Comments by "Jordan, inside-outsider in Japan" (@Jordan-inJapan) on "12 Reasons NOT to Move to Japan" video.

“Land of opportunity”. Haha, yyyess as an English teacher of 20 years this one rings true in a painfully personal way. It’s lucky I actually enjoy teaching, cause my salary is actually slightly lower now than it was when I first started. (Hmmm... Maybe I can make it as a YouTuber, instead... 😆)
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@kikuchi S well, I’m still here after 20 years, enjoying my life and not isolated in the least. (Which is why I’m still here.) I think the area you live has a big influence. (I live in a rural area near a medium-sized city in central Japan.) Also, getting married to a Japanese person, having kids, doing PTA and all that stuff does help with the integration thing. Anyway, I agree that it’s not easy to be accepted as an insider, but you can eventually by making deep connections and earning the respect of the people in your communities. (All this said, a lot of my closest friends ARE, like Chris suggested, “outsiders”, both Japanese and foreign.) Anyway, cheers. 🍻
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@Handles_are_garbage Good point. If you’re in Tokyo, that’s probably true. ( I guess part of my problem is that I don’t live in a big city.)
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OK, just to be clear... this has nothing to do with the job that the vast majority of non-Japanese people reading this are likely to get here — teaching English. English conversion schools usually don’t have the best pay, but foreign teachers are treated relatively well because the manager knows that if they aren’t, they can just walk away and easily get another job. For ALTs working in public schools (like me), hours are consistent (typically 8:30 to 4:00) and I don’t know anyone who works beyond that unless they’re voluntarily joining club activities with kids or trying to pick up one of the Japanese teachers at their school. Full time, licensed (usually Japanese) teachers in public schools are a different story. They often work crazy hours. (Their pay is pretty decent though.) That’s all. Kp. 🍻
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@harryg9976 Yes, private students can be a good source of income. It’s hard, though not impossible, to get by on income from privates alone. I have one friend who does, and he actually makes a slightly-above-average income (for an English teacher). But it takes effort and persistence to build up a reputation and then a workable schedule that pays that much. It’s safest to take a standard, full-time teaching gig first and just teach some private lessons on the side as supplemental income. (You MIGHT even get lucky and find some rich kids to tutor. I’m still looking, though...)
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@Handles_are_garbage Really? I always got the feeling that Tokyo was ‘where it’s at’ for internationally-minded companies and subsequent employment opportunities. But actually, I love Osaka, and it’s only a 2-hour train ride away from my home in Mie-pref. Something to consider. 🍻
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@katelady1370 Maybe. But personally I think it’s just that sensationalism sells. I don’t think that media empire owners really care about the effect of their news programming on viewers as long as people are watching (or reading) and the advertisers are happy. Things aren’t really much better here (in Japan), btw. The government actually has more direct influence over the content. (They can revoke media licenses very easily for anyone who touches on taboo topics, for example.) But enough politics for one day!
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