Kansai Advice

[ewraught]

Hey all,
I used this site a lot when I first landed in Japan and got some great advice. Anyway, I've been living in Shizuoka-ken for a while now and I'm ready for the big town now that I have a little teaching experience under my belt. So I'd like to move to a major city, but I'd like a little advice about what is the best situation. I have spent a lot of time in Tokyo and though I enjoy it, I am very intrigued by Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. I have no qualms about teaching English to anyone over the age of eight and actually rather enjoy it. So what are my best chances. Gaijinpot and the like seem Tokyo heavy, but I'd really like to try somewhere else. Does anyone have any good leads or experience to guide me. I really appriciate it.

[djgizmoe]

Hey all,
I used this site a lot when I first landed in Japan and got some great advice. Anyway, I've been living in Shizuoka-ken for a while now and I'm ready for the big town now that I have a little teaching experience under my belt. So I'd like to move to a major city, but I'd like a little advice about what is the best situation. I have spent a lot of time in Tokyo and though I enjoy it, I am very intrigued by Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. I have no qualms about teaching English to anyone over the age of eight and actually rather enjoy it. So what are my best chances. Gaijinpot and the like seem Tokyo heavy, but I'd really like to try somewhere else. Does anyone have any good leads or experience to guide me. I really appriciate it.

From one Shizuoka-ite to another, yes Kansai rocks and many consider it more livable than Tokyo. If you're REALLY not too picky about what kind of teaching you want to do, just contact ECC or Berlitz (though I'm not sure Berlitz has kansai branches). I did ECC for two years in Nagoya and it was pretty fun, although you often have to commute to several different schools during the work-week (which can actually break up the monotony sometimes). However, I've heard ECC's gotten a little more pressure sales (which may trickle down into your responsibilities as teacher), which might be annoying.
If I had a choice, I'd probably live in a suburb of Osaka. There are some nice suburbs between Kyoto and Osaka (on the Keihan line) and between Nara and Osaka (on the Kintetsu Nara line) that I wouldn't mind settling down in...I was just back in Osaka last weekend, and was totally reminded how much fun it can be (good food, loud music, a large wacky gaijin community, drunken street brawls in Shinsaibashi).

[FG Lurker]

Come on down!!

As for job searches, the usual big chains are all here -- Nova, ECC, etc...

You should also check out the Kansai Flea Market: http://www.kfm.to/. The KFM puts their entire issue online as PDF files every week, usually on Thursday afternoon or sometime Friday. Typically quite a few teaching jobs and a selection of accomodation.

The Kansai Time Out (http://www.kto.co.jp/) is another source of Kansai classifieds. Monthly, and they put their classifieds online too.

I've lived in Kansai for 10 years now, so if you have questions feel free to ask. I haven't taught at all since about 1998, so I don't have current info on that.

Ian

[FG Lurker]

Actually the KTO seems to only put a very few of their classifieds online. No idea why. The weekly KFM puts the entire batch on though, so you will likely have better luck there.

Ian

[ewraught]

Yeah Osaka sounds pretty intriguing and though I only passed through Kyoto and Kobe both seem like interesting less intense places to live than Kanto. I'd like to avoid one of the chain schools if I can, prefering the placement type organizations like westgate and what have you. I'll check it out more during the new year's holiday. The flea market magazine can help me find a place too? Should I land a gig before coming or just drop in and do the conversation thing for a bit until the right one surfaces? Money and visa are not a big issue...

[FG Lurker]

Yeah Osaka sounds pretty intriguing and though I only passed through Kyoto and Kobe both seem like interesting less intense places to live than Kanto.

I've never lived in Kanto before, but my previous employer's head office was there. I was up at least once a month (often twice, sometimes more) for meetings. A few several-week-long stints as well. I suppose I could adapt to life in Tokyo, but I don't have a desire to. In my opinion, career-wise Tokyo is the place to be. But quality-of-life wise, Kansai beats it hands-down. This is only my opinion though, and someone with a lot of Kanto life experience might have a rather different perspective. ]I'd like to avoid one of the chain schools if I can, prefering the placement type organizations like westgate and what have you. I'll check it out more during the new year's holiday. The flea market magazine can help me find a place too? Should I land a gig before coming or just drop in and do the conversation thing for a bit until the right one surfaces? Money and visa are not a big issue...[/quote]
The KFM has both jobs and accommodation listed, along with lots of Sayonara Sales etc. You can probably get a place in a gaijin house site-unseen, and then look around for an apartment in an area you want to live. Unless you find a gaijin-oriented place you will end up paying key money, and this gets rather expensive. Typically for standard apartments you pay first month's rent, one month to the real-estate office, and 4 months to the owner. It is best not to move once you have settled in!

As for jobs, if you have experience and a visa, I don't think you will have problems finding a collection of part-time work here. You can use this until you build up a network of contacts and find the job you really want. As I alluded to above, getting out of English teaching in Kansai is a lot harder than it is in Kanto. There are just not a lot of non-teaching jobs for FGs here, especially if you can't speak Japanese with a reasonable level of fluency.

The best times to move here would be either January or June/July. As with most areas I guess, there are large numbers of FGs moving out of Japan around these periods -- December in order to be home for Christmas, and June to get out before summer hits. More jobs tend to be open at these times. April is of course the time for contracts at JHS/HS though.

I better get back to work I guess!! Fire away with questions as they come to mind.

Ian