How EVERY FOREIGNER Hates Living In Tokyo

Japan is a hardcore place, I know but this short video will help you
• The BEST Advice To Liv...
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[@itsprobablysarcasm5977]

Sora: Becoming an English teacher in Japan is a trap for foreigners who want to live in Japan Also Sora: Was an English teacher in Japan Sora is foreigner confirmed

[@TheGooberGrape]

LMAO

[@beck16]

If you have a CS degree why the hell would you not use it after all that suffering bruh

[@oleksandrbyelyenko435]

I am dead 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@katep.1465]

He's removing competition ;)

[@namorer5510]

He’s from Chiba Japan tho😂

[@AsuraSK]

As the 1% that actually studies to become a teacher in their country and dream of becoming one in Japan this is concerning.

[@garfunkel6975]

Don't fret over it - if you have actual qualifications for teaching and a degree in education, you can get a high-quality job with one of the premium companies. There, you will have decent pay and benefits, plus the hours aren't crazy. For most foreigners, who do not have those qualifications nor degrees, the only teaching job they can get is at one of the many crappy companies who only offer low-quality jobs with poor pay, no benefits and often mandatory unpaid overtime. These companies only survive because there is a steady supply of inexperienced and náive foreigners to exploit.

[@PyraJya-Luquay]

I think this mostly applies to anyone trying to get a job teaching English in Japan just because they think it's an "easy job" that any English speaker can do. If you're actually working towards a degree with the full intent of teaching English from the beginning, that's completely different. You are literally preparing to do it as a career, not just because you think it's an "easy job." Teaching jobs are never as easy as most people think. They all take years of studying just to prepare for.

[@jenleigh4212]

Working at an international school is probably your best bet unless you want to work at a university. There are other options too, but that’s what I recommend.

[@AsuraSK]

@@garfunkel6975 I see, that makes sense. I wouldn't want to teach in Tokyo either, I'd rather go to Osaka or Kyoto if I had the choice.

[@alaina.vittoria1484]

If that's your passion don't care what others say about it. As Sora, or "Satoshi", and many others have said, many foreigners come get into English teaching jobs because they think it's a free pass to live in Japan, but honestly these people are probably only love Japan superficially and have no intention of actually contributing to society. I personally love teaching English, I even do it in my home country to Japanese expats here. As much as I would love to work and live in Japan, where I don't have to fly so far just to see my friends, I don't think the best way for me to contribute is by being a teacher because it's not my career. However I am more than happy to volunteer if ever I have the time and opportunity.

[@z1lla4]

thanks for crushing my dreams of becoming a professional anime watcher in japan 😔

[@namorer5510]

My brother use to have that job. It's real and he worked for Crunchyroll, it was called reviewer. But, they stopped hiring people to review anime DVDs and he lost his job.

[@linkletter2471]

On top of becoming a professional Sora Stream Sniper, I'd like to move to Japan and become a cybersecurity expert.

[@Cr4z3d]

Nice!

[@leilanilamour5173]

I truly hope this works out for you! 🌸

[@alaina.vittoria1484]

Could imagine you having a whole setup in a Japanese van driving around breaking into networks just to hunt down Sora's location to Stream Snipe... 😂

[@aphus8504]

good because japan’s cybersecurity is quite frankly ass

[@cotsubuu]

このチャンネルマジでおもろい アメリカ在住のじゃぱに～ずにとってりれーたぶるなチャンネルはこれしかないww

[@Genzaijh]

面白いですね。

[@gonewriting]

I moved to Taiwan as an English teacher, but I'm only moving back to the United States because I miss my family and my Chinese is terrible. Also, getting a job without a year of experience was impossible where I lived in the states, and Taiwan allowed me to do that. I've met some English teachers in Taiwan who think it's terrible here, when really it's an amazing place to live. If you hate your job you'll hate your life.

[@choufreakyc]

I moved to Taiwan to study Mandarin first and then became an English teacher for about 9 months and hated it so much, but knowing their language made it so much easier to teach. I loved Taiwan and stayed for almost six years and found a job at an English radio station in New Taipei City. Many of my expat friends that are still there love Taiwan, but many have now left teaching for better opportunities. Taiwan really is a wonderful place to live, but I agree, if you hate your job then you'll likely hate your time in ANY foreign country. Also, the novelty tends to wear off after a year for most people no matter where you move to.

[@greenmoss9079]

Wow you know what ? For some reason I have seen many people move and stay in Japan as far back as the 90's. Yeah they taught English got past it and made Japan their home! Now they have become by ( by no fault of their own and with hard work ) Supper Cool and very kind You tuber influences 😂❤ You can find this Only In Japan

[@Genzaijh]

You are very right! If you hate your job you hate your life. that's why I quit my career in the US and moved to Taiwan. I take half the pay I made in the states, I make less than the average foreign teacher. ( I'm not a teacher I just work for a normal local company. ) But I'm a lot happier, I have more free time to do the things I like. I take better care of my health and stay fit. I couldn't be happier. Ok, improve air quality, stop running red lights would make me happier, but I'll take what I can get and I can always ask people to make better life choices.

