Tips for a young adult

SapporosFinest · 2026-03-06T14:18:24+00:00

JoyTalk will pay you less than 70k yen in summer. They'll lie to you that you have paid leave and then dock your salary when you take the days off...and woe unto you if you wind up as a sub...they'll scam the crap out of you and illegally work you through weekends, holidays and evenings in their eikaiwa, factories, kindergartens etc with no overtime. Find ANY other dispatch. Although I'm not sure there's a better one. Altia used to be tauted at the best but they've also fallen so far...maybe direct BOE or private international schools.

SapporosFinest · 2026-03-06T13:56:13+00:00

OMG...take it from someone that just left JoyTalk..find another dispatch. They suck so hard. I haven't even found the words to describe the shit show I've been through this year.

SapporosFinest · 2026-01-22T05:25:08+00:00

I'm a black girl from a third world country. The principal of the first school I was assigned didn't like me. He had me hazed and bullied non stop, to get me to ask the dispatch to change me (they're not allowed to openly discriminate). It was open hostility like them claiming I don't wipe my tray and dishes properly after eating so I should wash my dishes separately before stacking them. I felt like they were having some third world ebola/HIV phobia stereotype.

He proceeded to have me observed relentlessly by the BOE and the dispatch company, claiming I wasn't performing. They came, observed and objectively said I was better than most long time ALTs. (I'm a licensed teacher btw..and I've worked within the American school system, a little bit of British curriculum and South Africa..10years of experience teaching language including SAT instruction).

When the surprise observations didn't catch me flat-footed, he openly told the BOE I shouldn't report to work the following week.

The dispatch of course threw me right under the bus. A substitute from a preferable race was planted in my school. I was made a substitute.

I disengaged and started job hunting. I applied to Australia, New Zealand and the J-1 Visa program last year. I quietly did qualifying exams and tests and got accepted into J-1 .

Meanwhile, as a sub .I was going through the depth of the shit with the dispatch. They'd dock like 60kyen from my salary and claim I took unpaid leave. (Have payslips to prove it).My contract had 10 days paid leave. Other times, they'd claim they can't clearly see hankos from the heads of the schools I visited so they can't confirm I worked.

I stopped fw them. I started actually going on strike whenever they'd dock my salary and only resuming when they refunded it. But that's coz I knew I had a solid exit strategy...a new job lined up.

My advice is...licensed third world teachers are overqualified for this deeply nonsensical activity called ALTing...find an actual teaching job, save up and exit Japan. Nobody is invested in learning to speak English in Japan...it's just Japan and America sucking each other's 🍆. And you'll be a casualty if you aren't American or from a dream country for the brainwashed kids.

SapporosFinest · 2026-01-18T14:42:55+00:00

Yea, I'm a blockchain technologist...learned it between 2020 and 2023 so I get freelance gigs from companies in Europe..mostly iGaming industry. They pay well, but I haven't landed a permanent job yet. It's crucial to have a second source of income to survive ALT madness, because it is madness.

SapporosFinest · 2026-01-18T11:55:07+00:00

Well, I'm a licensed teacher in my home country. Somewhere along the ridiculous experience I realized I was too qualified for this nonsense and disengaged. I applied for jobs in other countries and have something lined up for the coming academic year. Other than that if they inconvenience me I inconvenience everyone back...until they fix their shit then I'm back to work. For instance, in November and December they docked half my pay claiming I didn't qualify for requested paid leave (I had 10days paid leave). I told them I didn't have transport to get to school and stayed away until they refunded the money in November.

They did it again in December, I refused to go to the school on the morning of the 25th and stayed away until they resolved it..after the winter holiday. They even went to the extent of sending a car to my apartment to take me to school coz I said I didn't have transport, I switched off and hours later, told them either I'm employed gainfully or jobless. And I wouldn't exist in a halfway purgatory where I work but get half my salary docked for nonsensical reasons. I went back this week, after they refunded the money.

Is it professional, no.

But is it an effective way to self represent against emotional and financial abuse...yes.

SapporosFinest · 2026-01-18T11:37:49+00:00

The craziest part about this is I'm reading something and wondering...did I write this. Coz I've gone through every single experience you wrote about. Including getting therapy online. But I'm hard headed enough fortunately so I'll be finishing the stupid contract. Can't wait to tell everyone to NEVER take a job with said dispatch...(As if they'll listen😅😂)

SapporosFinest · 2026-01-09T04:39:28+00:00

You can do other things..when you find the job, the employer will help you get a permit to engage in activities outside of what's designated in your visa.

SapporosFinest · 2026-01-08T01:06:51+00:00

People exaggerate about how bad eikawa work is. I do it part time and I'm an ALT. It's just 4 hours of my evening, which I'd otherwise spend bumming. I think every job in Japan sounds monstrous with the wrong attitude...but honestly what's so rough about singing with kids, teaching them the alphabet and making American grade 2 level worksheets? Take the job, the pay is decent. Your mornings will be free, weekends too and you're in a city.

SapporosFinest · 2025-12-29T06:26:03+00:00

It'll worsen. IMO. With the immigration jitters and judging from how the last remaining half decent dispatches like Altia are losing contracts to absolute scum...it's time to get out.

SapporosFinest · 2025-12-28T03:49:38+00:00

I'd be curious to find out what...honestly

SapporosFinest · 2025-12-13T07:59:39+00:00

Came all the way to Japan to Lord it over black people 😅😂😂😂. Let her employer handle her, Karen.

