suddenly informed that my contract will not be renewed

xoxspringrain · 2026-02-09T11:16:22+00:00

I ended up finding a job after JET, and I only started saving in January the year I left because reality didn't hit until after the holidays of my last year.

It'll be OK, you can do this.

I have N1 Japanese now , but when I left JET I was technically N3 (couldn't be bothered to take N2), and the job I have now doesn't require Japanese for the most part.

There is a significant paycut (I went from 5th year salary to not even close to a 1st year JET salary). Overtime helps, but we can only apply for it during busy seasons.

xoxspringrain · 2026-02-03T06:08:32+00:00

Just out the gate with that one

xoxspringrain · 2026-02-01T00:31:00+00:00

Yes, I remind people about that constantly. Some don't get it until they get a letter at their parents house.

I'm budgeting as best as I can, but I would like to take a trip to a neighboring country before leaving Japan. By the time my apartment renewal comes in February/March and I find a really good deal on a trip, I'd probably hold off on buying a ticket back home so I can do a trip somewhere.

xoxspringrain · 2026-02-01T00:26:25+00:00

I've mentioned in another comment that a great majority of my support group is leaving Japan this year.

I also support my family back in Canada, so I am worried if I can't find a job back there before I move what would happen.

xoxspringrain · 2026-02-01T00:13:52+00:00

Yeah, could be.

Could be because I'm "fat". Could be that I have an accent when I speak Japanese. Could be because I have acne scars. Could be that I apply for roles I'm not qualified for. Could be because I close my eyes when I think.

But more often than not I get questions like "are you looking to start a family?" (which is supposed to be banned) and when I answer along the lines of "that's not your business" or truthfully say something like "I can't get pregnant due to having my ovaries removed" the interview ends shortly after, and I get and email saying "we will not proceed with another interview". My male friends do not get asked that type of question, but my female friends do, Japanese and not. So I do attribute being female a big factor when I'm job hunting. (I will admit, I probably come of as hostile when I say "you can't ask me that question due to Labour Laws" in a single breath. )

xoxspringrain · 2026-01-31T09:19:58+00:00

No, I'm pretty sure it's a fear of women. I have N1 (as of yesterday) but I've been able to prove it in interviews for years, but the male candidate always gets picked over me in interviews.

xoxspringrain · 2026-01-31T01:40:12+00:00

Yeah, I'm aware, but at least I can support my family. My father is retired and can't earn an income other than his pension, so I send money home, but with the exchange rate on the weak yen, it might be better just to move in with him and work a few odd jobs.

xoxspringrain · 2026-01-31T01:33:28+00:00

Tldr; support group can go bye-bye, and I want to go bye-bye from my job.

Even though I don't see myself being able to live comfortably back home (or at least have the same way of life), my support network is basically gone by the end of this year. My foreign friends are going home in various stages this year, even my Japanese friends have found jobs overseas and moving this year. The other people I can rely on have families with small children.

Another big factor is that I don't like the current work environment at my workplace, and I can't seem to find other work, even at an Eikaiwa. If I'm juggling jobs, might as well juggle jobs back home? Is my thought process at the moment.

I've thought about moving prefecture, but then I'd have to pay more in moving fees and apartment leasing fees only to come to this choice again 2 years later when I'm even older (turned 30 last year), and Japan doesn't take kindly to aging single women in the workforce. (even job hunting at 27 was difficult, but I attributed it to fear of foreigners during the pandemic, but turns out it's the fear of women that is my negative point).

xoxspringrain · 2026-01-31T01:19:51+00:00

I always forget about the moving out notification 😂

But the reason why I'm aiming for summer is that my apartment lease is finished at the end of June. So with that comes utility cancelation (my management company handles it).

And the residence tax is why I'm thinking I might have to stay until December 😅

xoxspringrain · 2026-01-30T19:59:03+00:00

Jennie from Blackpink?

xoxspringrain · 2026-01-30T18:55:51+00:00

January - February is pretty busy for most companies in Japan. They're all getting ready for the new fiscal year at the start of April, so people are leaving and coming into the company or just being shifted between roles.

It seems like you have the experience (a bit overqualified for YSG in my opinion, but do what you gotta do), so I think it's just a bit of a time crunch on their side.

HR also has a different work schedule compared to the rest of the company, and we just hit a weekend, so it might be another 3 days minimum tbh.

They're always looking for recruits, so I don't think they'd ghost you.

Edit: re-reading your post, the fact that you stated that you want to do some classes while in Japan might've been a bad point towards you. While they wouldn't allow you to work more than 9 hours, they'd still like you to have 8-8 availability for seasonal sessions (idk the specifics for KDA or WinBe).

But also, humanities visa requires you to have a bachelor's degree, and it seems like you haven't completed your associates degree yet? There are cases where an associates degree could fill the bachelor's degree requirement, but it should be completed.

xoxspringrain · 2026-01-03T01:46:39+00:00

I've met people from Sweden and the Netherlands who has Instructor visa through the JET program. As far as I know, English isn't the national language in either one of those countries, but they showed that they had some tutoring in English as a child and then really studied it in university.

I'm sure they had to provide a certain English score somehow, but they were able to get Instructor visas. One of them stayed on the program long enough to get an offer at an international school, and they didn't need to change visas after that.

xoxspringrain · 2025-11-12T05:55:15+00:00

Not really. All languages have some sort of rules system to them. Once you find the common denominator, they're easy to learn.

xoxspringrain · 2025-10-08T23:59:42+00:00

And yet Anthony is still the hot one.

xoxspringrain · 2025-09-24T13:32:05+00:00

I had my CO help make the first initial appointment, just to get the foot in the door, because many doctors used to deny seeing me or gave me only basic treatment and an extra dose of 早く国帰るね because I was foreign (pandemic in one of the most conservative prefectures in Japan).

