Come Work In Japan

[Cap'n Nick]

Ashley and I are coming back to America this summer and we need somebody to take my job.

The job has two parts. The thing I actually get paid for is teaching English at a pre-school. The kids are aged 0-6 and there are about one or two lessons on any given day, plus a fifteen-minute adult English lesson in the afternoons. The rest of the time you just hang out at the school, play with the kids, and make sure the administration has a gaijin face to show off.

The other part is church work. The pre-school has a standing relationship with a local English school which also acts as a church and Bible study center. You would be participating in both English and Japanese worship and Bible study, and be invited to run Bible studies with Japanese people yourself. Japanese language skill is a huge plus but not strictly necessary since virtually everyone involved with the English school is interested in practicing English, and the pre-school is interested in providing "authentic" interactions with foreigners to its students.

What is required is a college degree (in any field). This is required by Japan for the work visa. If you have a degree in English or English certification they'll bump your pay up by ￥10,000 a month. Base pay is ￥250,000 with an added housing allowance. After taxes、insurance, and other fees I normally take home about ￥210,000.

A few things to watch out for: this town is kind of out in the boonies, so if you're looking for the Mega-Tokyo lifestyle you'll be a bit disappointed. There are plenty of chances to participate in festivals and such, and there are some fairly geeky places in the next town over, but transportation is expensive enough that it's pretty hard to get out and party every night, or even every week. A single person might have better luck than a married couple, though. Also, Japanese domiciles aren't big on central heating and air, so expect to experience the four seasons a bit more acutely than you might at home. Finally, since this is a hoikuen it leans more towards a daycare than a kindergarten, which means very little vacation time. I typically receive eight days a month off, which includes Saturdays and Sundays. If a month has five weekends or some national holidays, then I'll typically be working Saturdays to make up for it (like I am tomorrow because of New Year's).

Anyway, that's all just in the interest of full disclosure. The lifestyle adjustment can be pretty challenging but there's plenty of fun to be had here and plenty of good people to help you get settled. The reason I'm posting this here is because while we have a few people looking at the position, we don't have anyone whose interested in both the English work and the church work. My friends here pretty much are the missionary presence in this town and they're going to be a bit put out when Ashley and I skip town. If we could find someone to help out with that I and they would feel a lot better.

If you're interested PM me right away, as we're going to start Skype interviews any day now.

[Crossfire]

Bah... I would love to do this if it weren't for the fact that I just graduated from high school. How often do these positions open up?

[Cap'n Nick]

This one opens up every few years or so. Ashley and I kept it for two years. The guy before us stayed for one. Keep us in mind if you're still looking when you graduate.

[Kaori]

This is almost the sort of thing I would be interested in if it weren't for the fact that I, too, am moving back to America this summer.

But here are some things that would be helpful for potential applicants to know:

In what part of Japan is Kojima? Is it the Kojima that's about halfway between Osaka and Hiroshima?
What are your work hours like (i.e. how many hours per day do you work)? Do you have to spend a lot of time outside of normal work hours preparing for your lessons?
Do your employers provide you with a set curriculum to follow, or do you have to create the English lessons yourself?
How immersive is it as a Japanese-speaking environment? Outside of your English lessons, do you have many opportunities to speak in Japanese, or does everyone speak to you in English?
Did your employer help you find housing? How much do you pay for housing per month?

Those are the things I would want to know if I were interested in the position.

[uc pseudonym]

Some more basic questions:
1) When exactly does the position open? Is this a boilerplate contract for a given number of years or something less clear?
2) Is this through a larger organization? Do they offer any kind of support like medical or legal?
3) What are the up front costs? I'm thinking first of visa and other government hurdles, but I'm also wondering if there's any assistance for other costs like airfare.
4) How clearly defined is the job description for the church work? What's the theological bent of the church/community?
5) What's the weighting on the pre-school job description? Is this English teacher with secondary duties or daycare with secondary teaching?
6) How does cost of living compare to the salary you mentioned? More specifically, what kind of internet is available and at what price?