[@Guardian016]

Paying $100+/m to get lessons from those unpassionate teachers is also a nightmare for students.

[@Those2menoverthere]

It's a part of the reason why English literacy rates are so low in Japan. It also comes down to the fact that they teach it as a bare minimum requirement. So you just have to understand the pure basics to get through school and pass some certain tests. As a result most students will never have any passion for it, and no I am not saying every student NEEDS that passion, just that it's far less likely because of how they try to implement it into their curriculum. I mean it's the same thing for pretty much all of America, usually we're required to choose a language of some sort to study (commonly French, German, or Spanish) and you have to take the classes for a few years between middle school and high school. Sure we learn some things from those classes, but it comes down to the individual to want to keep running with it to actually become fluent. We have no actual NEED to become fluent in the language we studied in school.

[@snowangelnc]

Sadly, that's true. I have a teaching degree and ESL certification, and I love being a teacher. In my 20's I lived in India working at an NGO. English lessons were a part of that. I had one co-teacher that was a Canadian that had no background in education whatsoever. She was very open about her motives for being there; my first month working she told me that the reason she had resented my presence when I arrived because she didn't want to have another westerner around on what was "her big life adventure living in Asia." So yeah, nothing wrong with wanting to have an adventure overseas, but to her the part about working to educate students was just a side aspect that she felt like she had to accept as part of the deal as a relatively easy way to pay for it all. It was sad watching her teach her part of the class. I never said anything in front of the students because she was still a teacher at the NGO and I didn't want to undermine her authority; but there were so many times her students struggled or got confused by her explanations because she had no idea what she was doing. They figured that the problem was with themselves though and not her, since she was the native speaker. The truth is, taking the fact that a person is a native speaker and thinking that qualifies them to teach the language is like thinking that knowing how to drive a car makes a person a qualified mechanic.

[@scirocco8017]

agree with all of you. I didn't live in Japan but SEA and have many foreign english teacher(British, Australia, Philippines, etc.). when I got teachers who care and passion about teaching everything was smooth. but then one day come this one specific american man who is like the type of loser who have problems living in his own country and only be here just to have fun in dark side of Bangkok/Pattaya it goes worse real quick. not only the class is confusing, he threw tantrum every time thing didn't get convenient for him, show signs of japanophobia and openly look down on asian. then keep bragging about how america is the best everything else are too ancient compare to it, "I should go to Europe in the first place instead", "your guy are stupid kid I use to be in navy I travel alot and know the world not just from a mare photograph(and ego enough to dare correct native that they get their understanding of their own culture wrong like he is the smartest guy in the world and own this place)", etc. dude for pete's sake just get the hell out of here and keep your tail between your legs back to the USA. like isn't it the common sense to learn to respect the local and adapt to culture of place you want to go? and then if you do that and get discrimination then it on them, but if you be disrespectful and didn't seem to learn shit what right do you have to cry for something you don't deserve to begin with and didn't even try to achieve it.

[@uctynguzb]

over $100 per meter?

[@starpeep5769]

Exactly I hate weebs

[@Jirujan]

this is true, doing something that's not your passion/something you're not used to do will become a nightmare. my friend had to go to mental health hospital because of that

[@miyoshiandre]

Well then there's me who had a dream job/career and it became a nightmare nonetheless. More than 3 years going to therapy because of work lol.

[@arjix8738]

​​@@miyoshiandredo share your experiences

[@drugzent5889]

is your friend work at mental hospital too?

[@SystematicChaos713]

Growing up as a Canadian in Japan I had some experience tutoring English in high school, so I thought I could come back as an English teacher as an adult. But in college in Canada I tried to get a job at an English school, and they gave me a chance based on my experience alone, but the hurdle for actual English teaching in Canada was so much higher that they let me go after one day and told me I should get trained and certified if I really wanted to be an English teacher. That experience taught me not to take English teaching so lightly, and I knew it wasn't for me. But I still wanted to go back to Japan. So I found something I enjoy doing which I could do in Japan, which was translating. I've been working in Tokyo as a translator for seven years now, and I've never looked back.

[@coffeevibes6160]

How does one go about getting a job in translating in Japan? Thank you! Moving back soon.

[@SystematicChaos713]

@@coffeevibes6160 In my case, I started by freelancing while I was in Canada. It was something I could do to the side of my studies and other job after I graduated. Once I'd built up that experience, I reached out to one of my clients who was a Japanese company and told them I was looking for a full-time job in Japan. They were already impressed with my work, so they hired me as a translation project manager. The important thing is that this got me a 技人国 visa, which is one of the more powerful work visas, and it allowed me to keep freelancing on the side, and now my freelance work is stable enough I'm considering transitioning into freelancing full-time.

[@pluviophile1988]

Yeah but way fewer people have a command in both English and Japanese to be able to be a straight up translator

[@ae5664]

Awesome and congratulations!

[@kaidorade1317]

Cheat code for living in Japan: have Sora on speed dial!

