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A Teacher's Life in Japan

First posted at PM 07:57 on 1997/12/9.Updated 2/99. Updated 5/5/2000.
Special thanks to Adrian & Kelly McKenna for the Japan info!

Visas
Wages
Accomodations
Culture
Language
Links

Visas

American and British citizens must have a sponsor. Usually it means that you get a teaching contract with a company for a year. You can come to Japan and then get the job ... but you'll have to leave again (usually for Korea) to get the "Humanities Visa". You can extend that visa as many times as you like and you don't have to leave the country.

Canadians and Australians (under the age of 30 - I think?) are eligible for a "working-holiday" visa. This allows you to work 15 hours a week for a company, but does not put a limit on your private lessons (where the real $ is!). You must apply for this in your own country and have at least $3000 in a bank account to be eligible!

Wages

With the working visas, the company MUST pay you at least 250,000 yen per month (about $2200 US)[ed. note 250,000 is the minimum - today's exchange rate is 108.470 yen to the dollar]. With the working holiday it is usually much less. You can earn anywhere from 2500 yen to 5000 yen per private lesson for 1 hour. It all depends on your location ... big cities = less and smaller towns = more. To teach English here you need a standard BA like other Asian countries but the market here is more competitive - it seems like everyone wants to live in Japan. I once took a fake ad out on the Internet and I was flooded with too many resumes on the first day. Opportunities -- if you only want to work here and get here, then look to the bigger schools, but they won't give you long vacations, and they will work you more. It is not a bad idea if you just want to get a start here or if you just want to do one year here. If you are looking to live in Japan for a while then the big schools are no good although they might be a good starting point for some people. Do I need a degree to get a job? Yes, you will need a BA for a basic language school job and an MA for a university job. Does the degree have to be related to teaching English, or is any degree ok? No, it is not important, but the market is quite competitive here. The bigger schools will take any BA, but some of the smaller schools are more picky. If you have a generic BA with no teaching experience, then look to the bigger schools .

Accomodations

Expensive! There are couple of things that can happen. Some companies will provide you with a place to live (semi-furnished). They deduct the rent form your salary. This is a good idea for the first year. It is extremely expensive to get set up in Japan. Also the landlords charge their tenants a "thank you money" deposit -- except the deposit is non-refundable! It's ususally the price of one month's rent, but you will never see it again!

There are cheap "gaijin houses". You get a room with a small cooking facility inside and you share the bathroom with the other tenants. It's very small and usually a temporary solution!

Hotel? You can forget it unless your mutual funds are yielding 100% profits! No really, about $60 - $200 for one night in a tiny place! So, you must pay for your own housing, which varies greatly. Tokyo and Osaka are very expensive. So are the other big cities -- depending on where you are. The apartment deposit is 3 or 4 times the rent. You are looking at between $400-$900 a month. It just depends on what you want -- if you are willing to live in a very small apartment, then you can get away with a cheap place. Some schools -- very few schools -- offer free housing - VERY FEW -- and many offer subsidized housing. Then there are others like NOVA that charge you more than your actual rent, but most schools are fair and they will at least pay your deposit (which is usually over $2500). This is why it is hard to get set up in Japan. You can't just fly here, get an apartment and start searching. The housing is a real pain. Most schools understand the situation. However, if you are looking for a really good language school job, one that might only require you to work 3-4 hours a day and give you 6-8 weeks off a year with a full salary to boot and sponsorship,then you can forget about help with housing. I have such a job now, but I didn't get any help with housing. I have also been here for four years and that is what you will find in Japan. The teachers who have been here a while have manuevered themselves into sweet, non-demanding jobs, but don't expect that you can walk into such a situation being green -- very few are so lucky.

Culture

If you are coming here to have a "Buddhist" experience ... go somewhere else in Asia! The Japanese are not religious and can hardly explain to you what the different festivals are for!

