How to come to Japan as an English Teacher

Coming to Japan as a teacher
Learning English is so popular among Japanese that it should be considered part of the culture. And for Japanese being able to speak English is a big social plus. Personally, I cannot count the amount of times where there was a group of Japanese and one of them built up the courage to try to start a conversation with me in English, while the entire time their friends were completely astounded by their ability to speak English. For Japanese, being able to speak English is not only viewed as being intellectual but also cool.

Eikaiwa Schools
Eikaiwa is Japanese for English conversation. English is a mandatory curriculum in Japanese schools but middle and high schools in Japan mainly only focus on grammar and ignore conversational/spoken English. In response to this English conversation schools have begun to appear all across Japan. These schools employ quite a large number of foreigners throughout Japan. These schools pay for their teachers to come to Japan i.e. plane ticket, and then also set them up with adequate accommodation. To become an Eikaiwa teacher one must first have a Bachelor's Degree from a 4-year college, but the degree does not have to be in teaching. Technically, you can have a degree in basket-weaving and it will not affect your chances of being accepted as an Eikaiwa teacher, but if you do actually have a degree in education then I am sure that your chances will be better. In Japan the "Big Four" Eikaiwa schools hire new instructors from outside of Japan so this will be on of your best chances of getting in. Many of the smaller schools do not hire outside of Japan with the exception of Shane English School. Note however that there are a lot of applicants and the competition is pretty tough so you would be better off to apply to all four to increase your chances. The big four Eikaiwa schools include:

Nova
GEOS
AEON
ECC

Nova
Nova will pay for you to come to Japan and provide you with accommodation with two or three other teachers with a monthly rental payment ranging from 60,000 yen to 80,000 yen depending on the area where you are located. The monthly salary of a Nova instructor can range from 250,000 to 280,000 and you will probably work around 30 hours per week. Nova will take care of all of the procedures for your work visa and but will require at least a one-year commitment for prospective instructors.

GEOS
Like most other Eikaiwa schools, GEOS will take care of your work visa procedures. The advantage of GEOS is that they will house you in a single accommodation apartment. The base pay is around 250,000 yen a month for about 30 hours of work. Another advantage is that they have a policy of awarding a 100,000 yen bonus at the end of the contract. Unlike some other schools GEOS encourages its instructors to interact with students outside of the classroom. After completing one year of teaching, GEOS will also allow you to take a one month leave of absence to participate in the CELTA (Certified in English Language Teaching to Adults) training program.

AEON
LIke many of the other Eikaiwa schools, AEON requires its instructors to work for around 30 hours a week, but no more than 25 hours of this time is allowed to be spent teaching. Once you arrive in Japan you will spend one week attending a training course and then you will begin teaching at your branch. Contracts are annual and every six months you will talk with a manager about contract renewal. AEON will also supply all instructors with a single accommodation apartment and will pay for all the key money and deposit money (this is a huge help because those costs average 300,000 yen). To apply for AEON you need to fill out an application about 3 months before the date you would like to depart for Japan. Unlike some others AEON does not allow for instructors to fraternize with students outside of class. For more information visit their homepage AEON

ECC
ECC will prepare all of the needed documents for a work visa to enter Japan and also recommends that you bring at least 250,000 yen with you to take care of the relocation expenses and any other costs when you first come to Japan. ECC offers both shared and private apartments but does not guarantee a private apartment, especially in heavily congested areas. All key money and other deposits will be exempt and tenants will be given a move out clause after 4 or 5 months if they wish to change accommodations. After arriving in Japan ECC has a mandatory, paid two week training program to get its instructors ready. The base salary is 252,000 yen per month for around 30 hours of work, of which 25 hours consists of teaching. For more information on teaching at ECC visit their website ECC

Smaller Schools and ALT schools
In addition to the Big Four Eikaiwa Schools there are several more smaller schools. These schools tend to recruit within Japan with the exception of Shane and James English School. Some of these schools include:
Shane Language School
WinBe
James English School
Robin English School is an English school with locations in Tokyo and Yokohama.
Berkley House English Language School

ALT Programs
There are also companies that hire ALT's or Assistant Language Teachers. ALT's teach alongside Japanese teachers with the Japanese teacher usually translating the English into Japanese. The two companies listed below and the JET Program all will hire applicants from abroad.
Interac ALT
ALTIA Central

For those wishing to teach at University level you can visit Westgate Corporation
Many of your smaller schools also post job listings on this site Teach Abroad

JET Program
The JET Program is administered by the Japanese government and unlike Eikaiwa schools JET instructors teach inside Japanese middle and high schools. Consequently, the teaching system is much more bureaucratic and rigid. The JET instructors work alongside a Japanese teacher and teach classes together. To find out more information about the JET Program you can visit MOFA JET Program

Need more help then check out these helpful articles
Finding a Job in Japan
Coming to Japan as a Student
Coming to Japan as a Graduate Student