Alternative ways to work in Japan

23 comments

1. Hey dude, I get that you have this strong desire to live in Japan but your post seems like you’ve put this country and the culture on a golden plate and it seems larger than life. If you’re resting your mental stability on living in another country and not living your life outside of this then you’re never going to have the experience you want because no matter what happens your goal will always be this next goalpost.

   At the moment Japan is only just beginning to open back up to new people entering the country. Its going to be likely 6+ months at least before we see pre-covid situation.

   Your degree will be a significant issue with finding roles as well as far as I am aware your PharmD will not count as an equivalent for a BA. I could be wrong here. Research this yourself. Your negative outlook also says to me that you won’t be happy in Japan. You’re just seeking what you think will provide the next burst of serotonin.

   The best advice I can give you is slow down and work on yourself, both mental health wise and with making yourself a stronger candidate for ESL roles if you are applicable. Get a TEFL or some experience. Little steps.

2. First off, why do you want to come to Japan so bad? If it’s “I love anime”, you’re going to have a rough time. It’s also weird you’re so hellbent on coming to Japan without any Japanese proficiency whatsoever.

   You need to get your BA. This is why you’re not getting offers. You’re never going to get a good job in Japan without it. Take a couple years and get your BA, not just for Japan but for life in general. You can get your BA online these days so you have no excuse.

   If you really want to come to Japan, just come visit for 10 days on vacation.

3. Is this how you normally write English, or is this just how you write on Reddit?

   If so, you may want to get someone else to proofread your curriculum vitæ and covering letter before sending them out again.

   Regardless, there are no visa types for unskilled labour. What can you *actually* do?

   Disclaimer: I don’t know anything about teaching English, but I suspect that correct grammar would be important.

4. Potential reasons no one is giving you the time of day. Not being a jerk. Just being real based on your post. I certainly am not trying to shatter your dreams, but these are somethings to keep in mind.

   1. You say you don’t have a BA, but you have a doctorate. That’s complete nonsense. If you have a doctorate, then you earned a BA along the way unless you went to a real shitty university. And, if that’s the case, get your money back.
   2. Let’s say, for a moment, you do indeed have a PharmD doctorate. Why aren’t you a pharmacist? Did you take the licensing test? Why teach English in Japan, when you could be a pharmacist and make way more money and visit Japan on your vacations? Japan is not all sunshine, rainbows, and lollipops. There are lots of downsides to living here, and moving here will not fix your problems back home.
   3. Your grammar is really bad in this post, which maybe you feel is okay since this is Reddit, but it’s an immediate red flag if you used bad grammar in your applications if you want to teach English in Japan.
   4. Are you a native speaker of English? While not necessarily a requirement to teach English in Japan, a lot of places don’t even look at applications if you are from certain countries where English isn’t the first language.
   5. You have no Japanese. While not mandatory to move to Japan, it puts a lot of stress on yourself and company since they’ll have to do everything for you.
   6. You call yourself introverted, which probably comes off as a big lack of confidence in interviews. Calling yourself ugly is definitely a lack of confidence. No one wants to hire and be around this kind of energy.
   7. If you’re American, you can’t apply for a working holiday visa. If you’re from one of a handful of countries that Japan allows and grants working holiday visas, you have a list of things you have to qualify for, the big one being in good health and under 30 (as a general rule of thumb).

5. Food processing factories are always hiring foreigners. Many people come here and study Japanese then get recruited into that industry.

6. I’d agree with what everyone else has been saying. I think you need to understand that at the moment the borders are just beginning to open up again, so it might take some time before more jobs are posted. I know for a fact that when I applied in 2019 on Gaijinpot there were more than a hundred jobs for visa support, thankfully I was able to go and work there last year. I’m not quite sure where you are from, but the way you approach this situation makes it sound like you’re desperate to do anything to get to Japan, even if it won’t really benefit your work experience. If you are applying for English teaching jobs most companies are looking for very upbeat people, I mean like they really want you to be the happiest person out there. If teaching isn’t something you want to do, I’d honestly wouldn’t apply to those jobs. You’re not going to enjoy it. I’m also looking for a job to go back to Japan but I have to understand that at the moment foreigners already living in Japan are going to have priority over me. I’d say focus on improving yourself, practice interview questions, polish your resume, and maybe get some certifications related to English, but if you continue having this approach I feel like it’s not going to help you.

