Guide on Escaping To Japan

Teaching English in Japan.

So Taiwan has finally broke you. You can't take the food, the people, the risk of death by scooter. The easy option would be to pack up and head home. But if you're running away from a dark and mysterious past, that might not always be an option. Maybe you want to continue your Asian adventure, just not in this country. So where else is there to go? Believe it or not Japan is quite close. You might be a fan of cool street fashion, or a closet Pokemon fan, so you're quite up for escaping to the land of the rising sun. I am also contemplating making a run for it, therefore I've made this guide out of all my investigations over the past few weeks.

The first thing you must consider is whether or not Japan is really for you. It is a cool place, so I recommend a visit, but staying for a year or more is a different story. Sure the streets are clean, everything is well organised, and the people are very polite, but you are heading into a culture which is completely different from your own. Taiwanese people are generally quite friendly who will try and invite you around for dinner. Japanese people are a bit more closed off, which makes breaking into a friendship group hard, especially if your a foreigner. You're eternally an outsider. The Japanese are very polite, but this can also come off a bit cold. If you live in a bit city navigating around in English isn't too hard, but if you're out in the countryside knowing some Japanese is essential.

The Japanese are also very organised, which is great because they'll have ever thing organised months in advance. Unlike Hess Taiwan, which wouldn't even tell me where I was going to work until a week after I got there. (God Damn you Hess!!!) But they can be more uptight compared to the Taiwanese. Especially about garbage. Make sure you sort your garbage correctly. The Japanese are also a lot more formal, and they might expect you to wear a suit to work at an English school.

Also despite Japan paying you more than Taiwan THE COST OF LIVING IS MORE EXPENSIVE!! Possibly 4x more. All those dirt cheap Subway trips around Taipei that you think nothing of, will dig a hole in your pocket in Japan.

For the sake of comparing different schools I made this niffy table here. I can't guarantee that all the information is correct, so it's best to check the website yourself. The best deal is JET, but they might place you in a rural area where you may become the village foreigner. Aeon and Amnity are probably the next best thing. But they both seem very corporate. Most companies like JET, Aeon, Amnity, and ECC, do most of their requiting overseas in your home country, so it can be quite difficult to land a job straight from Taiwan. Some school will do a Skype interview, and you can always try to attend an interview in Japan.

A comparison of different Schools in Japan.

School	Location	Job Type	Hours a week	Contract	Salary	Housing	Free airfare	Commute covered	Vacation
Aeon	All over	English Instructor	38	1 year	270000	You Pay 55,000 max	No	1.5k>	3x1 week 5 paid days
Aeon Amnity	All over	Kids English instructor	40	1 year	285,000	You Pay 42,000 max	No	1.5k>	3x1 week 5 paid days
Interac	All over	School ALT		1 year	200,000 - 260,000	No	No	Can provide Car	School Vacations 60% pay
Shane English	Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe and Fukuoka	English Instructor	40	1 Year	250,000 -        270,000	No	No	reimbursed	Christmas New Year Golden Week Summer
ECC	Tokyo Nagoya Osaka	English Instructor	29.5	Work till March 31st	252,000	Doesn't say	No	reimbursed	7 weeks
JET	Mostly Rural Areas	School ALT	35	1 Year	300,000	Yes	no	Can provide a car.	10 days paid leave
Heart  English School	Tokyo and Nearby Areas	School ALT		1 Year	230,000	No	No		School Vacations
Winbe	All over	English Instructor	40	1 Year	250,000	No	No	Reimbursed	5 weeks
Atila  Central	Central Japan	School ALT	25 classes	1 Year	240,000 ~ 255,000	No	No	Can Provide  Car	Summer and Winter Vacation Paid

Another useful website is Gaijin Pot. I've had limited success with this one so far, and most of the jobs already require you to be in Japan with a working Visa. But it does have a lot of useful information about living in Japan. 

Another online newsletter which provides many job adverts is O-hayo Sensei. You can subscribe and they'll email you job adverts twice a month, but the website it pretty ancient looking.

There are also a lot over overseas recruiting websites which can also get you a job in Japan. Such as Footprints Recruiting and  Teach Away.

However you go about it, I hope that this small guide aids you in your escape to Japan.