[@southcoastinventors6583]

I really think the problem here is unless you have the option of taking a one year working holiday visa, people will naturally gravitate to the easiest visa to qualify for that actually can pay a living wage to someone without any real plan. Problem with that is once they get to Japan they get lazy and get stuck in a routine, not mention they also have poor Japanese skills which you need unless you want to live in Gajin town forever.

[@Cr4z3d]

Ironic

[@davidpaiva1104]

To be honest I would never even think in going to live in another country without at least a decent level of that country language.

[@deadlymecury]

@@davidpaiva1104 you can't have decent level of language without everyday practice for several years and that seems impossible outside of said county. I thought I had "a beginner level of Japanese". Already at customs I understood that never mind, I don't know Japanese at all. Textbooks work only when some random dude starts to talk to you with general questions like "何歳ですか？どこから来ました？” out of curiosity. They don't quite work when customs tries to ask you why you have so much cash and medicaments. Or when you receive an email where your bank says your card is blocked because of suspicious activity, please call the support. Preparations are definitely a good thing, but I think just to not be disappointed and crushed with reality - should be treated as preparations for further language learning, kind of "cheat start" when you already know stuff you will be taught so you need less mental energy to get through it.

[@FlyffUniverse]

​@@davidpaiva1104as someone who lives in a foreign country as a teacher, I am the only person in my workplace with a decent grasp of the language (who isn't a local). I think my advice is that you don't need the local language, but you've got a great opportunity to learn it and maybe should if you eventually go.

[@davidpaiva1104]

@@FlyffUniverse You don't need that level, sure. But you need at least the very basic to survive alone in the country.

[@BadChase]

This is on point. Most people who hate living in Japan, did it as an English Teacher or at a job they do not like and attribute it to living here. But if one find a nice company and job living in Japan is really great.

[@nanaholic01]

Speaking from personal experience - becoming an English teacher is the easiest way to get a working visa to come to Japan since they hand them out like cookies - there's nothing wrong with using that as a starting point. Plus entry level jobs in Japan which lets you use English is going to pick from people that are already in Japan before they try sponsoring someone to come over to Japan because people already in Japan can start work quicker, and the company has to do WAY less work to get that person to settle into a new country - that basically means that unless you are an experienced professional with unique skills, getting a job in Japan before you come over is not that easy. The only issue is a lot of those English teachers never bothered to plan their second step after coming over as an English teacher - which is to skill up their Japanese and start looking for other jobs in their original fields of study, and then they became jaded and pissed at Japan. Fun fact - at my IT company every English speaker foreigner were one of the "engineering degree holder coming over to Japan as English teacher" in this video, including me. We all just had the foresight to make and execute our plan to get out of English teaching as soon as we could.

[@Genzaijh]

Find a way to get your foot in the door. Improve your Japanese and look for other opportunities. It's reasonable. I double people check where these people go after quitting their job. I think some stay just they change their type of work.

[@FuadAlvi]

The fact that most of the youtubers saying "Japan's been a nightmare for them have been english teachers. I used to watch AbroadInJapan but idk if he had the same mindset as sora described here.

[@alexl1178]

In a video, he said that he enjoyed teaching English and stayed for 3 years before moving onto a different job. He also learned and became fluent in Japanese so his motivations were in the right place. I wonder if not living in Tokyo influenced his experience. I'd imagine that as a win considering he is still there now thriving.

[@magicalpj]

As someone who taught English in Japan AND trained to be a teacher in my own country, I have to say . . . teaching English is Japan was really not great. But I also had the opportunity to teach my actual preferred subject area (social studies) in Tokyo, and that WAS great. So maybe it's just the way English teaching works there. Another thing to keep in mind though is the culture shock. It comes in stages. The first stage is actually very pleasant. Everything is new and great and you're thrilled to be there. It's the second stage where everything becomes frustrating and awful and you start missing home. It can take months or even years to hit that stage. But for anyone wanting to live in Japan or any other country, realizing that you hit that stage of culture shock is the first and most important step of working through it. And, for the love of God, try to do something else beside teaching English unless you specifically want to become an ESL teacher.

[@Icarus975]

What are good high paying or decent jobs in Japan if I can know or speak decent Japanese

[@magicalpj]

@@Icarus975 That very much depends on your degree. My non-Japanese, non-English teacher friends were mostly lawyers, but I also knew people who worked in logistics and as distributors. For people who do want to go the teacher route, I recommend going to Japan with a master's degree or higher and applying to universities.

[@lindseyginou190]

I am a high school teacher here in Canada and went to Japan to teach English in the Kyoto Board of Education. It was wonderful. I loved teaching the elementary school kids. It was not like working in McDonald’s and I still miss It. Being a good teacher is hard, and it sucks that people think anyone can teach.

[@Yamamotokenjirou]

1、好きこそ物の上手なれ 2、石橋を叩いて渡る 3、継続は力なり 日本の諺 個人的に1番重要な事は敢えて載せてないけど。

[@thachnguyen9029]

勉強になります

[@Yamamotokenjirou]

@@thachnguyen9029 コメントありがとうね。 参考程度ですけどね。

[@Section.9]

As a former english teacher who lived in Korea for 3 years - legitimately hated 20-something year olds who came to korea to "work" but really just used the job as a means of being in the country without actually doing the job. Ended up picking up the slack for so many women (unfortunately i met very few male teachers where i lived) that were only interested in Kpop concerts and shopping.