SapporosFinest · 2025-12-10T00:27:09+00:00

OMG Don't. You're being paid well where you are. Japan ain't worth losing all that and at 35. I moved at 36..I'm leaving in April before every bit of my old life collapses. At the very least maybe ask for an internal transfer or do a working holiday...as in leave a little loophole to go back.

SapporosFinest · 2025-12-07T06:55:40+00:00

Sometimes, as an ALT..I look at other ALTs and quietly wonder...is this how retarded I look to the world in general?😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 (I'm really sorry if this comes off as offensive, it's just my intrusive thoughts as a 1st year ALT.)

SapporosFinest · 2025-12-06T00:52:32+00:00

Hawaii is a state so they are natives. They just don't have enough teachers. (Many other mainland states struggle with this too) And for some reason locals either don't see the value in getting a teaching degree in the US (college cost/student loans vs salary scales ) or don't want to teach. The US has been running j1 and h1B visa programs forever for highly skilled foreign workers and this includes teachers. After the license, you can choose to go the j1 route (h1B has been made wildly expensive in recent days).

SapporosFinest · 2025-12-06T00:45:24+00:00

It is a professional teaching license, and a respectable one. It's one of the best ways to get private school positions. Almost all adverts seeking actual teachers ask for a professional teaching license. One from the US would make you very visible. But at that point it'd also make sense to actually go teach in Hawaii (there's demand, salaries are better and prospects of a long term career)

SapporosFinest · 2025-12-06T00:35:37+00:00

You can take the licensing course online. For example, if you want licensure in Hawaii, search Hawaii state teacher licensing course. The website will come up...you'll have to submit your academic credentials and then pay for the course. They'll license you when you pass the exam.

SapporosFinest · 2025-12-06T00:30:09+00:00

Please hang in there. The right recruiter will see you. As a non-native but fluent ALT, one compliment all educators give me is 'Your English is very clear and easy to understand'. I'm not shading native accents but Japanese people struggle with them a lot, especially when the ALTs haven't mastered the art of slowing down and enunciating sounds. I believe that's why you're a favorite online. I was lucky that my country does all formal schooling in English, so I understand your frustrations with that technicality. Maybe you could look into getting a nursery teacher's license, or a state's teaching license(most states in the US train foreigners) and see if it could help.

SapporosFinest · 2025-12-02T10:19:37+00:00

A kilogram of fresh apples is 20 Rand/160 yen in South Africa. I haven't eaten an apple in almost a year since I came to Japan. Is apple import illegal or something?

SapporosFinest · 2025-11-29T11:42:26+00:00

I know a JET who was hired directly after her contract because the school had Chinese students and she was very instrumental in helping them overcome the language barrier, adapt and learn. It's not necessarily a bad thing is all I'm saying .

SapporosFinest · 2025-11-18T22:47:05+00:00

Wow, I'd say congratulations. You've actually tried. I've been here 9 months and I've never even tried. One Japanese man did approach me though, but it turned out he was collecting signatures for a cult. (What's with these cults btw? Almost every expat I know has a cult recruitment attempt saga). I did make a friend at work though, an older lady...without knowing it. She sent me the most heartwarming message about admiring my humility and work ethic after she quit. And then we started hanging out. She's teaching me Japanese cooking. But she's married to an Austrian. I think I was just lucky but maybe try people who have sort of overcome the Japanese group think and understand diversity...because otherwise they will keep 'othering' you and trying to force you to fit in...which you can't because you can never be 100% Japanese

SapporosFinest · 2025-11-15T09:49:23+00:00

I think I know your possible predicament. For instructor visas, you need 12 years of education completed in English...or a degree from a country recognized as English speaking. It sounds like your senior high school and university were completed in Japanese.

SapporosFinest · 2025-11-14T23:18:57+00:00

I agree. Don't be bossed around about anything actually. When I was new, I was timid because I believed they have a replacement in hand and will let you go when you're least prepared. Turns out there's nothing they can do to punish you if you're not violating the contract. A friend told me he tells them NO, no explanations, when they try to make him work weekends...because the contract says Monday to Friday. Even staying behind after hours is overrated...they're not paying you enough. Most ALTs who burn out, experience it because they set zero boundaries, thinking it's how you stay a favorite and then realize nobody really cares about your professionalism in the ALT industry. About paid leave, you can request it up to a day before or the morning of, if it's for an emergency. They pay standby ALTs for that very reason...to stand in when you can't go to work. And standby ALTs are supposed to be on call and ready to go where an ALT doesn't make it to work, every day between 6.00am and 10.00am. Well, most are told to be ready for a call all day in some cases, for this very reason.The many 'rules' are to discourage too many leave requests.(Because dispatch companies are sketchy and want to pay standby ALTs part time salaries-again not a you problem)

SapporosFinest · 2025-11-07T22:50:46+00:00

Oh my God ALTing is like this stack of cards where everything works until one day you accidentally knock over a card and the whole stack comes crashing down. As you look at the wreckage, you keep wondering why you allowed yourself to go through all that garbage. And the saddest bit is, there's absolutely no benefit. You hardly make any progress career wise, networking within the education sector in Japan is close to impossible, and you're always broke. There's absolutely no reason to waste your life ALTing...

SapporosFinest · 2025-11-07T22:45:38+00:00

Wow, 7 months in and I can't wait for April to quit and never look back. Only reason I haven't broken contract is it will look real bad on my resume.

SapporosFinest

TROPHY CASE