I have mixed feelings about this. It's interesting timing, since I also finish a job this summer and my ideal next position doesn't open up for at least a year after that. I have English and Bible degrees, but I'm not sure I'm actually the right person for the position. I haven't had time to think or pray about this, but I wanted to express interest since there seems to be some hurry.

[Cap'n Nick]

In what part of Japan is Kojima?

This is the Kojima part-way between Hiroshima and Osaka. Both are about 45 minutes by shinkansen after a 20-minute train ride to Okayama.

What are your working hours like?

I work from 9 AM to 4 PM five or six days a week. I receive a fixed number of off days per month (usually 8) which includes Sundays. Aside from the Sundays, I can choose the off days, though they prefer I not use them on lesson days without a reason. There are occasional special events in the evening, and once we took a staff trip on Sunday.

Do you have to spend a lot of time outside of normal work hours preparing for your lessons?
No. There's plenty of preparation time built into the daily routine.

Do your employers provide you with a set curriculum to follow, or do you have to create the English lessons yourself?

There's a skeleton of a curriculum and plenty of lesson materials, but the lessons themselves must be organized and constructed by the teacher. For example, this month I have a general outline saying that we should study clothing and body parts, a set of flash cards for winter clothes and a set of flash cards for body parts, and a winter clothes dress-up paper doll. It's a good start but I definitely couldn't just waltz into class without any additional preparation.

How immersive is it as a Japanese-speaking environment? Outside of your English lessons, do you have many opportunities to speak in Japanese, or does everyone speak to you in English?

Pretty immersive. The school manager speaks decent intermediate English, but the rest of the staff knows only a few words at best. The church/English school people have good English and Japanese skills and are happy to act as liasons, but are not generally available during work hours. Generally, there is someone available to help in English in an emergency, but most daily interactions will take place in Japanese.

Did your employer help you find housing? How much do you pay for housing per month?

The school did select an apartment for us, which had also been used by the previous teacher. This apartment costs ￥60,000 a month. It's a pretty big place--the teacher before us was married with two kids and he lived there comfortably. If the next teacher were single, they've said they would probably find something smaller and cheaper.

When exactly does the position open? Is this a boilerplate contract for a given number of years or something less clear?

July, with some flexibility. My contract is up in mid-July; however, the exact date is fungible and it's expected that I will stay a little longer to help the new person make the transition. Ideally, the new person would come on July 15 and I would stay with them a week, but again, this date is flexible backwards or forwards. June or August would be okay, too, I think.

The term is generally given in year increments, with no real penalty for skipping town. The guy before us left mid-way through a two year and the school still worked with him through the transition.

Is this through a larger organization? Do they offer any kind of support like medical or legal?

The school has an umbrella corporation, but it's not terribly large and strictly local. You'll basically be working directly for the school. I don't think there's any special legal or medical resources, though as a full time employee of a Japanese corporation you will be enrolled in national health insurance, which isn't half bad, I'm finding.

What are the up front costs? I'm thinking first of visa and other government hurdles, but I'm also wondering if there's any assistance for other costs like airfare.

Tons of up-front costs. No assistance on airfare, and the pay period means you won't receive any money until the 20th of the month after you start. It was a huge pain. But, if that's the only thing keeping you, the English school folks are very generous and would probably float a zero-interest loan or gift to the right candidate.

How clearly defined is the job description for the church work?

Not at all defined. It's more like, this guy running an English school (a different one, not the one you'll be working for) came to Japan to be a missionary and is using his relationship with the pre-school to hopefully import someone who will help him with this. The school really has no interest in the church side of things. They just want an English teacher. Right now there are no great Christian candidates, and if that's all there are, that's what he'll give them. That's why I'm posting this here. I think it's a good thing he's doing and I want to help him keep it up.

