Job Discussion Forums

[jimpellow]

Hello,

I am currently living in Colombia and am loving it, but can only spend six months a year here. I have a friend who contracts for the US government in Okinawa and has offered me a free unlimited stay at his apartment and will buy my groceries (and most importantly chewing tobacco) for me at the commissary-exchange.

Cheap is always a good thing, and I think that 3-6 months in Japan would be a good thing. I work part-time online for a Saudi school that pays me well and with whom I intend to stay, and make most of my income on a non ESL related web business.

Still, I taught Japanese adults Business English when I lived in the Philippines and really enjoyed the experience, and they really seemed to appreciate my relative strength in this area of ESL.

Having gone through this board and others, I am still unclear of the market for privates in Okinawa, particularly Business English. It strikes me that the demand for ESL is there, but many spouses of base personnel fill that demand.

I really don't want a full schedule, just a few enthusiastic students for Business English to pay for my saki. Is this pretty easy to achieve?

I also would like to ask about the need to speak Japanese in Okinawa. Japan would be my twelfth country in which I will have lived. This has required me to learn five foreign languages to an intermediate level or higher. Frankly, I don't have the energy to learn another, particularly a more challenging language like Japanese. Can I get by with just an ice breaker level, or will I constantly feel frustrated doing little things every day? I had that feeling when I lived in Saudi and did not like it.

Cheers

[TokyoLiz]

If by cheap you mean poverty, then Okinawa is the place. It's got the highest poverty rate in Japan. Okinawa has been neglected and abused by the US and Japan for a long time, taking an economic toll. Read the news lately?

Don't worry about learning Japanese. About a million people there speak Uchinaaguchi, which is a different language entirely. Most people there speak a version of Japanese that is significantly different in vocabulary and grammar when compared to standard Japanese.

People there don't drink "saki". They drink awamori which you have to sit down for. It's a regional poison, or specialty, or both.

The beaches are nice... Jobs, hard to come by.

[rxk22]

[TokyoLiz]

I've been there myself, to get a sense of the place. It's beautiful, rich in Ryukyu culture, and people are friendly. However, it is a very insular society, different from Japan, and it's also very poor.

The language is also very different - I felt awkward speaking standard Japanese to local people who speak with heavy accents, and the expression was different. Perhaps some of the people I spoke to were non-native speakers of Japanese, or Okinawan variant speakers.

A couple I know who lived there for many years before returning recently to Canada told me that the job prospects were very slim and wages are very low.

[rxk22]

[jimpellow]

I have seen English teaching jobs listed there. Not many, but they are there. I really did not give much attention to them as I am not looking for one. I did read one rather seemingly informed blog post that stated that the locals were willing to devote a sizable part of their disposable income to English instruction.

Most disappointing to hear that saki is not the norm. I have experienced enough local fire waters in my life to steer well clear of them.

Well, if I go I have my income sources already in place, and my basic necessities will be free or subsidized by the US Military. If some privates comes along, all the better.

Thanks for the feedback.

[TokyoLiz]

The word is 酒, sake, which means alcohol. What people call sake in English is called 日本酒 nihonshu or 清酒 seishu in Japan. The Okinawan specialty, 泡盛 awamori is also made from rice, but the Thai variety.

Rxk22, that's a pitifully low salary for a medical professional.

Sometimes up here in the Tokyo area, I hear Okinawan accented Japanese. Okinawans far from home all say the same thing - they love their islands, but can't make a living there. It's so mottainai, such a waste, that Japan neglects and abuses Okinawa.

[mitsui]

Not sure how you would be able to live on a base just because you know someone there.
Only authorized people can live there.

I think you would need an ID to come and go. Base security can be pretty tight.

PX prices are pretty cheap.

Getting work in Okinawa is not easy. The uneployment rate must be about 10%.

[TokyoLiz]

The op's friend is a contractor, so he's talking about off base housing.

This thread got me curious. I checked the employment stats, and found that Okinawa's unemployment rate is 5%, but probably the real rate is much closer to Mitsui's estimate. Okinawans earn a mere 74% of the national average salary.

Found here http://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/Regional%20Report%20-%20Okinawa_Osaka%20ATO_Japan_3-24-2014.pdf

[rxk22]

Liz, yes it is a terrible wage for a medical practitioner. That is just how wages are outside of the bigger urban areas. My wife's friend is a nurse, she got divorced and had to move back home to Aikita, I think. She makes around 14-15 mon a month. It's just how it is. Sure there are bonuses, but I am sure they aren't that great either.


It's a shame that Okinawa is underdeveloped. But what else could Japan do? It's not warm enough for year round tourism. It's too far to have factories there efficiently. Also, A LOT of Japan in underdeveloped. Just look at northern Japan, or the sea of Japan side, or Shikoku. It sucks, but I am not sure if it is from deliberate neglect.

[Lamarr]

[TokyoLiz]

Again, off topic but nevertheless insightful into the issues surrounding Okinawan culture,identity, and a pitch for Scottish-style devolution.

http://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/a04501/

[rxk22]

Lamar, I agree, Japan for better or for worse concentrated on the Tokyo to Osaka areas. As it was better to have industries be near each other makes for easier investing. Also, some areas like the Sea of Japan area, are too remote to allow for quick export to the US/Euro

Liz, I don't thinkt hat Okinawa should become independent, nor have it's own parliament like Scotland. I think the UK was/is nuts to allow Scotland to have a say in the Uk's parliament, yet Scotland doesn't allow anything from the UK to make decisions for Scotland. I think that system is ripe for dismemberment. It also is unfair to the other members of the UK. The Scottish model is just a transition to independence, or total concessions by the UK

If Okinawa became semi independent, it would become a dependent state, probably upon China. As without tons of federal money, Okinawa would be unable to function.

[TokyoLiz]

Rxk22, I posted that link wondering what others' take on Okinawa autonomy would be.

When the Scottish independence vote came up, I bit my tongue. I'm also British, and identify as Scots, but I didn't support the independence bid whole heartedly. It's too risky economically for Scotland to break away, I think. Like you say, an independent Scotland would pose a lot of questions to other me,bet countries in the UK. It would get messy.

My hunch about Okinawa is that the Tokyo government keeps Okinawa poor to keep the government there under its thumb. Increased economic strength there could mean the Okinawan government would have more motivation and power to push for autonomy. Like the Scots, Okinawans also have a strong identity, even a national one, from what I gather.

[Lamarr]

A major aspect of this is strategic/military. Okinawa is important strategically for the US in SE Asia. A more autonomous Okinawa would probably lean more towards China, and would be more susceptible to calls from its people to expel the US Army. That would be unacceptable to the US, and would cause problems for Japan, as it relies so heavily on the US for its own defence. It's the reason they've been able to maintain the "pacifist constitution" for so long. If that apple-cart was upset, the whole picture in East Asia would change.