Job Discussion Forums

[ntropy]

Hi all,

I spent six years in Japan from 1988-94. My Japanese wife is making noises about wanting to return to Japan after living in Canada for a decade. What can I expect to be different if we return? I've learned a few things by browsing posts here, but would appreciate any long-term Japanese hands thinking about this specifically and sharing insights/wisdom.

Thanks

[markosonlines]

I wasn't here then but I know the phones are smaller, as are the girls school skirts.

Trying being more specific, esp. now that your post is back at the top of the list.

Markos

[Brooks]

well people can still earn 250,000 a month for teaching. Private classes pay less than in the bubble.
100 yen stores abound, as do secondhand stores.
There is a 99 yen grocery store in my neighborhood.
Where I live I can find used CD stores (Recofan) and used bookstores (Book Off).
The Tokyo area seems to get a lot of jobs and better paying ones.

The economy is not as good as it used to be. Some parts of Japan are struggling (like Osaka). From what I hear Nagoya is doing well.

Teachers can do well, but I have a feeling they have to hustle more than they did 10 years ago. At least the yen is at 109 to the dollar.

What I worry about is that the amount I pay for the pension will go up in the next year or two. I can only collect for the first three years when I leave Japan.

[ntropy]

Okay, let's be specific and you can all correct me if I'm wrong.

To summarize...

Salaries have been stagnant although things are cheaper

Harder to get good privates

Less demand for English lessons at eikawa schools?

Enrollment down at uni/colleges so less foreign teachers?

Also love to hear from any Westerners who have children in the public system. My son, 7, speaks fluent Japanese and can read/write but looks completely Western. Has spent some summers in Japan. WHat can he expect?

[ntropy]

Okay, let's be specific and you can all correct me if I'm wrong.

To summarize...

Salaries have been stagnant although things are cheaper

Harder to get good privates

Less demand for English lessons at eikawa schools?

Enrollment down at uni/colleges so less foreign teachers?

Also love to hear from any Westerners who have children in the public system. My son, 7, speaks fluent Japanese and can read/write but looks completely Western. Has spent some summers in Japan. WHat can he expect?

[PAULH]

[Brooks]

crime has gone up.

deflation is a problem.

English schools have closed because there has been less demand for lessons.
At Nichibei in Osaka, there are people who hand out flyers by the stations about their school. Sometimes even teachers do that.

Huron University closed due to too few students.

The low birthrate is a problem. My boss predicts that in the future at our high school, there will be six homerooms per grade instead of the current ten. The art department had their budget cut by a third.
Private high schools in Japan have to compete with each other in order to attract a decreasing amount of students. So they advertise.
And with fewer students, the academic ability of students is declining.
I have talked to university teachers who felt that when they selected English textbooks, they had to find books that were easier than they used to use, because students are worse at English.
It seems to me that at many private schools, what is important is the ability of parents to pay.

Junior colleges for women are closing. Increasingly, women are choosing to go to universities.

[PatrickHardy]

I wasn't here a decade ago, but I've heard from people who were, I think the previous posts about the employment situation not being as cushy as it was back then are probably true. If you want a uni teaching job you need an MA as a bare minimum, and if it's not relevant and you have no previous Japanese uni teaching experience, you can probably forget it. A lot of those jobs are being farmed out now, so you could be teaching part-time at a uni thru another school, but still making only the minimum 250,000 per month. Kind of a bummer. With no MA, you'll probably have to work thru a language school teaching kids. So the work situation isn't as good. I think you would probably also find the country in general less vibrant than it was in the late '80's. People seem to be in a generalized state of despair. There was even an article today in the English Asahi Shimbun about babies being unhappy. On the plus side, food prices seem to be falling, and bill payments and banking are probably more convenient now than back then.

[ntropy]

All useful information. Thank you all for taking the time to contribute.

The one good thing about uni/colleges back then was that they weren't so worried about age. The language schools always wanted the young, blonde blue-eyed hunk or goddess for marketing, regardless of teaching ablility. Seems from your posts that being up in age would make it more difficult to find good work these days.