[@Crownmuri]

I started living in Japan through Eikaiwa (English conversational school) as well, but it wasn't just for the sake of living (I did take classes in TEFL etc). But I feel we should point out the ease of getting a Certificate of Eligibility for the Engineer/International Relations/Humanies visa with this method compared to other job offers. As a translator the majority of jobs are either freelance, or in-house where HR only bothers hiring people that already have a work visa. That "Game Customer Support Staff" in the video has "working permit" as a requirement. I love Japan. Even after quitting Eikaiwa after a 2 years :) but it was a necessity for growth visa wise.

[@BM-lw8bz]

Thank you for pointing out the hypocrisy of this video. They are not trying to hire foreigners that are engineers. The language barrier, the visa process etc. will deter most Japanese companies from even trying to hire a foreigner. To be fair, most foreigners would probably not enjoy the long working hours and it’s more of a fantasy in their heads.

[@hanae_chann]

This is basically an tutorial before you decided to live in Japan or not. Nice one Sora ⭐️

[@rafacs1.63]

John rejected his dream of being a policeman and in turn rejected the dream of being a computer teacher just to come to Japan to work as an English teacher. I definitely don't want to be like John.

[@Sophie_chan00]

Living in a country we like and doing something we like as a job is much more worth than living in a country we like but forcing ourselves to do a work we don't really like ✌

[@GremoriaParadise]

and when work is most time spend , agreed

[@aadesh_kale]

What a useful information! Thank you Sora for providing us with valuable information in entertaining skits ❤

[@hover-1eagle408]

Great video sora, been liking the live streams to keep up the great work

[@PyraJya-Luquay]

Ah, yes! The fallacy of getting an "easy job" that really isn't that easy to begin with because people think that "It's my native tongue so I can probably teach it." English teachers in the US, iirc, are required to have a bachelors degree (4 years of post-secondary education) minimum. That's also not taking into account the positions that require a masters or a doctorate/Ph.D. I remember that one of my professors in college cited her personal experience as an example during a lecture, wherein a lot of her time was dedicated to office work and conferences (this was back before the internet became heavily used for that sort of stuff). Just going off that, there's no way I would pursue such a career in my own country (US), let alone a foreign country (Japan). I'd rather air on the side of a stable job in Japan, not an easy one that actually isn't easy.

[@djdrizzy9139]

Fortunately it is my dream career to teach English in Japan (as a direct hire), and I'm a certified teacher in my home country. Looking forward to teaching in Japan soon!

[@Nezumi--]

i admit, i didn't live in tokyo... and i did quit after a year but that was coz of visa and covid stuff lol ... i actually teach music back home and have a degree in english lit, so teaching in japan was just an obvious choice for me as i genuinely dunno what else i'd be doing other than songwriting or art. and i loved living in japan. i loved teaching there too because it wouldn't matter where i live i'd be doing that work anyway, i think... as for missing family, living in japan i did miss my family i think... but i have time blindness which does make it easier, two days ago or two yrs doesn't feel much different, as sad as that might sound. but i did meet other foreigners who were teaching there who simply should have never gone into teaching. and some foreigners who shouldn't have moved to japan. They complained about the very things i found helpful lol like they hated the silence on the trains and stuff... (meanwhile, i can't take public transport back home because people are too nosy/noisy/unpredictable and it gives me panic attacks... i felt calmer in the crowd during osaka's rush hour than back home on a semi-empty bus O.o ) i think it's important to assess the "why". why move to japan? for anime? for the culture? for the teaching job? for fun? and actually think about the answers and what those answers actually mean for the individual.

[@Sa-ta-Andagi-]

wake up babe new Sora The Troll video just dropped

[@lemondedeale8162]

I love this type of videos like the ones you were doing years back 😉

[@jarviscreations]

Bro I really look forward to your videos lol

[@livyintheskywithdragons]

Actually this is great advice for life anywhere, do what you love ❤

[@lastnamefirstname8655]

thanks for the advice, sora!

[@lordsetsuna2287]

Wow what a timing. I just got back from holiday in Tokyo, and after taste it for the first time i come to had a feeling want to living in Tokyo. Thank you this video made me realize i should come to love what i had first before forget everything and move on Tokyo. Perhaps in the far future, or maybe for another timeline.

[@Trainfan1055Janathan]

I'm a bus driver in America. I always said that if I was going to live in Japan, I was going to do so being a bus driver or train driver. Though I'm not sure. They put so much emphasis on being on time there, it might be a bit too stressful. I looked at the controls of Japanese buses and it looks like the controls are in the same spot, but mirrored, so I shouldn't have any issues controlling one, but the being on time part is where we have an issue. Where I work, we put more emphasis on being safe than being on time and I'm one of the safest drivers there if ya catch my drift. Those customers will eat me alive! BTW, when you said 罠, that gave me a funny image of the owner of the school shouting 引っかかった！to everyone who signed the contract.😂

[@GremoriaParadise]

it's true, every time someone sigh a contact, they got them trapped for a year and a year worth a of time to find some else who will do 1 year also

[@CrizzyEyes]

It has some truth to it. The worst train accident in Japan occurred because the driver was extremely stressed out due to being behind schedule. It was so bad back then that they'd force you to do punishments for being behind schedule, basically menial tasks that nobody would want to do. Almost like boot camp.

