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Although there are 3 basic roads to teaching in Japan most recent graduates use to start their teaching careers, the destination in terms of salaries and working conditions are fairly similar.

Teaching in Japan  “Eikaiwa” The Most Traveled Road
“Eikaiwa” refers to the teaching of English conversation and basic grammar and believe it or not it’s a billion dollar industry in Japan. These consist of your large chain schools like ECC, Berlitz, Geos & Aeon. These organizations employ  thousands of  teachers throughout Japan and can be found in practically every single city in Japan irrespective  of size. There are literally tons of private English schools dotting the country side.All of these schools are attempting to carry out the daunting task of teaching English to the Japanese.

What’s Needed to Teach
You need a 4 year degree from an University to get a job. (2 year degrees won’t cut it.).) You pretty much also need to speak English at native level fluency. There are some that do find teaching jobs in Japan even though English is not their first language but this is more an exception than a rule.

Most English teachers make roughly 250,000 yen per month before taxes.  A typical work week will be 5 days long. Don’t expect western stuff like weekends off. The “eikawa” business whirs like a motor on weekends and someone has to teach the students right? This means that most teachers work at least one Saturday or Sunday with another weekday off.  Vacation packages are quite similar for most schools. 2 weeks of paid vacation and a handful of national holidays off is the norm. Of course there will be a bit of difference between how many national holidays any given school observes, but expect 8 to 10 per year. Something worth noting is that ECC English school has the best vacation of all the large chain schools. Here is a handy chart to help you compare salaries and working conditions for huge chain schools like Geos, ECC, Berlitz and Aeon.

Expect to work close to 40 hours per week. Each school is different but you can expect roughly 20 to 25 actual teaching hours per week with the rest being office hours.  Most schools also will provide you with health insurance or subsidize it. Typical office hours are filled by grading student work, taking class notes, preparing future lessons or just chatting with students. Furthermore, teachers are sometimes expected to hand fliers as well. No joking here folks, by the end of an average day, you’ll know you worked. When the dust settles, your typical teacher workds roughly 40 hours per week.

Larger chain schools, mentioned above,  have fixed curriculums. What this means is that you’ll be using their textbooks and other teaching materials. For those who don’t have a lot of teaching experience it’s a helpful in reducing stress (there already is quite a bit in adjusting to the culture and learning the language etc.) Those who need to express their creativity in the lesson will probably find it stifling.

ESL teachers typically teach all ages. Literally from a mere 5 years of age all the way up to 75. Some schools have only children as students like Amity English school and Peppy Kids Club. Other large chain schools like Gaba cater to only adults or adult private English lessons.  Because of the competitiveness of this industry, most schools cater to all ages. Most teachers teach children, young professionals and some housewives.

All most all of your large chain schools will provide their respective teachers with some kind of accommodations. This is a very big help as it’s difficult to find accommodations on your own without the help of a Japanese national. And it’s definitely not cheap. But the type provided will vary, you should expect things to be half the size of what you might find in most western countries. In general, furnishings will be a bit sparce as often they consist of departing teachers belongings.

Tags: teach ESL in Japan, teach in japan, teaching jobs abroad, work in Japan

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