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There are a number of Forums on the Web where prospective English teachers ask specific questions related to aquiring teaching employment in Japan. Below you will find a number of the most commonly asked questions with specific answers that are based on the experiences of a number of teachers who are currently working in Japan.
1. What do I need to get a Work Visa for teaching in Japan?
In order to get a Work Visa to teach in Japan, one needs to have a BA or BS degree from a US; UK; Australian; NZ; or other western post-secondary institution. One must submit an ORIGINAL degree to Japanese Immigration in order to get the required Certificate of Eligibility.
2. What do I need to DO to get my Work Visa?
There are basically two ways to get a work Visa to teach in Japan:
a) The first option is to arrange employment from your home country. The Japanese employer will then handle the arrangements for you. The new teacher will send their ORIGINAL college degree to the Japanese employer who will, in turn, take it to the local Immigration Office in Japan. A Certificate of Eligibility will then be sent to the foreign recruit in her home country; she then presents (either in-person or by certified delivery)her Passport and this Certificate to the Japanese Embassy or Consulate in her home country. The Work Visa will be stamped in the new teacher's Passport. This writer has undertaken this process twice and each time it has taken about four or five weeks to complete though I have been told by reputable sources that this period can be considerably shorter as well as somewhat longer.
b) The second option is to come to Japan on a Tourist Visa in order to search for employment. If a teacher secures a job offer while in Japan on a Tourist Visa, the new teacher MUST leave the country in order to secure a Work Visa. Most teachers go to Korea as this is usually the cheapest and quickest option. Obviously, if one has a Working Holiday, Spouse, or Student Visa, there are other issues involved; this page is intended for teachers who are thinking about coming to teach in Japan full-time over a longer term. Coming to Japan to search for employment is obviously a much more expensive option than securing employment from abroad. Living in Japan as a "job-hunting" tourist can be a very expensive undertaking, and this writer would not come over here to look for a job with much less than 4-5,000 US dollars and a valid credit card, but, of course, there are others who've arrived in Japan with less. For more information, check out the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Online Visa Section
3. Where can I find the companies that recruit foreign teachers from abroad?
Like the answer given to the question above, there are basically two options concerning the TYPES of employers who hire English teachers from abroad.
a) The private language schools: The big three in this arena are AEON; GEOS; and NOVA though there are hundreds of smaller operations in Japan. These organizations are FOR-PROFIT businesses, and, as such, they operate from the same premise that literally millions of other businesses operate from: Decisions in these businesses are made with an eye on the bottom line, so if you decide to work in this arena, just be aware that the institutional culture will reflect the fact that these "schools" are, in fact, large for-profit Japanese corporations. This answer is in no means meant to criticize these organizations one way or another but hopes to inform young teachers about the reality of the EFL work environment in Japan.
b) The Japanese Public School System: This option also has a large player: The JET Program-- though there are similar, smaller programs operated by individual cities and prefectures in Japan. When a teacher is accepted into the JET Program, she is assigned to work as an "Assistant English Teacher" in the Japanese Public School System. These teachers work the same schedules and at the same schools as Japanese teachers; therefore; one is placed within the education bureaucracy which has its own set of unique issues that are different in kind from the "business-related" issues mentioned above. The JET Program recruits a large number of teachers, and I have been told that the lead time is longer for JET than for the private language schools, but I can not state this with certainty. JET teachers do observe national holidays as they work the school calander. I have personally spoken with JET teachers who have been placed away from the urban centers, so this is a real possiblity.
4. Where should I work?
First, make sure to read the answers to the questions above before reading the answer to this question. There are as many opinions about NOVA, GEOS, AEON, and JET as there are English teachers who have passed through the revolving doors in Japan over the last two decades or so. This writer had a bad first experience in Japan because he did not ASK APPROPRIATE questions PRIOR to taking a job. I was excited to get abroad and start working, so I allowed myself to take a job too hastily. (I have since worked in three countries, and I am now happily employed in Japan, so I hope that I have learned a lesson in here somewhere). Many teachers, especially young ones, say the same things over and over again--if only I had realized. . . . . . . . Hence, there is a HUGE turnover in foreign teachers here--in some companies I've been told that the average "new" teacher stays on the job for about six months. Obviously, there are some issues with both employers and employees if this is indeed the case. Some simple advice (what I wish someone had told me). Make a simple list of things that are important to you in your everyday life--maybe put them in order of importance--and find out EXACTLY how these issues will be affected by your prospective job BEFORE you relocate 10-15,000 miles/km around the world. For example, I would have placed "vacation time"; the ability to see cultural things in Japan; the ability to meet Japanese people and many other things on my list (many put $ close to the top). Now, once you have written your list , TAKE THE TIME to carefully prepare questions for the recruiter so that you will know how issues that you find important in your life will fit in with your new job. DO NOT MOVE half-way around the world unless you feel that you've been given some satisfactory answers to questions which YOU DEEM IMPORTANT!
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