Graduate School?

There's been some pretty good advice given here, but I'll just add a few points.

First of all, try to get to know professors in your final year of your undergraduate studies. If at all possible, get a job with a professor or a researcher that is doing work in something you might be interested in.

This is very important for a few reasons:

i) You can get letters of recommendation. All the graduate programs I've ever looked at required at least 3 letters of recommendation for entry, preferably from faculty.

ii) By working with faculty, you may get a better idea of what you want to do in graduate school. Working with different people may give you an idea of what interests you, what you'd hate to do, etc.

iii) You might be able to get involved in research activities. It is a good idea to have that in your background, because it shows an inclination towards research - grad schools are looking for this, too. If you can somehow get published, that would be very impressive.

I second everything that's been said about real-world experience. I've accepted to an MS program, and I attribute it to my experience as a microbiologist out in the real world. My work gave me a much better idea of what it is I intend to research for my thesis, and I think that helps.

Graduate schools, in my experience, tend to like people with a very clear idea of what it is they want to do, research-wise and career wise. After all, as a graduate student, the school and your professor will have to spend precious funding on you - they want someone who is likely to succeed, and not drop out (which happens sometimes, I'm afraid).

So, be sure to do a lot of reading and talking to professors and grad students to see what's out there for you to do, in the field of East Asian studies. (and yes, you need to be much more specific than just "East Asian Studies with a focus on Countries X, Y and Z"! :P ) At the very least, if you try to get back to the school you're currently in, they'll already know who you are. Good luck.

Jam it back in, in the dark.