by Andy Fossett
Back in the day, I’ve heard that any English speaker could book a flight to Tokyo and score a high-paying job in Japan within just a few days of landing. I know several who originally moved here during the “bubble” years, and they tell me it was truly a special time.
Even when I took my first few visits to Japan almost 15 years ago, it was great to be a gaijin in Japan (despite the fact that there was still only one Starbucks in Shinjuku). Even in Tokyo, the locals went out of their way to show me a good time. I was treated like a celebrity wherever I went. Families invited me to stay at their homes within minutes of meeting me. I scored a lot of dates.
Sometime during the turn of the century, things began to change for people thinking about moving to Japan.
For one thing, there were a lot more of us. I don’t have any statistics handy, but when I relocated here in 2003, there were other foreigners everywhere I went in Tokyo. And Starbucks too. There were places in the smaller cities and the countryside where non-Japanese were still rare, but you could no longer expect celebrity status by virtue of your birth.
Another change was that most Japanese towns and cities were in financial trouble. The economic downturn that had hit Japan hard at the end of the 90s didn’t seem to effect the government very much at first, but when it came, it came down hard. Many towns experienced financial collapse and had to negotiate to be annexed by neighboring cities. These cities tended to be a lot tighter with expenditures and didn’t see the wisdom of paying full-time wages and benefits to random foreigners with no job experience. Private dispatch companies began to pop up everywhere.
At the same time, the English conversation industry was seeing huge profits. Anyone and everyone with native-level English was getting hired by companies like NOVA teaching laughable lessons to Japanese customers who paid exorbitant prices on long-term contracts. It seemed like a recipe for success in the short run, but eventually, students and staff alike began to take note of what a shifty set-up it was, and NOVA fell into bankruptcy in 2007.
Just when I was looking to return to Japan after a few months back in Atlanta, the market was inundated with thousands of newly-laid-off ex-NOVA employees willing to work for peanuts so they could afford to get back home. Let me just say, it was a difficult job market to be a job seeker in.
To obtain a good job in Japan now is much tougher than it was 15 years ago. Honestly, even five years ago. There is a lot more competition, starting salaries are much lower, and being foreign is just not all that special anymore.
So how can you improve your chance of finding work? Simple: you have to have a plan.
Before long, English will be a required subject for primary 5th and 6th grade students. Conversation schools have learned from NOVA’s example and are adjusting their services and more flexible contracts. They’re also being more discerning with their hiring.
Thanks to the worldwide economic uncertainty and the incredible rise of some of Japan’s Asian neighbors, Japanese businesses are placing a premium on language skills. Television programs often feature visits to Chinese and Korean schools full of happy students speaking English at a much higher level than their Japanese counterparts. Japan is a nation that prides itself on its business savvy, and they do not want to lose to China.
Also, you may think this is news, but there’s this thing called the World Wide Web now. Yes, I know it’s been around a while, but for much of the world, instant global communication is a very new invention, and most people in Japan are still getting used to it. The cool thing about the internet is that it’s helping English become the de facto lingua franca of the 21st century (wow, two Latin phrases in one sentence). Japanese people, especially younger ones, want to understand English so they can communicate online and learn about what’s going on in places they find more exciting than where they are.
Speaking of excitement, many Japanese are really into travel, especially young women. At times it seems as if more than half of the English students I meet in Japan are young women who want to visit places like Hawaii and New Zealand. There is a huge demand for people to teach English conversation without all the formal rules everybody hates learning in junior high school.
Not everyone is an aspiring English teacher. The world is full of different kinds of people with different talents and skills and likes and dislikes. Unfortunately, most Japanese people have the image that all non-Japanese people are white Americans who exist for the sole purpose of teaching English. It is wrong, and it isn’t fair, but there’s a reason that the vast majority of non-asian foreign residents of Japan are English teachers. It’s an easy job to get.
Even if you aren’t keen on teaching for the rest of your life, I will recommend trying it out, either as a gateway to something else, or for supplemental income. Japanese people will probably assume that you are an English teacher anyway, so you might at least make a little money from that assumption.
Still, I understand that many people have higher aspirations for their careers than to be a foreign language teacher. I certainly do. The good news is that there are all kinds of possible ways to make a living here. The not-as-good news is that some of them are more difficult to even find than the ubiquitous teaching jobs.
Finding a job in Japan is different from finding employment where you are now. In addition to the difficulties resulting from issues with international communication, relocation, and etc., you also have to deal with Japanese people and their culture (and their stereotypes of your culture).
I’m going to go ahead and let you in on the bad news first, because it may save you from making a mistake if you can’t deal with it. The bad news is: you will probably be unable to land your dream job in Japan if you haven’t already spent some time here.
I’m not telling you that you can’t get the job you want, but you can’t expect to send a resume overseas with no experience and no Japanese ability and get offered a great job with great pay and benefits in an area you want to live in. You can’t expect such a deal at home, so you’d be silly to expect it in Japan, wouldn’t you? I knew you’d agree. Which is why I know you want to come up with the best possible strategy to get yourself to Japan so you can start looking for the job you really want.
Things aren’t how they used to be, and it’s no longer enough to just show up and begin living the good life right away, but don’t think it isn’t possible to live a wonderful life doing what you truly love in Japan. It is possible, and with the right preparation, it’s very probable.