Hello everyone. I posted on r/teachinginjapan and was told I should post here. I’m an American with several years of English teaching experience at a university in China, and I’ve considered maybe relocating to Japan, but I don’t know too much about the Japanese system. I’ve done some googling and searching around on reddit and have some questions.
If possible, I would be interested in working at a university in Japan too. Currently, my position is officially “waijiao” (外教), literally “foreign teacher”. I’m a part of the foreign language department and teach anywhere from 6-12, 1.5 hour classes a week. From what I’ve seen, it looks like the Japanese equivalent might be an ALT? However it also looks like most teaching positions in Japanese universities are not just teaching but also research positions, and you are expected to be publishing as well. Is this correct? As a waijiao, I am not expected to publish, which is nice. I’m specifically a language instructor, and that is all. Also I’m not expected to be at school except when I have class, unlike the other teachers who are there for the entire work day. It seems I would not get such a cushy position in Japan. I don’t have a master’s degree in TESL, so I would be largely relying on my experience to get hired. (I do have a master’s degree in anthropology from the university I’m currently teaching at so I do have some graduate level experience.) Is having that master’s degree that important? I do speak fluent Chinese and conversational Japanese, so hopefully that would show my cultural adaptability to a degree. As for pay, I’ve heard it’s generally higher in Japan than in China, but the cost of living is higher. I personally wouldn’t want to live in a major city like Tokyo or Osaka, so I don’t know if that would change anything. I wouldn’t mind living in a more rural locale. When converted to USD, I don’t make a lot of money here, but I’m able to save the majority of it. I’ve heard saving money in Japan can be tough. Is that generally true?
Also, I am a practicing Catholic. I don’t intend to discuss religion, I just bring this up because I know there are Catholic schools in Japan as well. I’ve heard their religion is more so just “window dressing”, and I don’t particularly care if the institution is highly religious in practice or not. But I was wondering if being Catholic can help in finding a job at such an institution.
Any and all help/advice would be appreciated.
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This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Moving from China to Japan**
Hello everyone. I posted on r/teachinginjapan and was told I should post here. I’m an American with several years of English teaching experience at a university in China, and I’ve considered maybe relocating to Japan, but I don’t know too much about the Japanese system. I’ve done some googling and searching around on reddit and have some questions.
If possible, I would be interested in working at a university in Japan too. Currently, my position is officially “waijiao” (外教), literally “foreign teacher”. I’m a part of the foreign language department and teach anywhere from 6-12, 1.5 hour classes a week. From what I’ve seen, it looks like the Japanese equivalent might be an ALT? However it also looks like most teaching positions in Japanese universities are not just teaching but also research positions, and you are expected to be publishing as well. Is this correct? As a waijiao, I am not expected to publish, which is nice. I’m specifically a language instructor, and that is all. Also I’m not expected to be at school except when I have class, unlike the other teachers who are there for the entire work day. It seems I would not get such a cushy position in Japan. I don’t have a master’s degree in TESL, so I would be largely relying on my experience to get hired. (I do have a master’s degree in anthropology from the university I’m currently teaching at so I do have some graduate level experience.) Is having that master’s degree that important? I do speak fluent Chinese and conversational Japanese, so hopefully that would show my cultural adaptability to a degree. As for pay, I’ve heard it’s generally higher in Japan than in China, but the cost of living is higher. I personally wouldn’t want to live in a major city like Tokyo or Osaka, so I don’t know if that would change anything. I wouldn’t mind living in a more rural locale. When converted to USD, I don’t make a lot of money here, but I’m able to save the majority of it. I’ve heard saving money in Japan can be tough. Is that generally true?
Also, I am a practicing Catholic. I don’t intend to discuss religion, I just bring this up because I know there are Catholic schools in Japan as well. I’ve heard their religion is more so just “window dressing”, and I don’t particularly care if the institution is highly religious in practice or not. But I was wondering if being Catholic can help in finding a job at such an institution.
Any and all help/advice would be appreciated.
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Your question would be better answered at [/r/teachinginjapan](https://www.reddit.com/r/teachinginjapan). Read their FAQ and search relevant threads.
> I don’t have a master’s degree in TESL, so I would be largely relying on my experience to get hired. (I do have a master’s degree in anthropology from the university I’m currently teaching at so I do have some graduate level experience.) Is having that master’s degree that important?
A master’s degree is in good , **BUT** for a university job you are required to have published papers (3 or more ideally).
>I do speak fluent Chinese and conversational Japanese, so hopefully that would show my cultural adaptability to a degree.
What is your **official** [JLPT level](https://www.jlpt.jp/e/about/levelsummary.html). Can you pass a university interview in 100% Japanese at the university level?
>As for pay, I’ve heard it’s generally higher in Japan than in China, but the cost of living is higher.
Generally China pays plain old English teachers better. Real university positions are **HIGHLY** competitive compared to China or any other country in the world including your own ^{Are ^you ^really ^hot ^shit?} .
> I was wondering if being Catholic can help in finding a job at such an institution.
The few Catholic institutions like Sophia will consider you as just another gaijin and not much preference. See for yourself at: https://piloti.sophia.ac.jp/eng/info/employment/
The other comment was pretty good.
You might have a good chance of getting work as a part-time lecturer. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be enough to get you a working visa.
You didn’t mention how many years of experience you got. I’ve never done any hiring, but I’d guess that three years experience teaching EFL with an unrelated degree is a nice start. Still, I’d be surprised if it got you a full-time position. Start submitting proposals for presentations and try to get some papers out. Then you might have a fighting chance.
I dont think there’s any teaching jobs in japan that pay more than china. I made the same move from shanghai to tokyo and I’m going to go back to china after another year.
I have a US teaching license, taught IB, Masters in teaching, 10 years experience at all grade levels 1-12, and currently making less than a first year teacher in the US. Rent is high, stress at work is high, pay is low, the students are fantastic, the food is much better but a lot more expensive…
If you have a good thing going in china, stay there. No reason to leave now that the covid restrictions are over.
You can easily save money on the Island of Shikoku. I lived there for two years.
I never saw a catholic church there but they do have a lot of mormons.
I have a friend working down in southern Shikoku and he works for a university and makes great money. Hes an American and is fluent in Japanese.