I have been teaching in Japan for over ten years, in a variety of positions ranging from helping with children's Christmas parties to full-time positions at universities with all the perks, including over 5 months' pay in bonuses. I have taught at two six-year junior/senior high schools now, and have not had good experiences at either. In my post now, I would like to warn you about Reitaku Junior/Senior High School in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture. For starters, I was not told in the interview that it is classified as a "part-time" position, meaning no contributions from the school for health insurance or pension. There was nothing "part-time" about the working hours as described in the interview, though. Your standard 8:15ish to 4:30ish, Monday to Friday job.

I was called the week after my interview, offered the job ... and still not told directly that the school was not going to pay any toward health insurance or pension. It was only when I asked why, on the school's website, so many teachers were part-time that the American teacher who was in charge of the recruiting laughed and told me, "Oh, you'll be part-time, too."

I was stunned. He said that he had just been given semi full-time status for the coming school year, after being there for 12 years as a "part-timer". He gave me assurances that he was good friends with the principal and was trying to change the system, but "this being Japan, it does take time." He said if I worked hard, he would try to get me the same status as he just got, as soon as possible.

I had no idea how much I would have to pay for health insurance and pension out of my own pocket, but did a quick "balance sheet" calculation, considering intangibles such as the nice campus of the new school and the negatives of my school at the time, and decided to not reverse my decision earlier in the phone call to take the job.

Well, come to find out, what they are doing at Reitaku is, if not illegal, highly unethical. All but two of the eight English native speaker teachers at the school are "part-time". The two that are semi full-time are the 12 years guy and another American who has been there 4 or 5 years and has been given a homeroom teacher slot in the International Course there, which a teacher in part-time status can not do. Everybody gets an English "pre-contract agreement" that has "full time" in black and white, and then the Japanese contract comes afterward with "part-time" "no health insurance" and "no pension" in black and white. Everybody is on straight salary, not a low amount, but about the same for everyone regardless of number of dependents, age, experience, etc., around 350,000 to 370,000 a month. So, the school is getting experienced teachers, quite often middle-aged and with dependents, and putting them on a dead-end job careerwise with no contributions for health insurance and pension.

I had two job interviews in the past few weeks, one at a nearby private, 6-year JHS/SHS, and one at a top-level business English school in the heart of Tokyo. When the four interviewers at the nearby school heard my reasons for wanting to leave Reitaku, they smiled knowingly and obviously could emphasize with me. At the business English school, the president went so far as to say that what Reitaku is doing does not comply with Japan's labor standards laws. (I have done my own research on it, and it is borderline legal, it appears, because they never put the desired 8:15 to 16:30 working hours in writing.)

What makes it all the more amusing is that Reitaku was founded by a man who, early in the 20th century, devised something he called "Moralogy", supposedly combining the "best" elements of various religions and philosophies. He created a campus that now includes Reitaku University, Reitaku Junior/Senior High School, and a yochien (kindergarten). And yet, the way they welcome foreign teachers is to not even contribute to their health insurance and pension.

If you are single and relatively inexperienced, don't plan to work in Japan beyond a few more years (I doubt they would take someone totally new to Japan), and thus don't mind the conditions, maybe Reitaku wouldn't be so bad. But for those of you, who, like four of the present seven (one of the eight quit in December, not replaced) native English teachers have families to support and insure, stay away from Reitaku is my advice. All the promises about "if you work hard, ..." started ringing false after hearing other people's horror stories, and were confirmed in recent responses by the principal himself, who wrote that only those teachers who can take homeroom and club responsibilities (basically, Japanese teachers) have a chance of making even semi-full time status.