gobbledonk Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 Guys, Sorry this isnt about Thailand directly, but I know that some of the members are English teachers, and I hope that Roppongi or someone occasionally visits this neck of the woods. The following is purely hypothetical - I dont personally wish to teach English anywhere. Lets assume that you are willing to go to Japan on a 12-month contract, teaching English. You are worried about the cost of living, but the recruiter consoles you with this : This the most frequently asked question asked by people interested in working in Japan. Living and working in a foreign country is a different experience than traveling there as a tourist. You are paid a competitive a salary, in Japanese Yen. We reimburse teachers for their train pass from their home to their school, monthly. Income tax in Japan is approximately 6% of your gross income. So, it should be possible for you to save a fair amount of money after living in Japan for a few months. The quoted salaries are : Tokyo Y274-289K Osaka Y265-280K ... Kyushu Y255-265K I can accept that living outside of the bigger cities is cheaper, and you can get by on less, but surely accommodation is going to be a major drain on those figures anywhere in Japan ? I know teaching English isnt about making a fortune, but I'll take a 'thrifty' lifestyle in the LOS over Japan any day of the week. Thoughts ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp1 Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 Says artiew: Guys, Sorry this isnt about Thailand directly, but I know that some of the members are English teachers, and I hope that Roppongi or someone occasionally visits this neck of the woods. The following is purely hypothetical - I dont personally wish to teach English anywhere. Lets assume that you are willing to go to Japan on a 12-month contract, teaching English. You are worried about the cost of living, but the recruiter consoles you with this : This the most frequently asked question asked by people interested in working in Japan. Living and working in a foreign country is a different experience than traveling there as a tourist. You are paid a competitive a salary, in Japanese Yen. We reimburse teachers for their train pass from their home to their school, monthly. Income tax in Japan is approximately 6% of your gross income. So, it should be possible for you to save a fair amount of money after living in Japan for a few months. The quoted salaries are : Tokyo Y274-289K Osaka Y265-280K ... Kyushu Y255-265K I can accept that living outside of the bigger cities is cheaper, and you can get by on less, but surely accommodation is going to be a major drain on those figures anywhere in Japan ? I know teaching English isnt about making a fortune, but I'll take a 'thrifty' lifestyle in the LOS over Japan any day of the week. Thoughts ? Unfortunately there is nothing written about how many salaries are paid p.a. (incl. bonus which is common practice in Japan). If the a.m. amounts incl. already bonus or if no bonus is paid at all, then it's hard to survive on these salaries. Even decent accommodation (Japanese style) will cost you at least some 100k JPY per month. The quoted 6% income tax is b...s..t. In addition to income tax there is another tax which is called Ward tax. This amount is almost equivalent to the income tax. To be realistic, with an annual income of some lets say JPY 4,0 Mio the income tax plus Ward- or Resident tax will be some 15-16%. In my opinion, the offer is not lucrative enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted January 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 Thanks, JP1. This was initially bought to my attention by an ad in the local paper offering grads with zero experience the massive sum of $AUD50K. With a bleak outlook for grads at the moment, I'm sure plenty will jump at the chance - I hope they have some sort of financial backup here in Oz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 Zillions of teachers here Artiew but the good jobs have all but graduated and moved on. University/college teachers here earn good money, teach short hours (comparitively) and enjoy generous holidays. At the other end of the scale, which is what this job looks like, expect long hours, low pay, poor housing and few holidays. Your quoted salary figures look only slightly above minimal wage from an expat perspective. Although you could moonlight and offer gals intimate 'private classes.' :: The days of coming to Japan to make a packet and moving on a year later are long gone unless you put on a good strip show. If you have a broader objective you could use this job as a stepping stone to a better position. Hope this info assists let me know if you have any more questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted January 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 Thanks, Roppongi, but English teaching sounds like hard work, at least from what I've read on Stick's site and others. All that professionalism, wearing a tie and being a respected member of the community : it just wouldn't sit well with my scooter trash brothers down at the clubhouse I merely posted this to have my thoughts on the cost of living in Japan confirmed, and they were (in record time !). If only some of the unsuspecting grads could have access to guys like yourself and jp1 : still, I guess you both learned life's lessons the hard way, and 12 months teaching in Japan still looks better on their resumes than 12 months at the unemployment office .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UAL875 Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 The salaries quoted sound on the low side even to teach English - curious if this is from the JET program which I alluded to in another bygone post. As far as COL on that compensation basis - forget about having a lot of pocket change. Even if they threw in housing, it would not be a good deal. Says Roppongi-san The days of coming to Japan to make a packet and moving on a year later are long gone unless you put on a good strip show. Very true words. And even the heffer strippers from Oz and the West End are feeling the sting. The novelty of the Westerner and learning English is not a novelty anymore. Regarding your line: 12 months teaching in Japan still looks better on their resumes than 12 months at the unemployment officeWell I can not speak for Oz but my ex-gf was a JET and, quite frankly, teaching English here did ZERO for her USA career and she often questioned if it was a bad choice for her to start off her post academic life by coming to Japan in that role. And many of her friends from the program are in the same boat -- mid to late twenties -- but x years behind everyone else in the private sector with the "x" variable being the amount of years spent in Japan teaching. Furthermore several high level folks at my company frowned or snickered upon hearing that she had been a JET. Not trying to be a killjoy, and please PM me if you want details, but coming here to teach at those compensation levels are not intriguing at all. Unless you are like (what I feel is) 99% of the male JETS with the hidden agenda to meet and fuck Japanese girls. Then you will be ok. :hubba: Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted January 18, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 Assuming that I was there to meet Japanese girls, surely I wouldnt be shouting too many rounds on that salary ? I am told that women in Japan can be pretty aggressive re making their intentions known, but surely they dont drop their knickers for the first smiling Gaijin who walks up to them in a bar ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UAL875 Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 Your neighbors, coworkers, students (?), students' moms and sisters, dry cleaning lady, 7eleven clerk, etc. will be Japanese - no need to go to the bar for the action... as far as aggression....I have found more aggressive behavior post-shag than during the pick-up stage. That is, there's a very common assumption that you are their boyfriend once the deed has been done. Roppongi-san has to remind me of that every once in a while when I start to spiral out of control!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp1 Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 That is, there's a very common assumption that you are their boyfriend once the deed has been done. Roppongi-san has to remind me of that every once in a while when I start to spiral out of control!!! Right you are. And rather sooner than later the marriage question pops-up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 18, 2003 Report Share Posted January 18, 2003 It's not uncommon here Artiew for the young Japanese GF to offer accommodation/food/drinks/entertainment for the poor young English teacher just off the plane. Most are dreaming of marriage and would NEVER drop the kimono before marriage. But festivals, Friday nights and after English classes are exceptions to this strict rule! As for your curiousity about high costs of living, it's all relative just like anywhere else. Goods are generally more expensive here than the West but so are salaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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