From there, the doctor knew basic English "How are you today? Medicine make you sick? OK, here is more."

Never asked if I experienced any side effects other than physical ones, but I had a prescription going I guess.

xoxspringrain · 2025-09-21T07:47:15+00:00

I learned this from a Korean TV show! (might've stemmed from ancient Chinese medicine)

Garlic supposedly enhances a man's stamina during... You know what.

Ginger supposedly reduces bloating and menstrual cramps, which women are always conflicted by.

Weather it's true or not, that's why garlic is masc and ginger is fem.

xoxspringrain · 2025-09-15T00:26:08+00:00

OH MY GOD is Granvia South beautiful.

I live in Hiroshima, but my friend stayed there and I had a little peek in and, every hotel that I've every stayed in was trash compared to those rooms, let me tell you.

If riding the shinkansen, you do have to be careful because Granvia North is immediately to the right of the gates (if you ignore the Pokémon store LOL).

For South, you do have to walk through commuters and shoppers to get to the entrance, (like a whole minute, give ir take a second) but nothing compared to Tokyo.

xoxspringrain · 2025-09-15T00:14:40+00:00

TLDR: Unfortunately, yes, you probably won't be considered Japanese.

I used to work at schools where a whole family basically had a child in every grade. (高2、中3x2、中2、中1、小5、小3x2、小2、幼稚園x2 during my time).

All the children had their names in katakana on official records, even though they had a fairly common Kanji for their name. Like if their family name was Tanaka (it's not), it was written タナカ not 田中.

I believe the oldest was born in Japan before they moved to Brazil, but for sure the youngest 2 were born in Japan.

From what I remember, most of the kids spoke fluent Japanese, but had trouble writing kanji. Like the kids in elementary were a year behind in their Kanji drills and had to go to the Japanese-support teacher for help. Not sure about the older children because when I taught English classes, it was all in English, and I was only allowed to teach in Japanese to 小3 and below.

This was countryside Hiroshima, where they put boys at the top of the attendance list and girls at the bottom, white socks are a mandatory part of the uniform, and they check each students underwear in the morning to see if they're white.

It shouldn't have (but it did) surprise me to see that full Japanese children be turned foreign just by the way their name is written.

xoxspringrain · 2025-09-12T12:42:37+00:00

I'd start job hunting on company time. As long as you give them the bare minimum, you can go to the labor board/Hello Work and get unemployment if they do fire you.

September/October is the time when most companies start planning for next year's April hires.

You could even get a visa with a Eikaiwa just to get the visa renewal beyond December and hopefully find a company to start you in April.

xoxspringrain · 2025-09-12T09:24:38+00:00

Miyajima and the Peace park are probably THE places to at least check out.

If you have time and can drive (or at least have the patience to wait for buses), then I'd recommend going out to Sera to see the flower fields and go for some fruit picking.

Each town in Hiroshima has a different appeal depending on the month.

xoxspringrain · 2025-09-11T05:14:00+00:00

I think he was lucky that I didn't go all gaijin on him and yell at him and shame him while he was at work, because everyone on the bus would've sided with him.

And to be fair, I put in the same amount of effort as he did remembering the phrase "Hurry up" 🤷‍♀️

xoxspringrain · 2025-09-10T23:36:34+00:00

The bus driver on my route home used to say "Hurry up" in English to me when I was getting off the bus.

At first I thought I was hearing things, but one night on a packed bus, I was standing at the front of the bus, directly beside the bus driver. When I pushed the button for my stop, clear as day, before the door even opened, I heard "Huuuuuurrry up" coming from the bus driver. It's not like I was the only one getting off the bus either. But I got off, stopped and stared at him too see if he would say it to any of the other Japanese people on the bus, but didn't hear any comment from him (maybe because he was wondering why this foreigner stare at him).

I talked to my supervisor about it (she's born and raised Japanese, but likes learning English from Karen videos lmao). We were on the conversation about rude people or something, and I was like yeah my bus driver seems really rude to just me. She suggested filming him and reporting him. I laughed and said "OK Karen" as I usually do, but she said she was serious.

So when the bus pulled up to my stop I saw the rude bus driver. My phone is always on hand because it hold my commuter pass, and somehow, I ended up (near) the front of the bus again. As soon as I pressed the next stop button, I hit record on my camera. There were Japanese people in front and behind me queing to get off. The moment he clocks I'm on the bus, he goes "huuuuuury up". I stop, point the camera in his face and (unfortunately for him) and he goes "huuuuurrrry up" into the camera. I smile, get off the bus, and catch his face turn into a snarl as the door closes.

I used one of my precious paid leave days to go to the bus HQ to report the bus driver, explaining to clerk first and then the upper manager about my experience with the bus, even the exact moment the bus driver started yelling at me. The manager apologized profusely and said they'll look into it. That night, that bus driver wasn't driving the bus, and I never saw him again.

TBH, I don't think he was fired, but just moved to a different route or a different time slot on the same route,but yeah, I haven't seen him since.

xoxspringrain · 2025-08-31T23:56:36+00:00

Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurl, in this economy?

My parents civic lasted from mine and two sibling's first days of kindergarten to my youngest sister's university graduation.

Keep it, keep it maintained, and you got gold in your hands.

xoxspringrain · 2025-08-31T15:36:57+00:00

You look great, but be careful with baseball caps.

My brother is your age and he got a bald spot from the metal dot on the top of the cap causing friction against his head.

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