Teaching English in Japan: Before you leave

Posted on 16 June 2008
Tags: Teaching in Tokyo

Due to several queries from readers about teaching in Japan, I decided to run a series of entries on this topic to help those who are considering taking the plunge. I usually send off long replies and it dawned on me this could be very useful to those who want to teach in Japan.

The lessons I learned in teaching conversational English were drawn from the advice of a friend, who had a year of teaching experience, and my own trial and error. It isn’t something too hard to pick up without a teaching qualification but it has its challenges.

Here are the common questions that my readers are curious to know:

Is it advisable to go to Japan without a job?
No, because it is very expensive to live here, unless you come from a Scandinavian country. Even if you think you have it all worked out, what if you can’t find a teaching job you like before your cash runs out? Let’s say, you do have substantial savings for six months, but do you really want to blow so much money while living in uncertainty?

Also, if your money is running out, you may force yourself to settle for a job that has very compromising factors like less money, less benefits, longer travelling distances, less say in who and how you teach to name just a few.

If you come in on a tourist visa, you have three months grace and then you need to fly out of Japan to come back in again — there is a pretty limited number of times you can do this and no one knows what the ceiling is as everybody I know (or who knows somebody) has had difference experiences.

Three months is not a lot of time, unless you have set up interviews before you fly to Japan. Again, it is a fairly large financial burden to undertake because you have to fly home and back again if you manage to get the gig. Schools here do not pay for your airfares home.

There is another scenario, which is completely different from individuals who want to come to Japan by themselves, is that of the trailing spouse. If you are in this situation, then of course you have the luxury of time and financial support to look for a teaching position. But you may want to speed things up by setting up some interviews before you arrive because it is just no fun hanging out by yourself everyday with not much to do.

What is the cost of living in Japan?
If you are in town just for a fun year of learning Japanese or are on a working holiday visa, you could stay in a guest house offered by Sakura House or Jaf Plaza or Tohto Guest House which are just a few out of many available. Here, you just need to concern yourself with the rent.

The average rent for a studio (or it is called 1K, which means 1 room with kitchen; 1DK means 1 room, with dining and kitchen areas; 1LDK means 1 room with living, dining and kitchen areas) ranges from 30,000JPY to 80,000JPY per month. This is the most common style of living for singles (but the kangaroo and I shared one of these; we called it the shoebox) and they can be as small as 14 to 16 sq metres. Be warned that lower rent means you will be further from the city centre and may have to travel over an hour to get to your work place.

Most teachers starting out don’t really need to bother with rental issues as the company that hires you will help you look for accommodation or even have apartment compounds where they house their teachers (I will talk about salary expectations in my next post).

You could very well have to bunk with a colleague — some folks may not be enthused by that but the size and comfort of the place would sure beat what you get if you have a tiny studio to yourself.

If you are looking to settle here and stay in a proper apartment, it is a whole different ballgame altogether which I won’t go into as it is not so relevant to this post.

When you find yourself settling in more, you may want to consider looking for housemates to share a more expensive, comfortable, and centrally located apartment — this is what a lot of non-high earning professionals do.

Like what the Lonely Planet does in their guides, I will make a standard of living barometer from a myriad of items:

One apple = JPY178
Three tomatoes =JPY398 (this one always amuses my Singaporean friends — tomatoes are like a handful for SGD$2 or something)
One single stop subway ticket = JPY160
One bagel = JPY140 (plain with nothing in it)
One movie ticket = JPY1,800 (but they have special promotions on certain days of the month)
One beer = 500 to 600 yen
A pack of cigarettes = JPY300
Starting fare on taxis = JPY770
A modest meal at a mid-range restaurant with two drinks = JPY4,000

Do I need to learn Japanese before I arrive?
Yes and no to this one, but I would strongly encourage you to learn some basic skills for the sake of moving around and getting daily things done.

It’s not necessary for your job interview, especially if you are targeting big chain schools, junior high schools and high schools.

You would be surprised that knowing a high level of Japanese could set you back, as I have heard that most schools prefer teachers to speak only English to their students. Rumor has it that some schools even forbid their teaching staff to speak any Japanese on the premises.

Alright, that’s it for now, but look out for my next post on finding teaching positions in Tokyo.

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