I'm interested in what country you're from, how you moved to Japan, what you're doing there, how long you're planning to stay for, etc.

Post away!

I'm originally from Germany. I'm female. I've been in Japan for 3 years now, going into my 4th very soon.
I'm teaching English.
I don't know how much longer I will stay here.

Not sure what you mean by "HOW you moved to Japan".
In my case, after finishing university, I decided that I wanted to experience Japan. I went there for a 3-weeks vacation and thought that this was not enough. I grabbed a "working holiday visa" and just wanted to go to Tokyo and do some part-time jobs.
It felt a bit uncomfortable just going there without any job prospect, so I sent tons of applications, got a job and off I went.
I've been in the same job for 3 years now, changed my working holiday visa after 1 year into a "real" work visa.

Here's my blog if anybody wants to know more.
Guess, that's all.

I'm American. I came to Japan on the JET Program in July, 2008. I'm leaving in 6 months to go to grad school.

The final component of my grad program is at Todai so I'll be back in 2013.

chochajin Wrote:I'm originally from Germany. I'm female. I've been in Japan for 3 years now, going into my 4th very soon.
I'm teaching English.
I don't know how much longer I will stay here.

Not sure what you mean by "HOW you moved to Japan".
In my case, after finishing university, I decided that I wanted to experience Japan. I went there for a 3-weeks vacation and thought that this was not enough. I grabbed a "working holiday visa" and just wanted to go to Tokyo and do some part-time jobs.
It felt a bit uncomfortable just going there without any job prospect, so I sent tons of applications, got a job and off I went.
I've been in the same job for 3 years now, changed my working holiday visa after 1 year into a "real" work visa.

Here's my blog if anybody wants to know more.
Guess, that's all.

How did you sort out your accommodation? Did the company/school help you?

Im Canadian. Going on my third year in Japan. Came here right after university since I realized I might not have another chance to do it. Came over here with an Eikaiwa (English conversation school) but quickly grew tired of that life style. I have been working at a Junior High for the past year and like it a lot more. Im getting married in April and will be moving back to Canada with my wife in the summer as there are not a lot of opportunities out here besides teaching gigs. Would love to come back in the future if I can get transferred.

All in all a great experience. I knew nothing about Japan before coming here. Only reason I chose Japan was because a buddy of mine had done it and recommended it. I could have very well went to Korea or China.

I worked in Japan from January to July of 2010 as a visiting scientist (on a JSPS fellowship). It was an interesting experience, although I prefer the working style in my "home lab" in England (where, for instance, it is ok to contradict your supervisor )

fakewookie Wrote:

Womacks23 Wrote:I'm American. I came to Japan on the JET Program in July, 2008. I'm leaving in 6 months to go to grad school.

The final component of my grad program is at Todai so I'll be back in 2013.

How did you sort out your accommodation? Did the company/school help you?

Most people on the JET program just move into their predecessor's apartments so I didn't have to do anything.

I've been here since 2010. I work for a lot of different types of companies doing English teaching work. I am happy with my life here and have no plans to leave anytime soon. I'm from the South Pacific region.

I don't have company accommodation; usually you sort it out or your company or supervisor will help. There is always Gaijinhouses if you get desperate (gaijinpot.com is a good place to start investigating that sort of thing.)

Womacks23 Wrote:

fakewookie Wrote:

Womacks23 Wrote:I'm American. I came to Japan on the JET Program in July, 2008. I'm leaving in 6 months to go to grad school.

The final component of my grad program is at Todai so I'll be back in 2013.

How did you sort out your accommodation? Did the company/school help you?

Most people on the JET program just move into their predecessor's apartments so I didn't have to do anything.

Oops, I meant to quote the person above.

Melamelachan Wrote:I worked in Japan from January to July of 2010 as a visiting scientist (on a JSPS fellowship). It was an interesting experience, although I prefer the working style in my "home lab" in England (where, for instance, it is ok to contradict your supervisor )

Wow, I know that's how it is in industry, but for scientists I'm surprised. I work in admin/management at NASA, and no one can tell these uppity scientists what to do or think...

Also, for those who didn't come over on a special scheme (like JET), did you manage to secure job offers before leaving for Japan or did you do your job searching after arriving?

fakewookie Wrote:How did you sort out your accommodation? Did the company/school help you?

