I am interested in taking college courses to become a translator for Japanese to English, and possibly even an interpreter. I will be taking Japanese as a minor with an as-yet-undeclared major that I will choose based on the translation field I would like to work in. I have read that fluency is the biggest hiring factor for translators, and to become fluent many students choose to study abroad. My problem is I have a full time job and a family that I must support, and studying abroad is not really a viable option. Is it possible to become fully fluent in Japanese without direct cultural interaction? I can find plenty of cultural media to help, but I'm unsure how effective this would be.

I just want to know if pursuing this career choice is the best idea given my lack of travel options. I currently reside in Kentucky USA and will be studying locally.

Would be interested to know of any experiences trying to learn this language