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 Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 8:45 pm
Out of the many miscallaneous Japanese books I have ever purchased, the many internet articles I have ever read, and the hand-full of posts I have read in this guild I always see or hear about the resulting of a foreigner making a living in Japan... TEACHING HIS/HER ON LANGUAGE! Rarely have I ever seen or heard ANY incident in which a foreigner (especially from America) so happened to SUCCESSFULLY find another career path in Japan other than language-teaching. Is that all there is out there for the hardworking foreigner in Japan. Is he/she really condemned to teaching their own native tongue!? question
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 5:59 am
Sorry to burst your bubble, but sadly, for most Western foreigners who come to Japan, it's true. 85% chance that the first job you will get is teaching your own language, whether you are a qualified teacher and get a job at a school of some sort, or just do private lessons at Starbucks (very commonly seen at local Starbucks, foreigner with Japanese having a one-sided conversation LOL). Most people who are not qualified teachers get students through senseisagasu.com
A very sad thing is that a lot of Western people get stuck in teaching language. If they do get stuck, it is most likely they married a Japanese citizen (usually foreign man with Japanese woman), and the wife doesn't want to move out of Japan. If the case is foreign woman Japanese man, it's usually the Japanese man doesn't want to move to another country and start his job from ground 0 again (plus learn a more complexing language than English, if the spouse is European).
The only way to break out of this trap is to learn Japanese. But that's not the only way. You should be able to do something other THAN teaching... if you have a degree in anything, combine it with your Japanese, and hopefully you'll get hired somewhere. I have heard that Western foreigners who speak Japanese get very high pay checks if they work in companies/business etc.
Many Asian foreigners don't get "stuck" like this, since Asian communities abound in Tokyo (for example). Plus, because of similar writing/grammer systems, Asians tend to learn Japanese faster.
The other option is to work at an ethnic restaurant, which may or may not be run by natives of your country.
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 3:04 pm
Why not teach english until you yourself know Japanese then move on from there? If you know both languages quite well you can get a large number of jobs.
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 3:50 pm
I'm currently teaching English, and I also speak French. I've only been here 7 months and I've already had 2 offers to teach French. Where it's harder to find jobs for other languages, they do exist, and they pay more because there are less people around to teach them.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:57 am
Japan (like a lot of countries) probably doesn't want foreigners taking away good jobs from native Japanese. When you combine this with one of the most ethnically homogenous populations in the world, it just makes opportunities for foreigners that much narrower. I'm sure most of the 15% of foreigners whose not teaching their native language are probably at a company on the phone dealing with people in their native language. In those "request to join" forms for this guild, so many people say they want to move to Japan and become a manga-ka or a voice actor, and it's nice to have those dreams, but they probably have a much better chance of doing those kind of things in their home country than in Japan.
But like Wisteria said, if you want a job outside of teaching kids your own language, learn Japanese and learn it well, but you may have to go to Japan on one of the many english exchange programs in order to learn Japanese well.
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 11:49 am
hehe that's funny, I'm gald all I want to do is learn the language so I can go buy anime/manga hehe and go on vacation there and not feel like an idiot outsider and being asain guess I wouldn't stick out like a sour thumb too badly lol or so I hope - But it does suck that the only jobs avalible for Western foreigners, well while we are on the topic of Job's in Japan ~ I'm trying to start up my own video game company ~ what's the ratio of me being able to strike a deal with Sqare Enix / Nintendo / Sony to get a contract to produce game for / with them?
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Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:17 pm
To be brutally honest with you all here, I dont understand why ANY foreigner would WANT to work in Japan. As much as you might LOVE Japan, trust me, working there is like banging your head against a brick wall.
and I speak from experience as well. (and I know quite a few ex-JETs)
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Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 6:05 pm
As much as I love Japan, i would never wanna live there xp . Vacation there-yea. But live there? NEVER. Japan is a very nativist country, and they like to keep it "pure". Asia for Asians was the WWII motto. I doubt they'd want any gaijin crowding their streets sweatdrop .
Anywayz, yea- I got no intention of becoming an English teacher. Once I'm fluent I'm gonna become a translator or an interpreter or something 3nodding .