7. Ernest Hemingway said: ‘you can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.’

   If you’re miserable in your current situation, you’ll be equally as miserable in Japan.

   Japan isn’t going anywhere, so use this time to work on yourself. Focus on your mental health first as you’re obviously dealing with something.

   Then focus on your language ability, primarily English followed by Japanese.

   Once you’ve got those under your belt, start applying for jobs.

8. You have a fantasy of what living in Japan will be like. Once reality hits, you might have a very hard time adjusting your expectations. A lot of people find their mental health deteriorating under those circumstances.

   Watching movies or anime about Japan is completely different from actually living here.

   And I have to say … if you can’t get hired even by Gaba or Nova, then it’s very likely you just aren’t suited to teach. Keep in mind that English teaching is mainly entertainment – and if you aren’t outgoing, interesting, and funny, if you can’t make people like you, can’t keep up a spirited conversation, or project the right image, you’ll have a very hard time getting a teaching job.

   I wonder if you might not want to try career counseling, find out what you’re really good at and what you really want to do, and then find a job based on that.

9. Why did you get a degree in Pharmacy if you don’t want to practice? And why do you want to live in Japan? Your whole post reads like someone who played a ton of video games and watched too much anime and now you have this fetishized idea of what Japan is like. Honestly you seem unhealthily obsessed with Japan. You should pursue professional goals in your own country first. Who knows, it might make you a stronger candidate

10. Isn’t a bachelors degree necessary to get a working visa?

11. I’ve only lived here four years and teach at a private high school. I have a wife and a little baby boy whom I adore. However, don’t put this country on some ridiculous pedestal. It’s not the way you’re romanticizing it in your head. I enjoy living here for the most part, but it’s not all sunshine and roses.

12. I wish you the best of luck on your journey of self discovery, but, from the way your post reads and the questions you’ve been asking, I highly recommend you avoid education. With your current outlook on yourself compounded with your current soft skills, you’ll more than likely find the field exhausting, demotivating, and depressing. You’ll need to work on yourself before you can help others work on their selves.

13. > I also have zero Japanese proficiency.

    *Maybe* one of those construction jobs you see ads for sometimes on social media, but they pay almost half the wage of an ALT that does nothing.

14. It looks like your degree is roughly equivalent to a master’s degree, so it could very well be accepted for a visa application. Hobby link does provide visa support from what I remember, but they’re based in Tochigi, so they’re a bit outside Tokyo. It’s generally more difficult to get non-teaching jobs unless you have specific skills that are in demand, so it might not be the easy option you think it is.

    You said you’re in the US. It would have only taken a minute of research to find out that the US isn’t partaking in the working holiday scheme, so US citizens aren’t eligable for it. You’ll only be able to get a working holiday visa if you’re also a citizen of Canada or any of the other countries that are eligible for the visa.

15. >the carriage person thing (where you carry someone on the small carriage thing and take them around the neighborhood for sightseeing) since I like running and activity, Hobbylink Japan, etc?

    You need a valid driver’s license to be a rick shaw driver.

    And probably some Japanese skills.

    Why do you want to live badly in Japan?

    Here I am dying to fly back to the US.

16. You can go to Japan and ask around for jobs, but the ones you listed won’t sponsor you. A restaurant might as your best bet. Don’t go to any elementary schools and ask, it doesn’t work like that here. It’s best if you can find someone to sponsor you in advance. How about factory work, manual labor, etc?

17. Hey man. From what I’ve read here from other people, you do sound a bit too desperate to get to Japan although I’m sure your heart is in the right place. I’m not sure if you gave off those vibes during the interviews? If you were rejected from all those companies you should perhaps consider what you could’ve done in those interviews to make all of these companies reject you. Were you “genki”(I.e upbeat and smiley)? As that is a huge thing especially in the Eikaiwa industry from what I gathered. Did you mention anime at all as a reason for your interest in Japan? This I’ve heard is a huge red flag for employers. What’s the rush to go to Japan? Why is it essential that you go to Japan asap? Japan won’t disappear this year( At least I hope). Get a job in the US, work for one year, then prepare for your second try at those interviews. I’ve read of a lot of people getting it on their second try. Also what about other countries? South Korea apparently is also great for teaching. Also Taiwan and South East Asia like Vietnam or Thailand? Why don’t you give them a go and work there for a year then move onto Japan after you finish your contract? Also if you work in South Korea for example you could visit Japan on holidays very cheaply and easily and you can go explore various companies yourself.

