Moving to Japan

[x-naga]

Hey guys,

Aside from teaching English in Japan, what other opportunities are there for foreigners who want to move to Japan?

For those of you who moved to Japan from North America, what did you begin doing there? How long ago did you move there? What are you doing now? And is 250,000 a month enough to live on? Feel free to tell your stories and experiences.

Thanks!

[P Goldsbury]

Hey guys,

Aside from teaching English in Japan, what other opportunities are there for foreigners who want to move to Japan?

For those of you who moved to Japan from North America, what did you begin doing there? How long ago did you move there? What are you doing now? And is 250,000 a month enough to live on? Feel free to tell your stories and experiences.

Thanks!

Do you want opinions only from North Americans?

[Josh Reyer]

Hey guys,

Aside from teaching English in Japan, what other opportunities are there for foreigners who want to move to Japan?

From none at all to sky's the limit. It all depends on what skill set you have, your experience, your connections, your nationality, your flexibility, and some luck.

If you only have a generic bachelor's degree, no Japanese ability, and no specialty skills to speak of, then English teaching is pretty much it. Until you get over here, at least.

If you have a large nest egg, attending a Japanese language school is a short term option, which might hopefully lead to other employment once you're here.

If you have specialty skills, e.g., computer programming, engineering, etc., then depending on where you live and who you know, it's possible to get a job doing that, even with no Japanese ability.

There's always the possibility of going to work for a Japanese company in your home country and eventually being sent over.

Otherwise, visas are scarce. By Japanese law (much like in other countries), a non-Japanese citizen generally needs to be doing a job a typical Japanese person can't fill. Teaching English is the easiest door to Japan, especially if you don't live in an area with a large Japanese/Japanese-American population, with access to Japanese companies working in Japan.

For those of you who moved to Japan from North America, what did you begin doing there?

Teaching English. I later joined a Japanese company, but quit after a year. Teaching English pays well enough for a single person, and is sooooooo much less stressful, and my current position as an elementary school English teacher allows me plenty of time to train.

How long ago did you move there?

First came over in 1998 for three years. Came back again in 2005.

What are you doing now?

Elementary school assistant English teacher. (Assistant as in, I assist the certified Japanese teachers; I'm pretty much in charge of the English program all by myself.)

And is 250,000 a month enough to live on?

Well, it depends on where you live, but yeah, generally it's enough to live pretty decently, have an active social life, and still save money.

For example, in my previous job as an English conversation teacher at AEON Eikaiwa, I paid about 50,000 rent, 12,000 taxes, and took home 180,000-190,000 yen. Utilities were about 20,000 yen in heavy months (running the heater in the winter, and some looong international phone calls). I cooked my own food and biked everywhere (cars are expensive), and I was able to save 80,000-100,000 a month. That was in Toyota City.

Now I'm living in Nagoya, which has a nice public transportation system. Rent's a little higher, but expenses are otherwise about the same.

Living in Tokyo, the main problem is housing. If you live anywhere convenient, you have to live in a pretty cosy (read=small) studio apartment. If you live in a nice size apartment, you're going to have to be a little bit out of the way. Utilities weren't otherwise too bad, as I recall, and the train system is...I believe the term is FRICKIN' AWESOME.

But my God. Tokyo is crowded. Every time I go there, I spend the time on the bullet train/overnight bus fondly reminiscing of my year and a half there. Then I arrive and say, "Ah...yes. This is why I left."

I enjoy living in Japan, so this may come as a surprise, but I strongly recommend not moving here. Or rather, not wanting to move here. By all means, come for a visit. Stay a few weeks if you can. Whatever art you decide to go with, training at the Hombu here in Japan would probably be a blast.

But there's a very strong recurring thread among foreigners who live here. Those that wanted to come here, they leave. Those that stay, generally didn't really plan on staying. It's weird, but it's true. I figured two, three years tops, and then settling down in the States. Now I'm back with plans on staying for the indefinite future. A lot of the personal histories I've read on here and other budo sites have a similar theme. "I planned on staying an training for 1 or 2 years, and ended up staying for 10."

Meanwhile, most people (maybe all?) that I know who came here because they were interested in Japan, and Japanese culture (anime/j-pop/budo), they don't stay for very long, and often leave unsatisfied. The worst thing to have is expectations.

