Next school year, I’m really hoping to find a job in Okinawa. I’ve been monitoring the usual job boards (Gaijin Pot, Jobs in Japan, JALT, etc) for the past few months to see what kind of teaching positions might crop up but I haven’t seen many in Okinawa. As the hiring season for next year comes up, I was wondering if there are other places I should be looking for Okinawa jobs more specifically? I’m willing to consider any kind of teaching position and any location within the prefecture but preferably near Naha probably.
I’m currently an ALT in the Kanto area, with a zairyu card that’s good through 2025. Next month I’m getting a US teacher’s license for K-12 (in ESL) and hopefully I’ll be receiving my Master’s degree in TESOL soon as well. The only thing I’m definitely not willing to do is work for the US military lol
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This a thread from earlier this year –
https://old.reddit.com/r/teachinginjapan/comments/uyz4od/how_come_teaching_positions_in_okinawa_are_so_rare/
What’s wrong with working for the US military, they have some really well-paid jobs going, and many of them not at all related to military duties.
If you’re getting a US teaching certificate, you’d be eligible for teaching positions on the military bases via DODS: https://www.dodea.edu/offices/hr/vacancies.cfm
You’d be teaching US kids on the bases, and it’s a pretty popular program with many teachers (or at least it was when I was still teaching in the USA, I’ve no idea if the reputation has changed any in the last decade). But if you are dead set on having nothing to do with the US military, well, you do you. Best of luck finding something in Okinawa.
Last job I saw for Okinawa was to be a car salesman
There are always jobs in hospitality opening up if you have to get to Okinawa.
Somebody in the last thread wanted to know how small are the outlying islands…. Think small enough that they still use oxen instead of little tractors.
I live in Okinawa. I would say add LinkedIn and definitely Hello Work to your search. The latter may not have English however. There’s also a government sponsored program for foreigner support called OIHF. They will probably have something useful if not direct job listings. Anyway the people here are really nice and the students are great from my experience.
That said, I’m going to echo a lot of people here. A DoDEA job will just not be beat when it comes to pay and benefits. Even non-dodea Fed jobs will probably be better. Basically, if you just want to live comfortably in Okinawa, go US civilian. If you want the whole Japanese/Okinawan culture experience including work, or just much prefer Japanese students, go the Japanese route.
If you become a dods teacher please be patient with the kids. We already got too many damn annoying ass teachers who hate their jobs and everyone involved over here. thank god i graduated
What grade level are you looking to teach? Are you looking to do just EAL/ESL?