Have you ever broken through the English-teaching as employment barrier in Japan? -

Or are you forever doomed to live in that cycle until you leave Japan?

It s definitely possible. The problem is that a lot of people don t plan to do much more than teach English so that s the typical stereotype job. Also, it s extremely important that you become fluent in Japanese. I hate hearing people talk about not being able to get a real job in Japan, and they don t speak Japanese!!! No S***! Sherlocks! If a Japanese guy came to America and all he could say is hello and good morning, would you hire him? If your fluent in Japanese and have a college degree you have a very good chance of finding a great job. Just to give you a huge example, Sony, one of the world s biggest and most recognized Japanese companies, is headed by a white guy. His name is Howard Stringer. He s the new chairman and CEO.

Several of my friends have. I m not worried about leaving English teaching for the time being as it s bringing in a lot of wonga, and as jobs go, it a lot more fun than others I ve had in the past! If you have the skills and qualifications getting a quot;properquot; job it s a pretty easy thing to do. 99% of English teachers have nothing more than a bachelors degree though, and can t speak or read / write anymore than very basic Japanese, so will of course be limited in what they can do.

Actually, some go so far as learning Japanese and then dressing as a Preacher and, quot;Doing Weddingsquot;, so they say... Many Japanese prefer a western wedding, and many foreigners have made (lots of) money this way... I never stooped to it, because weddings seemed pretty serious. Modelling works, if you are young and attractive, or a short- haired, pre WWII, waspish looking male. I once tried manufacturing Poke root as a medicine, then taking it to my old boss to see how I could market it, but some lady wouldn t let me park my car, even for a second, on the road near his office, and I couldn t even get up the steps to tell them I was there,, so it totally humilated me in front of him... To make a long story short, I m afraid Japan is a pretty tough place to live, if you don t want to teach English.

Teaching is good as a part-time job or for the fun of it but how can you make a living out of that? I am an artist here! And as Michinoku said rightfully, JLPT 2 is a minimum you should have to live here!

I have, but I can t say it was easy. Getting JLPT Level 1 or 2 helps a lot.