Job Discussion Forums

[Vince]

[mitsui]

You never know.
What state are you living in?

If your wife doesn't have any Japanese friends, that could be an issue.
I am looking at different states, and think the west coast could be a better fit, but getting work is the issue.
Hawaii would be nice but it is expensive.

[ssjup81]

So, reading through this thread, I was wondering about foreign women in Japan. I wonder if a guy who's been here a long time and nearly fluent (or is fluent) will have a more difficult time than a woman. It just really sounds like it based on this..or maybe women don't post as often...

[mitsui]

Age discrimination is real. It tends to affect male teachers,
and it is not illegal in this country.
If you are between jobs after the age of 40 you could be having a tough time.

Being stuck in dead-end jobs is just a disincentive in learning Japanese.
In fact the people who seem most motivated are from Asian countries like China and Vietnnam, since they see living in Japan as an improvement.

Most teachers here are male.
To get female teachers is a challenge. Most don't last longer than five years, if that.
Considering how sexist the society is, can't say I blame them.

[ssjup81]

So either women don't stick around long enough to get to that point, or they just don't post on forums like this much. Too bad...would like to hear of their experiences too...

[mitsui]

Yep. In fact I replaced a Canadian female who left after 5 years.

Where I used to work in Tokyo, there were several females, mostly American. To get them to come to Japan they had to give them free housing.

[kpjf]

[Vince]

[mitsui]

Expensive, yes.
People can pay 2,000 bucks for an apartment.
My wife would do better than I since she wants to work in translation and interpreting.
I want to teach and there is no air conditioning in public schools, and getting certified takes time.
Getting a job at a university or community college is harder.

Probably we will just move to the mainland.

[TokyoLiz]

I heard my name

My life here is great. I guess I defy all the statistics and heresay about women, foreign or domestic, in Japan.

After I turned 40, I got much more satisfying and lucrative offers from schools. I also met my partner after I turned 40, and I was told I was "Christmas cake" at 28. People remark on my fluency all the time, though I like to say I am comfortably conversant, but not fully bilingual. I struggle to read the newspaper, but I can manage work related paperwork.

Kpjf mentions TEFL. I teach a combination of EFL and language arts in my classrooms. I call the shots because the school wants communicative language teaching, but the Japanese teachers generally have no idea how to deliver. This makes it both challenging and fun for me.

Also my current employer pays me decently.

I have a hefty TESOL diploma, some grad studies, a few conference papers with my name on them, and can demonstrate Japanese language ability in interviews (but no JLPT).

I have a hunch why it is so different for a woman my age as opposed to a man the same age. Foreign women with Japanese partners are assumed to be culturally adjusted and capable because women run households and do all the family administration. Also, I have no kids and likely perceived to be past it for childbearing. I'm not going anywhere, either, as my partner is a Japanese guy with secure lifetime employment.

[cat mother]

I'm also a female over 40. I'm very happy in Japan and don't plan on leaving. I like my day job, I run a successful side business (which has nothing to do with EFL), have Japanese friends (unrelated to my job or my partner's family).
Nothing to complain about.

[nightsintodreams]

Of course women get reacted to and treated differently to men here, or anywhere for that matter.

Foreign men (especially of completely different race) are understandably often seen as trying to conquer the countries they find themselves in. Whether it be by stealing the local women or dominating a certain area.

I know women are on occasion asked similar questions, but i get the impression that men are asked questions like "Do you like Japanese girl?", "Are you playboy" more often. I'd go as far to say that many Japanese people form the belief that the soul reason we came here was to take their women.

That's just my impression, no references or scientific research to back it up.

[Rooster.]

[rxk22]

Nothing against women, but in Japan you need to be thick skinned. Most women that I've met here, went home after 1-2 years. Just couldn't deal with the reg Japanese BS coupled with the 1960's era sexism.


For the rest of us, I think unless you can find a decent perm ALT job, or a private school, it isn't worth staying here. I wonder how Pitaru is doing? He got into TEch, which is good, but working for reg companies here can be soul draining.

[TokyoLiz]

The foreign women friends who have since moved on are just as driven and tough as women friends who stay. Their stays were short because they were influenced by the bad press Japanese gender relations get, and they only anticipated a few years of Japan life before starting new projects.

I've met a few veteran foreign women here who are miserable and stuck, and they reject the food, language, culture and only associate with English speakers. As the pool of potential women friends is statistically small, there is only a handful of foreign women vets that I look up to.

Like rxk22 says, longevity here is determined by the quality of your employment.

There are some eikaiwa teachers, not at chain schools, but small ones, that experience a family atmosphere and have strong ties to their local communities. but I think, from the sample of McEnglish workers I've met, they're disconnected from Japanese culture, generally have low Japanese fluency and reading ability, dependent on bilingual friends for daily life stuff, and are constantly surprised and frustrated by their experiences here.

To be fair, I saw this kind of perpetual rookie foreigner syndrome more before Supernova in the 2000s.