Yes, the school helped me. In the end I took over the apartment of a previous teacher, so no extra costs for me. Teachers who came after me had to look for an apartment, but our school helped them and they also paid for the key money etc.
If you have nobody helping you, I suppose it can get quite difficult to rent an apartment as a lot of landlords don't accept foreigners! :/

mafried Wrote:

Melamelachan Wrote:I worked in Japan from January to July of 2010 as a visiting scientist (on a JSPS fellowship). It was an interesting experience, although I prefer the working style in my "home lab" in England (where, for instance, it is ok to contradict your supervisor )

Wow, I know that's how it is in industry, but for scientists I'm surprised. I work in admin/management at NASA, and no one can tell these uppity scientists what to do or think...

Something like 90% of Japan's Nobel prize winners conducted their primary research outside of Japan.

I'm a lawyer for a US firm. I lived here as a kid for a while and speak fluent Japanese. I just moved back last summer with my family for a change and since I hadn't lived here for a really long time.

Got bored of studying computer science at a crap university, started taking a few Japanese electives (late 2005). Prof pressured me into going on exchange program because no one else wanted to and the school would have lost the partnership.
Took a semester off and worked part time at a Japanese restaurant with all Japanese staff. Started dating one of them.
Went on the exchange program. Lived with the staff member I dated after she came back to Japan. Joined a club, played electric guitar at a few live shows. Got JTEST-C (2006)
Went back to Canada and transferred into a top university studying Japanese literature, linguistics, translation theory, etc. (2007)
Came back a few times on vacations to be with the girl I was dating, eventually broke up with her.Got JLPT2 (2008).
Graduated & went to Japan to work. Lived in a guest/share house full of Japanese backpackers, bikers, neets, freeters, etc while I worked at a friend's friend's mother's eikaiwa school part time (and got a visa).
About two months later got a better job teaching at a junior highschool and moved into an apartment. Negotiated a paid three month vacation as a condition of signing the contract (most ALT are unpaid over long vacations). Got JLPT1 (2009)
Six months later got a better job working in the auto industry doing translation, market research, running auto shows, etc, making 3x+ more than I did teaching (and it's even LESS work). Moved into a bigger, better apartment. Paid off student loan less than a year after graduation. Got BJT1. (2010)

If you want to enjoy Japan long term, don't settle for working in the English field. It's a soul crushing experience because the company tries to screw both you and the clients. Private students can be good money, but they are unreliable and it's hard to get enough if it's your only employment. I had a goal of working in the English industry less than a year before finding a "real" job, otherwise I'd go back to Canada and do a masters. I managed it in 8 months, less than 5 of which I actually worked. It's an easy field to get into though so it's a good thing to do while you look for something better. Just don't get trapped or you'll end up like one of the bitter expats seen on gaijinpot or the debito comments.

Hehe, I agree and disagree. ELT can be good if you work it right, but you have to be pretty frosty inside to avoid getting your headlights adjusted by your students, fellow teachers (of any kind), school staff, companies, etc. I think I was born frosty, but with ELT you gotta expect that someone will melt your snow cone soonish, if they aren't already prepping the boiling oil to do so right now. (I've already had it happen a few times.)

That said, real jobs rock. I expect I will be a bitter expat within a year. Your a lucky guy, Jarvik!

I First came to Japan for 6 months in 2003 and worked as a volunteer at a red cross hospital in Hiroshima.
Went back home and spent 5 years doing a chemistry degree with a year working in industry. A big regret during that time was that although I kept up an interest in Japan and planned to go back at some point it wasn't enough to keep me studying Japanese.

After university I wanted to travel some more and go back to Japan so I applied for JET. I've been on JET for 2 1/2 years now, and will probably stay for 4 years in total. I passed JPLT 2-kyuu last year and took 1-kyuu at Christmas. I would like to start looking for a 'real' job in Japan this year but I think I'm better off getting paid to study a little bit longer especially as my job conditions on JET are way better than any other english teaching job I'd be likely to find.

Overall I'd say my time in Japan has been great. There are plenty of things that frustrate me here, but I feel that I've been here long enough to understand why those things happen, which at least make them slightly easier to deal with.

Started studying Japanese as a hobby in University, they had just started a Japanese class my first semester. It was a technical school, so it wasn't as serious as your average University Japanese course. It held my interest none the less. After about a year and half of study, I did a short term study abroad with a larger state university which took place in Hiroshima. It was five weeks in the summer and I spent an extra week in Nagoya afterward. It was a really great time and I really wanted to come back. Upon returning, I had about a year left to finish my degree, so I decided I would apply for JET when I graduated. I got in, and came back in July 2009. The experience in teaching has been alright, but I would rather being doing other lines of work (i.e. web dev/design). So I decided not to do a third year and try my luck finding work in a decent city. I have about 3-4 months to try and find something. So I am working on my portfolio and Japanese.