Japan Working Holiday Visa
I’ll try and write more about the process of actually preparing for, and travelling to Japan, for those who might be curious. Prior to leaving, all that is basically required is getting a new passport, plane tickets, and a Working Holiday Visa, which is a fairly straightforward process — although it takes a couple of weeks to process, so be sure to start sorting it out at least 3 months prior to departure!
You need a flight booking to get the Visa, and you need a Passport for a flight booking, so all 3 elements are non-parallelisable, which makes things a bit slower.
I’ll write more shortly about the exciting part of discarding everything you own, and fitting your whole life in a suitcase and a backpack. Hooray!