the '500 startups' meetup: https://500startups.jp/bilinguals-gaijins-in-startups/ plenty of startups of their portfolio looking for engineers

you can also have a look at this guy blog: http://www.tokyodev.com/ lots of tips on how to work as a gaijin engineer in japan