[@alexsatri_]

so inspiring!

[@georgehandle5433]

great video

[@afsmeg]

This may be one of your best videos omg

[@NelemNaru]

Haha! That's close to my experience: interested in computers, decided to live in Japan after watching anime, got a math degree, then became an English teacher in Japan. However, I enjoyed teaching, and have no regrets for the 3 years I lived there. But it did get to the point where I had basically fulfilled my dream, and teaching kindergarten-level English everyday was no longer stimulating. So I moved back and now have an occupation related to computers. I had originally envisioned myself permanently living in Japan, which didn't work out I had expected. But the experience I had living there was amazing. It just became time to change my occupation to something else that I was interested in.

[@tgrey5647]

""Professional Anime Watcher" 😭💀💀💀💀

[@straightjacket3.519]

I wanted to be so many different things growing up. My first job was a landscaper. Ten different jobs later and a few computer classes and now I am a landscaper except I only work ten hours a week for the same pay I made working 40 hours a week 20 years ago. My only regret is that I wasted so much time trying to reach for the stars when time was the thing I wanted most.

[@clinton4161]

This is good advice. Though I'm going to try it because I think I might actually like teaching English. I like learning languages and I already like explaining things about the English language to a Japanese friend of mine. So it might be a good fit. Won't know unless I try.

[@NickAlex08]

Try it don't listen to him. People that want to live in Japan have to start from somewhere, there's nothing wrong being an English teacher for a few years. Just as long as you're teaching English, do it with sincerity and care for your students, even if you know it'll only be for a few years.

[@Mari-eo8re]

YESSSS NEW SORA POST

[@Fooleen]

i once had a heated discussion with some npc online and she tried to convince me that working as a teacher SHOULD be paid little or shouldn’t be paid whatsoever, because it’s a devotion not a regular job. and i’ve heard so many stories from my fellow teachers who encountered soooo many other people who disrespect teachers in this way and think they’re freaking robots! working 24/7, having no time to even go to the stores, not having time to take good care of yourself because of work work work work, stressing out like crazy, not getting a fair payment are things that people don’t want to take into consideration when they choose to be teachers applying for these twinkle twinkle ads from china, korea and japan looking for english teachers lol it’s a trap!

[@dabadshoes8658]

Yeah Sora you and that indonesian guy helped me dodge a bullet. So thank you and I will get a job in the film indsutry over in Japan. I will just need to talk to my Japanese teacher about it first since he knows more about the Jet program than I do.

[@zanzoken]

I am software developer for 10 years. But getting a job in japan is not as easy as you make it out to be. 1. A lot of companies (even on english Job pages) require you to be almost a native speaker (N1 or N2 japanese as a must have). 2. A lot of japanese companies do not want to help you get a visa. So they also require you to have a working visa already. 3. Most jobs in my field IT are very badly paid. Software developers are only getting 6-8 mil yen per year. Which is very low payment for software developer in europe. Of couse depending on the amount needed to live in tokyo this might be fine (although i expect tokyo to be quite expensive) 4.If you are not in IT it seems almost impossible to find an english speaking job only in Japan unless it is being an english teacher or working at a konbini. 5. You might still end up at a black company and will work way over 40 hours per week anyway. Do not get me wrong. I can talk basic japanese and if i would live in japan i would 100% try to become fluent as fast as possible. But trying to get N1 first and only then being able to get a job is a bit tough. I know I will get a lot of comments like "yeah duh what do you expect, if you want to live in japan you should be perfect in japanese". But I have to say this is too short sighted from Japan. They need professional workers since they lack that. And other countries show it works as well to start with English only. In germany you can pretty easy get a job with no german knowledge.

[@ImRezaF]

Comparing Japan with Germany is pretty wild for me considering german is much similar to english, linguistically. In one way or another, you have to be able to read kanji especially if you working in like japanese companies.

[@officialcrit6685]

Currently I am struggling to decide whether or not I would like to work as a english teacher. I am on my last semester, writing my dissertation for my bachelor's degree in japanese studies. I'm going to Kyoto this fall as a exchange student for a year. I have a top 3 tier list of professions that I can see myself working as and one of them are some sort of a language teacher, but I haven't decided between my native language, english or japanese (I imagined having an foreign perspective of the language could instill a new perspective of learning the language). The only thing that stops me from doing it at my home country is that you need additional 5 years of college education added on top of the language education to become an official teacher and there aren't any professions inbetween. The reason Japan looks so tempting is, first of all I obviously like Japan enough to get a major in japanese studies but also the oppourtunites that are available. I was planning to get a part time as a english teacher or some sort of a job during my exchange studies, but I'm still a bit hestitant. For the moment I'm just in a headlock of some sort.. If anyone has any experience at all of seriously teaching english, what was your thought process?