As for the actual church work, right now we're running Sunday afternoon services in English for the foreigners (and one Japanese convert with advanced English skills). Right now we have three foreign couples including myself, but four of us are going home this year so it'll just be the new people and We try to split up the work of running that service so no one gets too burnt out. As far as actual missionary work, we have a mixed-language singing and Bible study time on Sunday nights, which usually includes a group dinner. There's also one-on-one Bible study with interested Japanese folks as much as we can manage it. Though the English school owner has some obvious leverage, anyone coming into this position would not be his employee and would be his partner in mission work only as far as they allowed. Again, I'm hoping we can find someone who be enthusiastic about partnering in this work, but it's not a requirement for the English teaching position.

What's the theological bent of the church/community?

The conversation school owner (the main liason) and his wife are affiliated with Church of Christ, specifically the branch associated with Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. They practice believer's baptism, by immersion only. Communion is done as an ordnance, every week with saltines and grape juice, with a penchant toward reminding everyone that Christ is not present in any special way within the elements themselves. Scripture is the inspired word of God; however any given portion may contain human error. Worship should be spontaneous and creeds are always to be questioned. Not being familiar with this group before I met this couple I can't say if these beliefs are typical of the denomination or simply these individuals, but I've found it to be a very unique mix of conservative and liberal.

Ashley and I are not affiliated with this denomination and do not agree with all of these practices, but they have always been generous to us without compromising their own beliefs. I suspect they would work well with anyone more interested in teaching people about saving faith in Jesus than having arguments.

What's the weighting on the pre-school job description? Is this English teacher with secondary duties or daycare with secondary teaching?

It's mostly just being with kids or cleaning things. There are at most three thirty-minute lessons in one day. Plus, the kids eat really slowly, so the mid-day meal might take up an hour and a half. There's another snack time in the afternoon that can easily run 45 minutes if they don't make a point to cut it short. They generally sleep from 1 to 3. If I'm feeling really inspired I might go pat them to sleep during this time, but generally I use it for lesson planning (or writing CAA replies). 9 to 11 is the real active time, when I'm expected to be either actively playing with children or giving them an English lesson. Over all, pretty cushy, though hopefully the next teacher won't be quite as lazy as me.

How does cost of living compare to the salary you mentioned? More specifically, what kind of internet is available and at what price?

It's more than enough to get by, but Ashley and I find that if we don't watch ourselves we don't save much. Bills and rent take up about half the check, and a lot of the daily costs, while we have enough to cover them, are frustratingly large. For example, it's currently impossible to see a movie in the theater for less than ￥5,000. The movie itself is only ￥1,000 on opening day, but between two tickets, train, and bus fare it's up over ￥5,000. Also, grocery store portions tend to be tiny, so there's no guarantee that you'll save money cooking at home instead of going out. I think a single person with an iron stomach might have better luck with it.

As for the internet, it's pretty nice. I've got fiber optic for ￥5,218. Not sure on the exact speed right now but it's always felt buttery smooth. Enough to be competitive on trans-Pacific FPS servers, anyway.

[Lynna]

:O If I could, I would have loved to do this. Unfortunately, I'm not out of high school yet Oh well.

[Kaori]

Just to give a bit of perspective on the cost of living for a single person, I typically spend about 60,000 yen per month, sometimes less. That is including utilities-and-internet and not including the cost of housing.


However, there will naturally be a difference between how much it costs for me to live here versus how much a single person could live on in Kojima due to differing utility costs, transportation costs, and so on. In particular, here it's possible for me to get to any place I really need to go via bicycle, which cuts my transportation costs to almost zero.

[uc pseudonym]

Since I'm past general questions, I've sent you a PM, Nick. Right now it's in the "Outbox" category which I'm pretty sure just means you haven't opened it, but tell me if it didn't appear.

[rocklobster]

By Ashley do you mean our former site owner? If so, I'd love to see her again on the boards!

[Cap'n Nick]

Yep, that's the one. She's a bit busier than I am so she doesn't get by here much.