Job Discussion Forums

Damr8 · Joined: 31 Aug 2006 Posts: 6

My girlfriend and I are seriously looking into making Japan our first place to teach ESL. Both of us have BAs and are completing our TESOL currently.

We are looking for suggestions on medium sized cities in Japan that would be good for first timers. Looking for locations that have a good amount of schools, culture (not just nightlife), and are close enough to the large cities to take a few trips during the year.

Also, anyone who had good experiences with a particular school and you'd recommend us pursuing, we'd really appreciate. I.E. paid on time, supportive with first time teachers, good facilities, etc.

Thanks for any help you can give!

markle · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 1316 Location: Out of Japan

I really don't think there is any city that would be a complete disaster or a total blessing in fact every city could be. Even the megacities of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya are not that different from each other.
Basically I would choose a region (Kanto, Kansai, Hokkaido, Kyusho, Tokai, Tohoku, etc) check out what the weather is like and go from there.

Just not to be completely vague here are the places I would start if I was looking for somewhere new.
Kanazawa, Sapporo, Hiroshima, Nagoya

kerryn · Joined: 30 May 2005 Posts: 34 Location: africa

I live in Tokyo an I love it. Yeh its pretty big..but its the most excting one for sure and you can get anything you want here.
I lived in Nagoya for a while,,that was cool,,but have to say pretty boring place really now that Im in Tokyo. Osaka is also nice... the food there is wow!! But remember...what do u mean by a "medium size" city. Japan is Japan,,any city u go is BIG..no matter how hard u try. All of em are busy and full of their own culture. Where ever you choose,you will have a very different experience to anywhere else in this world...no one city has more culture than another..its Japan!!!! Just GO!!
I recommend Shane English schools. I havent had any problems with them. You work hard..but so does the rest of Japan..so...

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 2:32 pm Post subject:

kdynamic · Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 562 Location: Japan

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 3:03 pm Post subject:

sallycat · Joined: 11 Mar 2006 Posts: 303 Location: behind you. BOO!

nagasaki is very nice. if you want to take just a few trips to large cities a year, then just about any city should do.

kdynamic · Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 562 Location: Japan

Japan is a small country. Pretty much any city with a shinkansen means easy access to most anywhere. (they say the shinkansen will reach here in 10 years! don't more here).

Mark · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Posts: 500 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Yeah, most Japanese cities are fine. They're all different but the differences are slight and might not be immediately apparent to someone who's just arriving.

I think that it's easier to recommend places to avoid, so the OP might want to say what you don't want rather than what you do.

All I'll say is that Tokyo is far bigger than any other city in Japan. Osaka is a big city, but it's a city. Tokyo is not a city, it's a sprawling behemoth made up of many cities that just blend into each other. Living in, say, Yokohama is still living in Tokyo.