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2005 4:09 am
kaori_c To be brutally honest with you all here, I dont understand why ANY foreigner would WANT to work in Japan. As much as you might LOVE Japan, trust me, working there is like banging your head against a brick wall. and I speak from experience as well. (and I know quite a few ex-JETs) I'm working in Japan and I don't find it like banging my head against a brick wall. I mean, of course its challenging at times, but what job isn't? I LOVE Japan and I LOVE working here. 3nodding
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Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2005 11:10 am
kaori_c To be brutally honest with you all here, I dont understand why ANY foreigner would WANT to work in Japan. As much as you might LOVE Japan, trust me, working there is like banging your head against a brick wall. and I speak from experience as well. (and I know quite a few ex-JETs) My biggest worry abot JET is how varied the experiences are. Most people love it, of course, and that's what's earned it its reputation. But it's so varied: some JETs get fully furnished subsudized apartments, other pay for everything. some are involved in a few school activies a day, others are writting the whole lesson plan. Well, whatever, my application is in the mail, and I didn't request Tokyo or Osaka for placement nor did I mention anime or manga anywhere. I think I should be a shoe in smile
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Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2005 4:56 pm
How long do you plan on stayin' over there and where did you request to be sent? I was looking for a small place with google earth out of sheere boredom.
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Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2005 7:07 pm
Godon How long do you plan on stayin' over there and where did you request to be sent? I was looking for a small place with google earth out of sheere boredom. You can request by region, prefecture, or put one of the 13 or so large cities that are on there. You can also request urban, suburban or rural. I put urban just because I figure they will put me wherever, but if I put rural I would *definitely* be put in a rural area. Anyway, I requested Sendai (north of tokyo), then Kansai region, then Kanto region. I duuno why I chose sendai, just looks like a cool place. I have no idea what percentage of applicants get any of their choices, but I think it's pretty low, so I don't think it matter too much what I chose. Anyway, right I'm thinking of staying just a year (if I am selected of course). The longest I've ever been away from home is 2 weeks, and anything over a year is pretty daunting to me. I'll also miss my kitty. crying 2 years might not be out of the question, but it really depends.
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2005 12:22 pm
when i move to japan (hopefully when im out of college at RISD) i want to design clothes and maybe even be at the head of my business. im not neccessarily looking forward to the "business" aspect of it, but i love to make and design clothing, and i think Japan would be the best place to sell what i make. ^^ plus, everything is just so cute there (i know thats a bit stereotypical--oh well)
im prepared to struggle through my first year or two there (most likely) teaching english...*sigh* but itll be worth it if i get rich off my art! ::big if. big if. crushing my hopes. STOP IT:: 
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Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2005 4:40 pm
Pink-Spider kaori_c To be brutally honest with you all here, I dont understand why ANY foreigner would WANT to work in Japan. As much as you might LOVE Japan, trust me, working there is like banging your head against a brick wall. and I speak from experience as well. (and I know quite a few ex-JETs) I'm working in Japan and I don't find it like banging my head against a brick wall. I mean, of course its challenging at times, but what job isn't? I LOVE Japan and I LOVE working here. 3nodding I agree with Pink-Spider 100% here. Im sure it might depend on what language school your working for and who your bosses are. I defineately dont want to be a salaryman. But from my personal experience work was really easy and enjoyable. Most of the people that were complaining about work as an english teacher that I saw (and there were a lot of them) fit into one of three categories. 1. They have never had a proper hardworking job in their lives, to realise just how easy they have it with this. 2. They have been in Japan too long and complain about everything. Most people in this category normally have a Japanese husband/wife have nothing to return to in their own country and have absolutely no qualifications so they can only find jobs teaching English. 3. Have the temperament and personality that makes them unsuited to any type of work where they have to speak directly to customers/students. And if people dont fit into any of those categories then its normally because of fellow employees making their work miserable (and you can bet that they fit into one of the 3 categories).
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Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:06 am
Wisteria Darling Sorry to burst your bubble, but sadly, for most Western foreigners who come to Japan, it's true. 85% chance that the first job you will get is teaching your own language, whether you are a qualified teacher and get a job at a school of some sort, or just do private lessons at Starbucks (very commonly seen at local Starbucks, foreigner with Japanese having a one-sided conversation LOL). Most people who are not qualified teachers get students through senseisagasu.com A very sad thing is that a lot of Western people get stuck in teaching language. If they do get stuck, it is most likely they married a Japanese citizen (usually foreign man with Japanese woman), and the wife doesn't want to move out of Japan. If the case is foreign woman Japanese man, it's usually the Japanese man doesn't want to move to another country and start his job from ground 0 again (plus learn a more complexing language than English, if the spouse is European). The only way to break out of this trap is to learn Japanese. But that's not the only way. You should be able to do something other THAN teaching... if you have a degree in anything, combine it with your Japanese, and hopefully you'll get hired somewhere. I have heard that Western foreigners who speak Japanese get very high pay checks if they work in companies/business etc. Many Asian foreigners don't get "stuck" like this, since Asian communities abound in Tokyo (for example). Plus, because of similar writing/grammer systems, Asians tend to learn Japanese faster. The other option is to work at an ethnic restaurant, which may or may not be run by natives of your country. She might be not right with the percentage, but close though
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