I do not have any idea about the current conditions at FEN because so much time has passed since I worked there, but then again, they are Japanese so I doubt they have changed much. My advice for anyone is FEN isn`t bad- it isn`t hell- but it is probably one of the worst choices of your available options. You will have much better conditions as an ALT somewhere, or even ANY OTHER Eikaiwa. They used to pay a little better than average , but I believe they don`t anymore. Being an ALT might not seem attractive but having done both, I think the ALT route is much better. After some ALT work, you can probably get a job at a private junior or senior high school, or a University, which is much better in almost every regard.

I have worked in Japan for about 15 years in total, and in that time taught at many schools and Eikaiwas, and and FEN clearly had the worst conditions of any of them- by a mile. It is the only place that I have worked at in Japan that I would not recommend. There are a couple of nice people there, but that can`t make up for the whole management system they have going. A couple of examples of bad conditions:

1. `PAID HOLIDAYS` were not holidays at all really, because in addition to negotiating with other teachers to cover your classes so that you could have your "paid holidays", when they went on holiday you would cover their classes- so all that really happened was that you swapped classes, and certainly didn`t get any extra pay. Of course, that was better than nothing, but hardly a paid holiday in the normal sense, because whilst you did get a holiday, you had to do all the work you were missing at another time.

2. Teachers were told that they would work from 2-10pm but after beginning they were told that this time did not include any breaks at all. Seriously- Who has worked at a place even in Japan where you are expected to work for 8 hours straight?- They certainly did say you could buy something at the convini and eat it at your desk, "while working" if you were hungry.

3. The workload is quite high. Apart from having to be there 8 hours staff have numerous other duties in addition to their 4-5 classes a day which make you much busier than you are at most schools. You might think you have an hour or two free but seriously it is hard to find 20 minutes to plan for your lessons sometimes. It For example, if you have a ten minute break between classes, you will likely have to spend that time listening to students read- which is a good system except for the fact that it is not reasonable to ask teachers to do that in their 10 minute break between classes. I don`t think anyone is using the internet `all day`- in fact, after I left the new head teacher proudly told me how he disconnected the internet because he felt the staff were using it too much! So, be prepared to do your 8 hours without a break, and don`t you DARE check your email. That is clearly not normal.

There were numerous staff and management issues at FEN, but I imagine that there is a whole new team there now, so i have no idea how things are- better I expect. I was there at a difficult time, but I have focused on the standard working conditions, so you know what you will get.

In response to the random accusations, I don`t have any problem working with, or taking direction from women. Like most people who have taught in Japan for a while, I think I am pretty flexible and work with women every day- some of them even somehow made it to positions above me. I did raise the issue of scheduled breaks for staff at a staff meeting. I saw it as part of my role as head teacher to try and create an environment which was conducive to staff retention, and also just to prevent the staff getting raped by management.

I had a good relationship with the daughter, we never `rowed` and she even gave me a "lovely" goodbye present on my last day which was a memorable experience. If you heard any `gossip`, I hope you enjoyed it, I certainly shared a couple of fine stories with my friends, and continue to do so- they are just so good!

Any current or past staff, please let the readers know if what I am saying about the conditions is incorrect. Maybe the conditions have changed?