Living In Japan

General education and the teaching of children are both taken very seriously in Japan and students are under pressure to succeed at school, college and university – so much so that in addition to their studies many students attend Juku or ‘cramming’ schools.  For expatriates with children who are thinking about moving to live and work in Japan education in Japan will be an important area to research. 

A decision will have to be taken about how to educate expat children and the options that exist are sending an expatriate child to a state school, a private Japanese school or a private international school; this article examines the options further and the fundamentals of education in Japan.

The largest field of employment for foreign job seekers in Japan is definitely language education because the Japanese prefer to learn a language from a native speaker.  Some of the largest national language schools in Japan actively recruit from overseas and some even have recruitment offices abroad.  Anyone looking for jobs in Japan and who has experience and qualifications teaching particularly English as a foreign language will find many openings that they could potentially fill.

Alternatives for expatriate professionals seeking jobs in Japan can be found in the financial services and banking industries, IT and engineering, modelling and fashion, entertainment and in management in general in many industries.  This is a guide to work permits, finding jobs in Japan and Japanese business etiquette.

Japan is a popular destination for European expatriates with the majority of those found living and working in Japan in the 20-25 year old age group – many of whom are teaching English as a foreign language to Japanese students.  There also exist openings for professional expatriates particularly in the banking and financial services industries in Japanese cities such as Tokyo and there are currently in excess of 10,000 British expats in Japan alone.

This is an introduction to living and working in Japan with a focus on immigration, housing, business etiquette and settling into day to day Japanese life for anyone contemplating a new life overseas.