Before moving to Japan, my wife and I did quite a bit of research to determine what life is really like for English teachers here. Now that we have started our second year in Tokyo, I feel that I may be able to contribute to this conversation a little. In this and future posts, I will challenge some of the myths I have encountered about English teaching in Japan, based on my own research and the experiences of my family and friends.
Myth #1: Surviving in Japan on an English teacher’s salary is impossible.
This is likely the most widely held misconception, and with good reason: Japan’s economy has slowed and wages have stagnated for decades. Most kindergartens and English conversation schools pay starting teachers around ¥250,000 per month (roughly $1,700 US in July 2025), a paltry sum, particularly for those trying to support a family or burdened by American student loan debt. See this excellent analysis by Dogen, a former JET assistant language teacher.
My counterpoint is not that Japan’s cost of living is significantly lower than much of the West, although this is true. Rather, I would argue that Japan offers better value for money than the United States (especially considering recent economic events), and a quality of life that cannot be measured in either dollars or yen.
Please put yourself in the shoes of a new teacher in my hometown of Orlando, Florida. You can expect a pre-tax monthly income of about $4,000, although teachers underemployed as paraprofessionals make significantly less. Consider yourself lucky if you can find a safe place to live for less than half of that, then factor in the expenses of owning and maintaining a vehicle for your (probably) hour-long commute. Once you budget for food, medical expenses, utility bills, and so on, you may reach the same conclusion that my family did: if you’re going to be broke, might as well be broke in Japan.
Myth #2: Teaching English in Japan isn’t a “real” teaching job.
While there is legitimate criticism of eikaiwa instructors being forced to “babysit” and ALTs used as “human tape recorders”, these critiques sometimes overlook the reason why the students are there in the first place: to learn English.
A Japanese junior high school student may or may not be excited about his mandatory English classes, but he is still under significant pressure to perform well, both in class and on school entrance examinations. Families with the means to do so may send such students to conversation or cram schools for additional instruction, just as adults with personal or professional needs may take English lessons themselves. These environments all require competent instructors to help students succeed, and teachers failing to do so will soon find themselves without clients or employment contracts.
Additionally, it should be noted that the requirements to secure visa sponsorship and a teaching position are at least as stringent as the qualifications required to substitute teach in the United States. While subs may be used as babysitters now and again, those in regular or long-term positions likely possess the same skills, if not the same credentials, as “real” teachers. The same holds true here.
Timothy Walker dot net 