Moving to Japan for 6 months

Hello everyone,

I am planning to go to Japan for 6 months from September. I’m Irish, 36M and currently work as a chef. I want to study Japanese in a language school and my preference is either Osaka or Fukuoka. I’ve been studying Japanese using apps and textbooks for about a year and have visited Japan twice already. I love all things Japanese and simply want to develop my language skills further and spend more time there while also taking a career break.

As an Irish citizen I know I can stay 6 months without a visa and I am too late applying for a work or student visa anyway. I plan to live in Japan in two 3 month slots allowing time to return home for Xmas. But I am still unsure how I should go about this. So I have a some questions.

will I still need to satisfy particular entry requirements?

can people recommend schools in these cities that could accommodate me?

how should I go about finding a short term rental apartment

how much savings should I bring?

if people have experience doing something similar any extra advice would be great!