Inbox
We were sent an email about teaching in Japan – feel free to send more of your own!
Hello,
I’m 19 years old and earning a degree in Celtic Studies at a
university in Canada, though I live in the US. Recently I’ve been
giving serious thought to a career teaching English in Japan, but I
have several concerns which you may be able to help clear up.Firstly, I’m like any penniless college student, and by the time I’m
finished with my BA I’ll have wracked up around $50,000 USD in
student loans. Is it realistic to work in Japan AND expect to earn
enough to start paying off these loans?Also, how likely is it I’ll be able to obtain a work VISA for more than a year?
Thanks for your time,
Rachel
Hi Rachel.
If you plan to graduate before you travel to Japan, then the degree that you have will allow you to get a work visa for Japan, without too many troubles. You will, however need a company in Japan to sponsor your visa. This may mean getting a job lined up before you arrive in Japan, but getting the visa after you’ve arrived is also feasible, just more difficult.
In most cases, visas are only issued for 6 months or a year – you will need to extend it when it gets close to expiration, but this is not too difficult. I’m not entirely sure of the rules of Canada or the U.S. but I suspect you can continue renewing it until you are considered too old to work in Japan (I think the age limit is 45?). Check with your local Japanese Embassy for better details.
About your student debt – there are many teachers in Japan in the same situation as you. And while they may grumble at having to send home their hard-earned money, or grumble at the lousy exchange rate, that’s all it is. It is still affordable to live in Japan while paying off a debt at home.
Hope that clears up your concerns.
Cheers,
Chidade
- 
January 24th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
Might I also suggest keeping a US checking account open. You should bring a whole bunch of checks with you to pay your loans because Japan doesn’t have checks. To send money home, I highly recommend this site: http://www.golloyds.com
You can send as much money as you’ll probably ever need to for only $20.
February 2nd, 2006 at 2:41 pm
I’ve also heard that having a bank account with Citibank can be useful. It’s a relatively easy bank to find in metropolitan Japan and while the Citibanks in Japan and North America are technically different entities, the cards work in both and the fees are minimal. So you can withdraw money from your Japanese bank account in America and vice versa.