It is the most foreign country I've ever traveled to, but also the most comfortable! It is the closest thing to our "western" experience that you can get in Asia. Safe! We hardly lock our doors at night! If you're a single woman traveling and working ... Japan is a good safe choice! >What is the lifestyle/standard of living like? It is great. Japan is the most comfortable and modern country in Asia. It feels like the USA at times. Most Japanese are open to foreigners. I have only had one or two bad experinces in the four years that I have lived here. It is very clean -- there are many foreign-owned nightclubs where teachers hang and mingle with the Japanese. They are usually called International Bars. It's a lot of fun. But don't forget that it is the most expensive money in the world, so if you want to save, watch your pennies and don't go out every night. Almost all schools have no morning classes, so you can live a pretty carefree, wild life, and most do when they first come, but then they settle down. What about Transportation? Most teachers ride bicycles as do many Japanese. The transportation system is the most efficient in the world -- it will blow your mind. Buses arrive at bus stops within the minute of their scheduled time. Taxis are expensive -- the bullet train is as well, but local trains are fairly cheap , but everyone I know prefers their bicycle. But in places like Tokyo it can be too crowded to ride a bicycle, and transportation on subways and trains is packed -- so crowded in fact that they hire people to smoosh people into the train and subway doors. What about Traffic? Depends on your location . Avoid the big cities if you don't like traffic. The smaller cities and countryside are beautiful. What about Taxes? There's a 10% income tax and a 6% sales tax. Can you say More about Housing? It's cramped and expensive, but there's clean water. Japan is very modern and quite comfortable once you get you used to the small style. The more important information on housing is covered above. Any tricky government rules/regulations? When you leave the country on holiday, you must buy a re-entry visa for $30 -- if you don't, your work visa will autommatically expire when you depart Japan for vacation. You get the re-entry visa at the local immigration ofice. Any social "gotchas" that people should be aware of? Is anything that is commonplace for westerners considered quite rude in Japan? Take off your shoes when you go to people's houses. Don't blow your nose in front of people (very rude here). Don't talk and talk and talk -- the Japanese are very quiet and long periods of silence between people is normal. They appreciate the feeling or mood more than active conversation. What are the best places to live (city or country, which city, etc.)? Depends on the person. Are you looking for wild times? Go to Tokyo or Osaka. Are you looking for an off-the-beaten-path experience? Go to the country. I lived in the country for 6 months and went crazy, but I knew others there who loved it. I am a city person -- I like the hustle and bustle of things. But if you want money, then the country might be for you because it is cheaper,has nicer housing, there are more private pupils available, and there isn't much to spend your money on. What is the best time of year to come? The school year begins in April and a lot of schools hire then. Other than that, all times seem good except for New Year's of course. Since I have been here, I have seen times where a lot of jobs will open up quickly because several teachers just happened to decide to leave. You just need to be in the right place at the right time in Japan. What about weather/food/recreation? Food is great! It's clean and healthy. Remember the Japanese have the longest life span in the world. Recreation? There are lots of mountains and historic places to see, but if you have traveled elswehere in Asia, Japan will often seem more like a western country than an eastern one. Weather is mild in the winter and hot and humid in the summer. We also have a rainy season and after it, the cockroaches really come out. A lot of housing will have cockroaches: I just hope you are lucky enough not to have them! How easy or hard is it to get along with the people (especially, with employers)? You hear of very few problems in Japan. The Japanese are big on harmony in relationships; I have only heard of isolated incidents where people have problems.

Language

You can get by quite well knowing only the greetings in Japanese. I've been here 4 years, and I'm not proud to say I know only a very little Japanese. That's not to say that if you want to learn you can't. There are many places to study Japanese, and sometimes you can trade English - Japanese lessons. Once you live here, you will see that foreigners are quite competitive with learning Japanese. Most Japanese prefer to speak Japanese to you in public (of course, this is Japan!), However, you can get by easily without it because many English-speaking Japanese will be happy to help you (it's free English speaking practice for them)

Visa

Your school will sponsor you and take care of everything - but you need the sponsor!! They will do all the visa work for you. Only other way - marry a Japanese girl and you are set for life (as long as you don't divorce within the first six years of marriage.)

Links

O-Hayo Sensei Job listings for English teachers in Japan.
Finding an English Teaching Job in Japan