Moving to Japan soon, to be an ALT in Tokyo region.
Of course, it’s been made very clear that suit and tie is required when teaching. I’m fine with that of course. However, outside work, are there any restrictions on how we dress, what we do etc? (so long as it’s within the law, of course). I ask because there’s been a couple sentences here and there in the training material suggesting they have expectations of me even when I’m off work…
I tend to dress in a bit of a goth/scene style in my everyday life, with colored highlights and other accessories. Don’t know why; I’ve been that way since I was little. I know Harajuku and Akihabara are pretty chill about fashions, but if I were spotted by a student/teacher/parent, would this be a problem?
If I absolutely must wear a coat and tie 24/7 when leaving the house, I suppose I’ll manage, I’m just curious how free we can be on the weekends. I also really enjoy skateboarding, rock climbing, and hiking; are these sorts of things permitted outside work? Thanks!
30 comments
No one will care, dress how you want unless you plan on hanging out in school yard. I had a massive mohawk my whole time teaching (combed it over during school) and dressed like a freak.
Even the suit and tie thing is usually a first week thing, most schools will hint that business casual is fine (aren’t you hot blah blah sensei?, Here let me take your jacket.)
I generally wore a polo or dress shirt with a sweater vest.
Some schools are actually anal about dress code, so just test the waters generally.
Don’t tell your company. They judge
If you’re worried about if rocking climbing is permitted outside of work, I think you’re worrying too hard. Don’t go around breaking the law and drunkenly causing problems and you’ll be fine.
Even the suit thing is a lie. Less than a week in my school kept telling me to stop wearing a suit. Nobody cared.
Dispatch companies expect their young workers to be going out getting drunk and taking drugs but they draw the line at rock climbing.
There are around 30 million people in the Tokyo area.
Unless you are sitting in front of the school drinking chu-hi the chance of you getting noticed by students and their families are slim to none.
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what 😂😂 you’re really over thinking it. would you really move to a country that had such a tight control over your life?
no one gives a f what you look like outside of school. I also am a member of the all black all the time club and I just wear moderately businessy things while at work and it’s fine.
Nah unless you live really close to your schools.
No. This reminds me of the time someone at the JL sub got in trouble for eating ice cream in the park on break.
You don’t need to follow school rules when not involved with school business.
They care if you spend your time photographing little girls, blogging about little girl idols, and otherwise acting like pedobear. (If you read on other Japan life/teaching subs)
They do care but for what you are describing the answer is probably not. However Japanese companies and culture in general are very judgy when it comes to being unique. If you don’t do what everyone else does they tend to overfocus on it, but not always negatively. Thing is as a foreigner you get focused on more already, and things quickly become gossip so don’t overshare your private life and don’t do sketchy things and you will be fine.
> I know Harajuku and Akihabara are pretty chill about fashions, but if I were spotted by a student/teacher/parent, would this be a problem?
Doubt they care in Tokyo, particularly in regards to ALTs.
The one situation where I think it can matter is in small towns. As an example, I essentially ran a small-town eikaiwa. In short I was the only teacher (plus ‘face of the business’) and the school grew from ~30 kids to ~150 kids in my time (I’m a trained teacher, friendly and present well). As the town was quite small I was sorta like a mini celebrity who everybody knew and viewed as being a decent person.
My situation isn’t unique. However it felt a bit like there were eyes in the walls everywhere. As an example I’m totally not a cheater… I had a wife at the time (bow my ex-wife some years later) and people knew that. However on two occasions people spread rumours that I’d been sleeping around and I literally had kids bringing it up during class (and at least one parent withdrawing their kids from my classes on that basis). Like any small town I guess, rumours happen and I had to be super careful what I did because EVERYTHING got talked about at school the next day.
Person partying in Tokyo though? Knock yourself out! When I worked there I regularly did all-nighters and went to work the next day fuelled by coffee and vitamin water. Most places won’t give a fuck. Akihabara was in between my work and home so I went there to do my nerdy stuff all the time. Doubt most students woulda recognised me in the busy crowds regardless.
No it’s your private time.. but the best strategy in Japan is ‘don’t ask’. if you ask , someone has to make a decision which takes time and easiest to say ‘no’
Just don’t tell your company anything. My company told me I shouldn’t wear big headphones 😂😂. The less they know the better.
My company knows I am a skateboarder, all my kids know I skate, all my schools know I skate, I talk to the kids and their parents if I see them when skating, I wear my own t-shirts and hoodies to school sometimes with my own designs. Everyone is cool with it and likes it.
There’s a handful of horror stories in every BOE, but generally no, no one cares.
The only times I’ve ever heard of anyone getting in actual “trouble” usually meant the police were involved.
If you were spotted by a student/teacher/parent in goth garb, it would cause no trouble: that style of dress is popular and recognized enough in Japan, especially in Tokyo, to be not worth remark. The students, however, like students anywhere, would notice you if they saw you and would remember and remark about it if they recognized you.
The hobbies you mention are also likely to cause no trouble, but you should bear in mind that skateboarding on the street or in public places is not legal in Japan. Plenty of people do it, mind, but you may be held to a stricter standard than others if you’re skateboarding in a place parents, other teachers, or students may see you.
A personal recommendation is to dress as conservatively as possible at work and *always* do so: I’ve been wearing business suits, white shirts, and a necktie every day I’ve taught as a teacher in Japan, but dress *extremely* casually outside work, and I find that students almost never recognize me unless I stop and greet them (and sometimes not even then) even when I am at my workplace on days I’m not teaching.
Don’t ask, don’t tell. Horrible for the US Military, great for the Japanese workforce! 😅
Just be on your best behavior during work hours and when you are physically near school.
Rumors about what canned coffee I liked floated around the student body for awhile because I was spotted…purchasing a BOSS Coffee at the local convenience store after school and students caught me in the act.
I live with the shame and guilt each day.
It means ‘don’t be a twat please’
Mainly, don’t break the law and don’t go to brothels and such.
It depends on where you live. If you’re in a small town, everything about you is probably gonna be known..big city? Not so much.
No, but most places won’t allow you to have anything but ‘natural’ colored hair and no visible tattoos or piercings during working hours. You can do whatever you want in your own time.
Suit and tie required for hiking and skateboarding year around, unfortunately. Rock climbing is クールビズ starting after Golden Week.
For eikaiwa I had to get rid of my coloured hair and take out my piercings at work. If you have any tattoos they should also be covered at work. Otherwise do whatever you want in your free time.
Oh no… On weekends and holidays companies expect their foreign staff to practice kanjis and stay at home because Corona will never leave Japan.
You can do what you want in your free time until a teacher or parent spots you somewhere doing something they don’t personally approve of.
If it never comes up it is never a problem. Don’t draw attention to it in particular and don’t annoy people if they know where you work.
People have a tendency to complain about you to your employer if they know.
In reality, you are an adult and a resident of japan. Live within those confines legally and nothing can be done, but there is still that small town mentality of reputation being very important. Dont crap where you eat so to speak.
Nope! I dressed in Lolita and was an unpaid extra in an indie music video in a bikini. No one cared because I never told anyone.
Even came back at first train in a hamster onesie. Those were good times lol
In Japan rules are only enforced when things go bad.
So as long as you don’t cause any trouble on your end on your free time you are golden.
If you accidentally do something bad they’ll look for any infractions they can to support their scapegoating of you.
You should be fine. Especially in Tokyo. In the little towns you can still do what you want, but everyone might know about it.