[@spinner7801]

What a great educational video! I’m going to work at my dream job in Japan. Making Eneloop batteries.

[@martianunlimited]

We have the same problem in New Zealand, where people would take any post graduate course in order to get a post-study work visa after getting their graduate degree. Regardless of whether or not the course matches their undergraduate qualification, matches their interest or has any job prospect. Needless to say many of them end up jobless after finishing and had to go back after their work visa is up because they had to work minimum wage jobs that wouldn't qualify them for a residence visa.

[@adamNZ2024]

I live in New Zealand and find that upsetting. The education services should be more transparent and honest with qualifications matching the job market and salary expectations. I got my job contract withdrawn because they said I don't have a valid work visa. I've been a resident since 2005...

[@azubruh8787]

Finally a video

[@ImRezaF]

ooh yuki setsuna

[@azubruh8787]

@@ImRezaF yeah

[@AzumiRM]

My hubby never taught English. He came to japan at 18 and studied at tokyo institute of technology for 9 years to become a security professional for a large electronics manufacturer. Now that we have moved to the UK, he works in a university, teaching. It was a pain to get his PhD recognised here as his thesis was in japanese and his papers were all in japanese. A family member is not allowed to translate them so we had to hire a person from London. It was worth it in the end though.

[@fma64]

Honestly if I were born in an English speaking country, I would also have tried the English teaching route for a while. Even being an IT engineer here (Tokyo), teachers still seem to earn more and have less working hours

[@josealves2128]

Living anywhere doing what you hate is bad. This video is awesome! Eye opening for a lot of people!

[@davidr3246]

Spot on!

[@penguinmaster7]

personally, i'd rather live in Shibukawa. i could also do yokohama if i really wanted to be "near" tokyo but not necessarily "in" tokyo

[@bowlingvanjapan4099]

This is why I drive go karts on the streets of Tokyo for a living.

[@user-pd4cz3hs4n]

JAPAN is my dream I will do anything to live there I don't care what people say.

[@mumfromouterspace]

Yes. A job is a job. That means they can still find something fun to do.

[@GremoriaParadise]

you will hate japan and then you want to go to a fantasy world after dying in japan

[@gyoren_321]

本当にありがとう こんな動画は重要と思うよ

[@JerryO1995]

Yeah if I actually try to land a job in Japan at some point, it will most definitely be as a software engineer. I didn't go through so much work in my life to end up as an English teacher.

[@matthewcrownn]

Lol this is all so true. I had a lot of comments on my videos from people who seemingly hate everything about their life in Japan -- I bet most of them were English teachers too. Although I was also an English teacher -- RIP.

[@iamtheoneandonly_]

This channel is my favourite place to learn about RASENGAN.

[@itsaUSBline]

The episodes of Trash Taste where they had Pete on as a guest are great for a bit of insight into teaching English in Japan. He's got some great stories about it. Also, Tokyo is incredibly expensive compared to more rural areas of Japan, so the low pay is going to bve an even bigger issue there. But as far as the "doing something you're not interested in fatigues you after a while" part, that's just what working is. I don't know a single person in my home country who's doing a job that they want to be doing and don't hate it. Finding work you find fulfilling is rare and not all that realistic.

[@JasonB808]

My brother has been an English ALT for 12 years. He doesn’t work in Tokyo, but in Fukuyama a city in Hiroshima prefecture. He works directly for The City Hall and is one of the lead teachers. He assists the. ALTs coming in on Jet program. People like “John”drive my brother nuts. There are IT positions in Japan. If you have the security credentials and are a US citizen, former us military. You can work IT at one of the US Military bases in Japan. This was the path I wanted to try to live in Japan. I already have 12 years experience at Pearl Harbor. But unfortunately there have no positions that match my qualifications. IT is a very broad field it’s impossible to know everything.

[@bbl2_FH-kt8tq]

最近韓国で就職がどんどん難しくなって行く中で＂日本語ができる＂という一つの理由で日本就職の夢を持つ人が増えてます。自分もその一人だったので今回のソラさんの動画は心に響く

[@TheGoldenDunsparce]

Being an English Teacher whose title is ALT and jumps from school to school every other day must be hell. I was lucky and, while studying Japanese like I came to Japan to do initially, I was able to casually search for a job and joined a "Man-to-Man" Conversational School where students were all adults and came to chat. It was actually fun and felt like younwere chatting with friends and talking about meaningful things rather than repeating after a recording or reading sentences from textbooks over and over. Don't become an English Teacher from a recruitment company that will screw you by squeezing every drop of life you have and trap you by paying for your visa and apartment; save up money and visit Japan on your own (you can stay up to 3 months) and search for a conversational school that'll give you a visa, and get your own apartment in a location you want to live.

[@SeeASquaRE]

The punchline of john wanting to be a "professional anime watcher" was sublime.