Japan is a very different budo world than the U.S. Not better, not worse, but different. In the U.S. there are a lot of storefront dojo. They offer many classes a week, you go when you want, and the dojo has a fascinating Japanese inspired decor. There are certainly a few places like that in Japan (mostly the Hombu for most martial arts), but much more common is training twice a week, sometimes once a week, at a rented space in a community center. Space is at a premium in Japan, and most dojo can't afford to hang a shingle. You may look at a dojo's webpage and see they only train twice a week and think, "My God, what kind of decent budo training can they get studying only twice a week?" But if you look closer you see that they are affiliated with some other dojo that's in the area, and students can also study there on different nights. So while the casual hobbyists study only twice a week (probably as much, I daresay, as the casual hobbyist in the States), the men truly interested in studying budo often end up dojo hopping - Tuesdays and Fridays at Dojo A (their primary affiliation), Mondays at Dojo B, and Saturdays at Dojo C. They get their work in.

For example, at the dojo I trained at in Toyota, they rented the judojo of the Toyota Municiple Gymnasium on Saturdays and Sundays. Taijutsu for an hour and a half, weapons for half an hour, and then one hour free practice. And then one of the sensei's good buddies from his Iwama days had another dojo a 30-40 minute drive away that met for an hour and a half on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with a weapons class on Saturday nights. Members of one dojo could attend the practice of the other dojo at no extra cost. So, if some fellow living in Toyota (pop. 411,000) decided to dedicate himself to Iwama style aikido, he could get a total of 11 hours of partner practice over five days, in addition to whatever solo training (suburi etc) he was doing. Not bad at all.

If you look at the Aikikai's dojo finder, you find a lot of Japanese dojo's like this. One instructor who goes to two or three different community centers over four nights, or one main dojo (meets three times a week under the head instructor) and a number of nearby satellite dojos (meet once a week under an assistant instructor), and groups of dojos loosely affiliated. The Owari Yagyu Shinkage-ryu , possibly the premier kenjutsu school in the Aichi area, meet 2.5 times a week in various sports centers around Nagoya, and haven't had a proper dojo since their old one burned down in WWII.

[Josh Reyer]

Um. My pithy point-by-point response kinda got away from me there...

[P Goldsbury]

I generally agree with Josh's post.

I am rijicho of the local international school here. The expatriate teachers are on annual contracts and tend to stay for three to five years. They then move on to other international schools. However, a number of expatriate friends of mine are like myself: in the academic world with unlimited tenure. We all have permanent residence. However, to do this you need a Ph.D at the absolute minimum and some refereed publications. Some of the people on the JET scheme stay here after their time is up and move on to other schools.

I also agree that it is best to come here with zero expectations, especially expectations based on 'exotic Japan, land of bushido' etc etc. I came at a time when there were few foreigners here, found a niche, settled in, and did not make any enemies. So I was asked to stay.

[Samurai Jack]

I also agree that it is best to come here with zero expectations, especially expectations based on 'exotic Japan, land of bushido' etc etc.

That blows my fantasy of living in Japan with endless nights filled with easy women, sake, street racing and karaoke. "shucks"

[meat]

Hi Neil, I'll echo the other older and more esteemed members who said to not have too many expectations. I can say this because I am on the exact opposite end of the scale in that I came over completely psyched to train and 'experience' Japan and I found it to be a very different animal to what I expected.

The day to day stuff isn't too bad to deal with. Teaching English is ok moneywise and unless you are a complete dumbass with finances you shouldn't have too much trouble. Do you speak Japanese? Not that you should be scared off if you don't, but it helps alot.

Your most important priority is to make friends when you get over there. I have travelled many places in the world and have found no place so lonely as Japan can be. It is not that the people there are unfriendly, but in a country so ridiculously crowded you are just one in that crowd, and unless you can find people to talk to you will very quickly feel like a drop of water adrift in a sea of humanity.

HTH

[Ewok]

Aside from teaching English in Japan, what other opportunities are there for foreigners who want to move to Japan?

I've just finished working as a deskside engineer in a finance company - many of the bankers/traders were foreigners, as well as about 90% of the engineers and developers. I've also done work interpreting/translating in a technical environment, basically being an engineer who does nothing but pass messages

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