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afsjesse
Joined: 30 Apr 2008
Posts: 6
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 Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 10:51 am Post subject: Contemplating a move. |
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I'm currently in KOrea, i'm going on 2 years here and I have a BA with no TEFL certificate. I really want a job in Japan but I have a couple of questions.
1. I know Japan is outrageously expensive. I ow 400 USD per month on student loans and am wondering if I can live descently and pay on these while being there?
2. Where's the best place to get a job with my relevent experience? I don't need a big party scene like Tokyo, but it wouldnt hurt either. I'm in a very rural setting at the moment.
3. What are taxes, expenses etc... like?
This is vague I know but I'm trying to get a realistic idea of what my precise options are. |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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1. Living "decently" is subjective. Make the standard average entry level wage of 250,000 yen/month and be moderately frugal, and you can send home US$400 easily and have money left over.
2. Your qualifications are pretty minimal and generic. Come here at a good time (not November to January), plan ahead for some interviews, and interview in-country. Or, go home and see which of the few major players are recruiting from there (including JET program, whose application deadline is very close, depending on your nationality).
3. Expect roughly 7-10% tax taken off your paycheck and another 10% from income tax. Sales tax is 5%. I already told you about entry level pay. Expenses: figure first year insurance of 2,500 yen/month, groceries around 40,000 yen/month (all depends on you), rent of ROUGHLY 70,000 yen/month and utilities of ROUGHLY 10,000 yen/month (seasonal and depends on lifestyle). After the first year, national health insurance goes up tenfold.
I should also add that unless you live in a guest house (boarding house life), expect to fork over 2-5 times a month's rent to move into an apartment, unless your employer (usually) provides recycled housing. |
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Khyron
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Posts: 291
Location: Tokyo Metro City
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| Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2008 12:09 pm Post subject: Re: Contemplating a move. |
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| afsjesse wrote: |
I'm currently in KOrea, i'm going on 2 years here and I have a BA with no TEFL certificate. I really want a job in Japan but I have a couple of questions.
1. I know Japan is outrageously expensive. I ow 400 USD per month on student loans and am wondering if I can live descently and pay on these while being there? |
I don't think it's outrageously expensive. It can be reasonable. The real killers are transportation costs and the cost of moving into a new place to live.
| Quote: |
| 2. Where's the best place to get a job with my relevent experience? I don't need a big party scene like Tokyo, but it wouldnt hurt either. I'm in a very rural setting at the moment. |
Anywhere! I did my first year of ESL in Korea and found that, like Korea, places all over the country hire newish foreign teachers with not so much experience. Apply all over and take what seems best to you. Eikaiwas(hagwons) hire all year round, while regular schools hire at roughly the same times as in Korea. The school year here starts one month later than in Korea. Some jobs hire from within Japan, some large companies hire only from your home country, and the best jobs won't even look at you unless you've got a valid visa from a previous job in Japan (visas are tied to YOU, not to your employer, so you can use the same visa for more than one job).
| Quote: |
| 3. What are taxes, expenses etc... like? |
First year, fairly low once the initial move-in cost is out of the way. Just like in Korea, you probably won't see your first pay until after a month or even for as long as 6-7 weeks; depending on where payday falls in the month. Taxes and health insurance are based on what you earned last year. Since you've earned nothing in Japan, you'd be paying minimum payments. It's not much different from Korea in your first year. In your second year, they WILL rape you on tax and health payments.
The biggest expenses you'd face here, as opposed to Korea, are transportation and rent. Since most ESL jobs in Korea cover your rent, that's one thing you'd miss in Japan. Rent is between 40,000yen-100,000yen/month for a 1-person apartment, depending on where it is and it's condition. The vast majority of jobs here will not pay for your plane flights, unlike Korea. Taxes are 300-500% more. Avoid them if you can. In Korea, I took taxis everywhere. In Japan, they'd break me. Trains/buses are also more. Think double in the cities, and 200-400% for trains between cities. The KTX(Bullet Train) in Korea is around 50,000won from Seoul to Busan, while a Shinkansen(Bullet Train) ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto is around 14,000yen. I'll let you do the currency conversion, but, in short, it's 200-300% more.
| Quote: |
| This is vague I know but I'm trying to get a realistic idea of what my precise options are. |
With the current exchange rates, you'd be doing well in Japan. If the exchange rates go back to "normal", then things will be a little tighter for you unless you take on extra work (totally legal here, within your visa "type"!!!!). $400USD is a heck of a lot of money to owe per month in student loans. You'd survive, but you wouldn't be going as often as you probably could in Korea (mainly due to the taxi costs!!!). Don't you have an option of changing your monthly payments?
Also, if you haven't, read through the stickies in this forum. They were made just for you. |
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