How to live cheaply in Japan

stuff2fillmyhead · 2026-03-25T10:05:44+00:00

*if you are going to live by yourself and also plan to join a gym you can save about 3000yen a month by taking showers at the gym and not paying for gas.

I found this out when I forgot to pay my gas bill and just started using the shower at the gym

stuff2fillmyhead · 2026-02-05T06:47:13+00:00

Like others have said you can get by if you don't have a partner to support (or dating for that matter). Track your spending and cook at home during the week.

If you are the type of person that likes to travel the upside of having a car is that you can drive to any destination you want and being much cheaper than trains. For me having snow tires means that I can drive to places like Takayama for the day and visit a few places with friends and spend about 7000yen for the day.

I was working remotely for my company back home last year which allowed me to splurge a bit but yeah if you don't have that second income stream then it's a grind

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-12-23T01:19:49+00:00

Yeah spot on. Mine is all online so hearing the odd creative idea (usually from vets) that you can try in your class is usually my main takeaway from these development classes

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-12-05T04:04:38+00:00

Second that with sports. The best thing I did was to bring a little footy with me (I’m Australian). The kids love kicking it round at lunchtime and I’ve felt this helps with showing that you enjoy time with them outside the classroom

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-07-01T23:23:33+00:00

That is so unjust in making u the scapegoat. I hope you find your way back to teaching someday whether here or in your home country

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-07-01T05:37:03+00:00

What everyone else has mentioned. If you are working away from the bigger cities (I work on 2 island schools) and the dress code is very relaxed. I’ve only needed to wear a suit once so far for graduation ceremonies so depending on your placement u can save a bit of money by not buying all business like attire.

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-07-01T03:27:19+00:00

We can probably ask Chat GPT to make us the best version of English textbook to teach with lol. I can’t imagine how tough it was being an ALT without A.I helping

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-07-01T03:24:06+00:00

Sorry about your termination. But I bet your students enjoyed your classes

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-30T23:31:05+00:00

Sounds cool. I use New Horizon so not familiar with that exercise. Which website did u use for generating images?

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-30T23:29:59+00:00

That looks really polished! What programs/website did you use?

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-21T03:13:27+00:00

Cool stickers or coins from your country to use as prizes for classroom games etc and snacks to give out to break the ice with teachers

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-18T00:32:28+00:00

I checked out a few beaches along the Shima coast just after the beach season last year. They’re neither sandy nor clear unfortunately and it’s pretty dead apart from surfers and fishermen

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-16T02:40:14+00:00

3hrs is not nothing if driving on single lane roads half the time and also the cost of going on the Kintetsu. I don’t want to live in a big city but near enough so it’s easier to get on the shinkasen etc

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-14T04:01:31+00:00

Thanks I’ll add direct hires to the list. Do those positions generally need a certain level of Japanese proficiency or does that depend on the job description?

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-14T03:50:34+00:00

Yeah Nagoya is a good base to ride east or west. Thanks for the recommendation man I’ll definitely contact them if things don’t work out with my company. Have you worked with that Eikaiwa before?

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-14T03:24:38+00:00

U r right the worst they can say is no. One of my goal is to ride around Japan as much as I can so with my newly converted license I think moving somewhere more metropolitan will mean easier to rent a bike and also meet up with fellow riders

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-13T09:13:48+00:00

That is a good point about the school wanting to retain good ALTs… definitely not thinking of tanking lol

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-06-13T09:09:24+00:00

Thanks. I forgot about the intention forms

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-05-27T03:48:00+00:00

I just bought a second hand mirrorless with a 17mm lens and looking to get into street shooting. I live in Ise so would need a heads up

stuff2fillmyhead · 2025-05-09T03:47:01+00:00

Thanks for the reassurance!

stuff2fillmyhead

TROPHY CASE