[@Valerie93]

卵が好き

[@coffee-is-power]

Uabo

[@-grey]

I was an English teacher in my own country in Paris. I left and became a UX Designer remote to live abroad. 😂

[@rookbranwen8047]

Got it, instead of becoming an English teacher and going to Japan, I should become a DJ and hang with Hardcore Tano*C and Psycho Filth Records.

[@earthboundisawsome]

As someone who lives in New York but grew up on the other side of the country; honestly I'd want to live out in a small town in Japan. The big city is cool, but i feel like it would be nice to get away from it no matter what country you're in

[@xcicada]

wym? I joined JET for the high paycheck and adorable loving children

[@Genzaijh]

So I will say one thing, not all reasons for people to quit their job in Japan within one year is because they find living in Japan difficult. I was one who left after one year. I worked for the Japanese government not as an English teacher. But the reason I left was after arriving in Japan I became engaged to my girlfriend back in my home country three weeks after I arrived. We decided to get married after one year. She was going in to get her masters degree so after completing my contract I flew back to the US so we could get married, and married we did. Originally I signed a second year contract, but when it was decided we would either have to undergo a second year long distance relationship I opted just to go back. As for myself I lived in Japan a total of 2 years Taiwan for 11 years. I was never an English teacher. Not my passion and I think I would go crazy if I had to just teach basic English. I didn't even enjoy the subject myself and I can't spell, so why would I subject myself to such torture? I understand a lot of people want to have an experience of living in Japan, as did I. Originally wanted to take my wife to live there for a few years, but there were multiple issues which prevented that. When she got pregnant we concluded, ok, no more Japan we have to pick the place we want to live now, and this we came back to Taiwan. Taiwan is a good place to live.

[@Catwoman1464]

I was a waitress and worked at a german bar during my time in japan, it was unfulfilling so I eventually returned to my country, but I loved the historical places and hanami, as well as the beautiful nature.

[@justicedinosaur7302]

JET only wants you to do 5 years max, so teaching English in Japan as a life long career is never the intention! I was a computer science major just like the guy in the video. I did 3 years teaching, (not in Tokyo!) and had an amazing experience. I didn't find the pay particularly low or the hours particularly long. I was travelling around Japan and busy doing exciting stuff every weekend. Then I moved to Tokyo and started my career. It's much easier to get your first job in Tokyo than in my home country. Many people who were teaching with me also went back to university after JET and became doctors and lawyers and a whole variety of other occupations. Yeah there were people who hated it too but they were a minority

[@soniasquishy]

I think I'd rather be the foreigner working customer service.

[@benamarasarra6534]

I actually want to teach languages to people when I'm older, right now i just make Japanese friends online and help them learning English but maybe one day I could become a teacher there. I'm also working hard to learn Japanese coz i found the language interesting so talking with native speakers really helped

[@levienkon]

My cousin’s fiend definitely got a English teacher job in Kyoto after graduated from college with a bachelor of chemistry… he chose to live in Nara and have to travel almost 4 hours by train everyday because the rent in Kyoto is extremely expensive… By the way I’m in Japan as well but I’m doing code simply because I’m not a native English speaker.

[@tmyoshimura621]

This show is so great.

[@AND-tu7ob]

Indonesia mentioned let's go

[@cahyowwsono]

Let's go

[@wongwaras356]

"Ada Indonesia cuyyy!" wkwkwk

[@jamesgoatcher]

I taught 15 years ago for 9 months and while the work sucked, the cramped living spaces and commuter culture drove me away prematurely. I thought the difference was something I'd learn to embrace but the opposite happened.

[@gyoren_321]

さとしみたいなヤツはみんなの隣にいてほしい…w

[@somebody9365]

It's really hard to get a visa in any other sphere unless you're a professional with experience. It becomes even harder, because lots of companies don't take online interview and you actually need to live in Japan for 6~ months to get a job. There's no other way except teaching english I think. It may be different for other countries, but for mine it's like that. Even though Japan is really close.

[@petrifiedsuezo4202]

Oh trust me I know life is shit over there, but I want to head over there anyways. I don't want to be an english teacher, maybe a tutor but as of now teaching is like my 6th choice of what to do.

[@GrandGobboBarb]

the doing an occupation you don't like makes your life hell is such good advice. like when i went to university and studied mathematics my family kept asking "what will you do with that?" as a dumb teenager I thought they were just being demeaning and then i had to get a job as a software developer that I hate because there aren't really many jobs for rotating 4-D balls in your head.

[@itsameyoshio]

If you are thinking about doing this, use it as a springboard for yourself... study Japanese as much as possible while you are teaching English, and then get the job you actually want. Even if you go for English support staff or whatever, you'll still need Japanese to communicate with the rest of your colleagues and it's a big plus on your CV when looking for a job. I have friends who came home disillusioned because this video is exactly what happened to them. Spending 5-6 days a week at a place you're not into WILL kill your happiness.

[@user-ik8wd9vm7r]

It's a good video that summarises this big problem, but the real problem is not about the profession is about Japan. In Japan foreign teacher's have a hard time and decent paying roles are nearly non existent. It seems to me that English teaching in Japan is considered a temporary position for working holiday makers, just like working as a waiter/waitress but without any flexibility or mobility 😅

[@neonkaiju]

Sora, delivering the tough love.

