The Culture Activities Visa is a permit to stay in Japan you can get for a year, or maybe more. Most people can extend it to two years, depending on their reasons. Cultural Visas allow you to work up to 20 hours a week.

To get a Culture Visa, you need to show the government that you are in Japan studying some sphere of Japanese culture, whether it be flower arranging, karate, Japanese cuisine, or anything else pertinent.

At Immigration, you are required to provide the following golden documents.

1. A cover letter stating what you are studying, if you have had any experience studying it before, and your objectives for the year.
2. Proof of financial support during your intended time in Japan. How much exactly is not clearly mentioned, but I've heard you will need a minimum of 400,000 Yen (2000 pounds to us Brits). Not neccesarily your own money.
3. Your resume, in Japanese.
4. Photocopies of any relevant qualifications you have.
5. A schedule of your practice hours. You must be doing at least 10 hours a week of training related to the activity.

Mine was something like;

You will also need some documents from whoever is responsible in training you.

1. Teachers resume.
2. A small essay on the teachers history in the activity. This can be written by you, or the teacher.
3. Photocopy of the teachers license to teach that activity.

You will also need a guarantor to put their name on the application for you. In theory, this means that the person is responsible for you should you get up to something naughty in Japan. The reality however, is that it's just a precaution, and they're not likely to ever get into any trouble over you. Not quite the burden, after all.

Lordy lordy, a lot of paperwork indeed - but as you can see - the only true difficulties involved seem to be related to some cooperation from an expert in Kendo or whatever you wish to study. This is an efficient safeguard against the unscrupulous folks out there who might be thinking to attain a Cultural Visa without ever studying a thing. You'll probably have to be at least half-serious about the art in order to convince an expert into parting with the appropriate paperwork on their side. Isn't this a good-thing? You *have* to study a little, for a change.

So, what happens next?

Well, once you've handed in all your paperwork, the wheels will get rolling at the regional immigration authority to get you authenticated with a Certificate of Eligibility. This is nothing more than a stamp on your passport, verifying that you have met the conditions deemed neccesary to stay in Japan under the applied for visa. Get the Certificate, and you can wipe your brow, because the visa is yours. It is now up to the immigration officials to decide how long they will let you stay in Japan on a Cultural Visa. It could be one year, two years (the usual) or longer.