Why Everyone Needs to Teach English in Japan For Once in Their Life

 Why Everyone Needs to Teach English in Japan For Once in Their Life

Japan is a place that most people like to put on their itinerary. Japan is just this really interesting place that everybody has to go to because, well it’s Japan. People do things differently in Japan. For hundreds of years, only the Dutch and the Chinese were able to come to Japan, and it reflects in their society. In this article, I’m going to be telling you guys the reasons why you should teach English in Japan.

Because it’s Japan, it’s unique 

Japan is a unique and interesting place. There have been some people that I know, that have gone to Japan, and they have never left. There’s just something about the people that are so interesting there. Even though Japanese people, will be in front of your face, and nice all the time, you never really know what they’re thinking. You never really know, what’s behind closed doors. It takes a long time for you to understand what people are really saying. For example in Kyoto, people will be super polite, but it means get out of their house. Japan is this fun place, where whatever you’re thinking while you are there, it doesn’t make sense in Japan.

Because of the culture

Whether it’s the food, the martial arts, or just the culture in general, Japan has something for everybody. As for me, I fell in love with Japanese martial arts. For you, maybe you like sushi, or maybe you like kimonos. The choice is yours about which aspect of Japanese culture you are interested in checking out. Or maybe it’s the video games. I would say video games are a cultural aspect of Japan. Japanese video games have taken over the world. Even grandmas and grandpas know about Street Fighter 2 the video game, and little kids play Street Fighter 6, the more updated version. There’s a huge legacy of video games and Japanese anime that’s everywhere.

Because it’s not what anime nerds expect

If you don’t know what anime nerds are, then you probably need to get out more. Anime nerds usually come to Japan and they expect that Japan is this huge hodgepodge of all of their Japanese animation clichés. Maybe some cute girls with big eyes that are wearing bikinis. Or maybe some loudmouth old guys that are soft-hearted. Japanese people live day to day in Japan, and sometimes their lives don’t even resemble Japanese animation. I mean if you want to get into that culture, there are places like Akihabara where you could just get lost in Japanese animation culture. If you’re into that stuff then Japan is definitely for you

Because it’s kind of an escape

Maybe you wanna get away from your own culture for a while. If your own culture is hard-working, has lots of rules, and is about being stuck at the office, maybe Japan is not a good escape for you. There are people in Japan that have what’s called the perpetual foreigner lifestyle. They live their life as a foreigner their whole time in Japan, and never acclimatize to the culture at all. 

They never go to an office, and greet everybody good morning in Japanese. They never go to a Japanese drinking outing at the end of a long working day. They go to their job and they sign out when they need to go home. Japanese working life can consume your entire life. 

There are also little things like dealing with apartments. Did you know, that you have to pay four times to move into a Japanese apartment? You need to pay what’s called key money or gift money, then you need to pay the first and last month's rent. And of course, you need to pay the rent for this month. These are just some crazy cultural things that you’re gonna have to get used to if you want to live and work in Japan. Of course, if you want to use Japan as an escape, then you definitely can do that too and enjoy yourself

Because you can reinvent yourself 

Some people get so into the culture and everything in Japan, that they become some type of a Japanese stereotype. While you might not exactly look Asian, when you come to the country, maybe after 10 years you might act like a Japanese salaryman. You could just be a different person. Some people change their name to some Japanese name so that they can just be somebody else. This could be kind of another form of escapism, but at the same time, you are yourself. You are whoever you say you are, and then you can add part of the Japanese-ism into your new character. 

Maybe you want to use your flair for fashion design to excel in Japanese culture. Maybe you want to use the fact that your physique is different from other people and train in Japanese martial arts. Whatever it is that you want to do, you can do it in Japan, and you can add part of your own identity to make it something subtley more your own.

All in all, I would say that Japan is a pretty good go. There are some cons, however. For example, Japan is super expensive. If you’re in the big city it’s also very crowded. Some foreigners have complained about how it’s really hard to get to know Japanese people so it might be really difficult for you to be friends. You might feel a little bit isolated sometimes unless you try to get into the culture. If you’re willing to give your all and put your heart into what you’re doing when you’re teaching and living and working over in Japan, then you will hopefully find something that you want. If not, it’s Japan. There’s no other place like it in the world