    I can’t give you advice for other jobs as I’m not knowledgeable when it comes to other employment opportunities in Japan, but that’s my two cents. Good luck for everything. Don’t feel defeated. There are other possibilities. As others have said don’t tie the state of your mental health on one country. Broaden your horizons.

18. If youre willing to steer away from teaching and work in the automobile industry, my company is hiring and I could refer you. Mitsubishi Fuso, part of Daimler Trucks group

19. > It sure ain’t easy to live in a different country where u weren’t born and raised. 🙁

    Do I get this right – you’re a foreigner living in the US? And you want to go to a third country Japan which is really challenging for foreigners? Most foreign workers leave Japan after a few years.

    You seem pretty scattered, talking about working in eikaiwa employment or working as an ALT, and then general labor.

20. I have head that could scare a blind person and yet, I still got a job within YSG.

    You can always start a business it works for Swedish YouTubers.

21. Sir you have several problems.

    1) Get a BA, BS, BFA, BBA, BM…whatever just get an undergraduate degree. The benefit of this is if you pay for a private university they also have private applications for these jobs and I already have offers and I’m not even out of uni yet (however I am almost done both my first major and minor before continuing on with a minor in Japanese that may later become a double major).

    2) Learn to speak the language you’re supposed to be native in.

    3) Have a story. Be interesting. You don’t need to be super animated to be likable you just have to be maybe a little “quirky”. One thing I always loved about some of my old teachers is every good and memorable teacher was certainly not what you would call “normal”. Each had something special about them that made me enjoy taking their class.

    4) Experience with kids or knowing how to handle kids of any age is a must.

    5) Learn Japanese…I can’t stress this enough…. You can get there and maybe you have a job and everything but think past that. Personally, I will be using Japan as my “base” in the future so that I can travel around the rest of East Asia without much trouble. Also think past work culture for a bit and think about the potential for dating or just コーヒーを買うの。 Little things like this can make your experience very different.

    In summary, the best thing you can do for yourself is get your BA in basically anything, bonus points for getting it in English or Japanese. Lower your expectations and be prepared to have a few bad years until you “establish” yourself like any person with a good work ethic will eventually manage to do. And lastly, save some money so that you can actually splurge just a little bit when you get here or at least you’ll have the funds to ship some of your belongings over straight away when you fly over.

    Hope that helped!~

    EDIT: Bonus points about college. Many private universities have study abroad programs in Japan where you can at least live there for a semester and get the feel for the country.

    In international schools, at least in the US, I’ve met I think 3 students from Japan just in casual conversation. Getting to know people from there will also give you an idea for what a lot of the broader social climate is there. I’m a little louder about my opinions than most Japanese people for example, but it keeps a conversation going where it may otherwise have died. All of this is just some food for thought.

22. Tried to look it up, a PharmaD degree is a different kind of degree than the usual Bachelor’s-Master’s-Doctorate type degrees, it’s a professional doctorate degree, so it’s not equivalent to a PhD. Depending how much time spent, it might be considered roughly equivalent to a master’s, a lot of programs I saw were 5-6 years. It’s quite possible they just don’t know what a PharmaD is or if it’s eligible for the types of work visas most English teachers get & they don’t want to hire you enough to find out. If you really want to come to Japan, why not come in a student visa and go to a Japanese school to see how you like it? You can raise your Japanese proficiency, and you can work part time while on a student visa teaching English. If you make good connections, one of them may be willing to hire you full time and sponsor your visa change. I know some people who did that, but they tended to be very extroverted and good at talking to people, so schools really wanted them to be teachers because the students liked them. Of course your personality is your personality, but if you want to be a teacher you might try to learn how to be a good, interesting teacher. Just like any other skill it’s something you can learn how to do.

23. Dude I can’t… I looked at your history and some of the sub-reddits you posted in were interesting. I have a feeling you’re desiring something more personal and fleshy than a new environment.