[@tylerwest4756]

Sometimes I wonder how long I’d survive being Isekaid to Japan with my inability to learn a foreign language and my talent of getting sick when I try to eat rice and sea food. I don’t imagine I’d last long but i think it would be an entertaining survival tv show.

[@StangeGirly00]

My name isn’t John actually it’s Keagen and I want to live in Tokyo and teach English, but actually always did want to be a teacher! It’s always been my dream job, and also I LOVE Japan! So of course I want to do that!

[@Retro_Jet]

Japan Airlines… HERE I COOOOOME!!! 🤣🤣🤣

[@Mefistosteles484]

Hey Sora! Recently Japanese's most beloved streamer, Johnny Somali, has been released from prison. Would you react to it or will you just ignore that bastard? I would understand if you do so but it would be interesting to comment his release and his future from now on in Japan.

[@PeninsulaCity2024]

Well, some people do streaming for a living, move to Japan, and end up getting employed at Cover. And then there is me who is thinking I might make it as a parking attendant...

[@veeaxis3892]

I don't really know much, but I have a lot of friends who've dreamed of moving to Japan. Only one of them ( the only of out of the group who doesn't watch anime) has expressed interest in living on the countryside. So I feel like this has to do with the other large cities in Japan as well, since everybody seems to want to live there.

[@Nezumi--]

i lived in the japanese countryside and commuted to work in Osaka, it was a way of ... balancing the best of both worlds lol. my apartment wasn't tiny, and still cheaper than in the city, still could access busy bustling places but also had a peaceful place to go home to. i highly recommend the countryside lol (also companies pay public transportation so it's not that much of a financial strain to take the train in from the neighbouring prefecture)

[@GremoriaParadise]

Anime is a hell a drug, what we all should be doing is known the language and vacation there a few times 1st before making crazy decisions

[@TheUltimatiestNoobiestMan]

i love japanese and i ws wondering if u could tech japanese on ur videos

[@eight7934]

Going to Japan next month and I still have not decided what job I should do

[@89TStefan]

I studied two different subjects, namely Japanese Studies and later business informatics (This becomes relevant later). And just to tell a story. During my Japanese studies days, I have had many airheads there who thought the same, going to Japan, teaching English, living an easy life there. Aside from the fact that maybe 25% of startes in Japanese studies even are able to finish the subject with a degree, even those who graduated didn't have anything of an easier life at all. They are basically foreigners with below-average Japanese language proficiency and no meaningful qualifications at all. Not to mention it is the same here. Having studied Japanese studies in Germany doesn't make you earn anything at all. And that's how they were treated in Japan, Eikaiwa-Sensei has a really low standing there. Many of my former mates from university tried that, and almost everyone returned after a year or two. And among those who were there for a few years, I could say I only know one guy actually being successful, but not as an English teacher but self-employed and owning some sort of business there. Plus, you have trouble with visa Issues all the time, your payment is shit, even compared to Japanese standards and there is no respect at all. Different story,: I went to university again, studied business informatics as said above, worked in the meantime as a software developer, had training, worked for some AAA companies and am now working in core banking with oracle database technologies, PL/SQL and deep knowledge about securities. Worked for one year in Japan, got a five-year-visa because of need and profession. In a year, I made almost three times as much money as the average japanese citizen and had a very decent life there. Went back due to family issues (nothing to do with Japan), but I am already preparing for the next time going there. Stayed in Tokyo during that time and never had any other issues. Conclusion: It is depending on what you do, how you prepare to live there and what kind of qualifications you have with Japanese not being that relevant compared to other hard job qualifications. Personally, I learned until JLPT N2, so I am able to communicate at least in many everyday subjects, but am far from being fluent, which doesn't matter that much, if you are introverted and don't care so much about too many japanese friends in Japan. Might be an issue for being extroverted and being shocked about people being far more reserved. Basically, if you have a good foundation, studied the right subjects, having some job experience in some good or well-known companies, you can have a lifestyle which is far better than in many other countries while also considered to be rich, having some of the finest females in the world, and many problems such as toxic working culture won't even apply to you when you work for an international company. However, don't plan, just go, being already mediocre in your own country with bad qualifications and Japan won't come down easy on you. Japanese materialistic reality is nothing compared to those cute cartoons or Japanese dramas...

[@noskin3187]

I've thought about living in Japan, but I would never thought about becomming an english teacher there (maybe also because english isn't my native language).

[@hiss9989]

I want to move to Japan too, because the cities are clean and there are houses! As a bonus, I like it how being polite isn’t viewed as being weak there. Everyone here is so rude 😢

[@MunetsuguTakeno]

Thanks Sora you inspired me to become an english teacher in Tokyo time to move!

[@user-kr5vd3dl8q]

How to say hello at the first class and how to say how are you after a year lmfao😂😂😂

[@JoshGotThatFire]

Don't let anyone stop you from doing what you want to do in life