Although there are 3 basic roads to teaching in Japan most recent graduates use to start their teaching careers, the destination in terms of salaries and working conditions are fairly similar.

Teaching English Conversation in Japan “Eikaiwa” The Most Heavily Traveled Road
“Eikaiwa” refers to the teaching of English conversation and it’s billion dollar industry in Japan. These consist of your large chain schools like ECC, Berlitz, Geos & Aeon. They employ thousands of English teachers all over Japan and can be found in all but the tiniest cities. There are literally tons of private English schools dotting the country side.All of these schools are attempting to carry out the daunting task of teaching English to the Japanese.

What’s Needed to Teach
You need a 4 year degree from an University to get a job. (2 year degrees won’t cut it.).) You pretty much also need to speak English at native level fluency. Some do succeed in finding work in Japan, even though English isn’t their first language but the overwhelming majority of postions that get filled are filled by native level fluent teachers.

Although there is no minimum wage, most teachers drag in  250,000 yen a month before taxes.  A typical work week will be 5 days long. Don’t expect western stuff like weekends off. The “eikaiwa” or English conversation business whirs like a motor on Saturadays and Sundays and someone has to teach the students right? This means that most teachers work at least one Saturday or Sunday with another weekday off.  Vacation packages are quite similar for most schools. 2 weeks of paid vacation and a handful of national holidays off is the norm. Of course there will be a bit of difference between how many national holidays any given school observes, but expect 8 to 10 per year. Something worth noting is that ECC English school has the best vacation of all the large chain schools. To see a comparison chart outlining: working conditions, salaries, perks, accommodations, vacations days and recruitment methods for Geos, ECC, Berlitz and Aeon, click here.

Expect to work close to 40 hours per week. Although each school is a little bit different, nontheless, expect 20 to 25 actual teaching hours and a few administrative or office hours.  Most schools also will provide you with health insurance or subsidize it. Typical office hours are filled by grading student work, taking class notes, preparing future lessons or just chatting with students. Furthermore, teachers are sometimes expected to hand fliers as well. No joking here folks, by the end of an average day, you’ll know you worked. All in all when all the hours get counted, your typical teacher works about 40 hours per week.

Larger chain schools, mentioned above,  have fixed curriculums. This means you’ll be using their in house texts, tapes and other support materials for teaching. Those with little teaching experience often like these teaching conditios becasue it reduces stress and makes the headache of lesson planning go away.) Those who need to express their creativity in the lesson will probably find it stifling.

ESL teachers typically teach all ages. Literally from 5 to 75 year olds. Some schools have only children as students like Amity English school and Peppy Kids Club. Other large chain schools like Gaba cater to only adults or adult private English lessons.Because of how cut-throat competitive this industry is, most schools cater ot all ages. Student wise, you can expect a healthy dose of children and young professionals like office ladies and salary men as they’re called to make up the bulk of who you teach.

All most all of your large chain schools will provide their respective teachers with some kind of accommodations. This is a very big help as it’s difficult to find accommodations on your own without the help of a Japanese national. Not to mention it’s also quite expensive. But the type provided will vary, you should expect things to be half the size of what you might find in most western countries. Furnishings are usually sparse and typically will be collections of things from departing teachers.