What degree do I need to teach English in Japan?

If you’re new to teaching English in Japan, you may be wondering, what degree you need to become an English teacher? For virtually any English teaching situation, foreign teachers will need

You’ll need at least a 4-year degree to get started teaching in Japan as a foreigner. To teach in the university system, a masters degree under the umbrella of TESOL or in applied linguistics is typically required. Ph.Ds are usually only required for some, if not most, tenure-track equivalent positions.

Let’s examine degree requirements in more detail and maybe answer a few other burning questions.

Entry level positions

For teaching positions in the corporate English world, namely eikaiwa or other private companies, a 4-year degree is a fundamental requirement. Being a hard rule has more to do with VISA stipulations than company requirements.

Many but not all corporate English positions center around students developing conversational skills. Therefore the teacher’s native language ability is the primary asset for getting hired. This is good since we all have one of those native language thingies. It also means, most companies are not looking for more than a bachelors degree.

Therefore, your 4-year degree, however far removed from language or education, is supplemented by your native language ability to qualify you for many positions. It gets you the rest of the way so to speak. Your degree only needs to satisfy the Specialist in Humanities VISA requirement.

4-year degrees at a Japanese university will also work, assuming you’re a native speaker of the foreign language the job requires. Even so, it’s important to research the university and their degree program before you make a decision to enroll.

Your degree will also get you in the running for most ALT positions in public schools. However, for a lot of the more serious positions in the public school system, you may need Japanese teaching credentials and the Japanese language ability that comes with it.

University

Like most other countries, Japanese university teaching positions generally require a more specified degree. It’s pretty much guarantied that anyone coming from overseas to teach English at university will need a masters degree under the umbrella of TESOL, applied linguistics or something related. Spending a little time on job boards, you quickly come to find there’s just no way around it.

If you’re degree is in another focus area of language or education, it’s often still relevant for many teaching positions. As an example, one of my colleagues teaches with an MA in English Literature.

MA programs in Japan or abroad?

You have a lot of options for masters programs and Japan is on the table. However, it’s easier if you’re already there. Some masters programs prefer it, especially if theirs is designed for non-traditional students who are already working full-time. When inquiring about one such program in February, the rep explicitly told me this and it made sense under the circumstances.

Of course, that’s not usually the case. It’s impossible to sum up all of the Japanese master’s degree options in a nutshell. One sneaky important question to get answered is who is that degree program designed for? It might seem like a no-brainer, but asking it will indicate if you’re set up well to do that program. It will also tell you in what direction that degree will take your career.

Pros of degree programs in Japan

There are quite a few masters programs in Japan that cater to foreigners. There are even some designed specifically for foreigners who want to teach English in Japan. And any degree from a Japanese university will be more easily recognized than one earned abroad. More on this later.

If the possibility of working in Japan intrigues you, but you don’t have any real-world life or work experience, studying does give you a chance to get a taste of Japan. Over a semester, a year or a few years, your view will continuously change one way or another. Things like the rigidity or indirect nature of Japanese culture might swing you one way or another.

Then again, maybe you just want the experience of studying abroad (not a bad thing). In that case, long term living in Japan doesn’t need to be for you. However, since we’re talking about degrees for teaching jobs, I had to go there.

Pros of degree programs from abroad

As stated above, doing a master’s program in Japan will set you up to find a university job. If you plan for life in Japan to be temporary, it might make more sense to earn your degree in the country where you see yourself long term. In my case, Japanese universities were a distant plan B while studying back in the US.

Applying some logic, chances are that a hiring director or committee outside of Japan probably won’t know a thing about the university where you studied. They might not be able to pronounce it. They might have limited ability to search it depending on their knowledge of Japanese and your school’s website.

Finally, consider professional references. Contacting someone in Japan from abroad is a much bigger headache logistically and possibly linguistically than with domestic schools. Think about time zones, difference in practice, and technical glitches. We talk a lot about the global village and worldwide connectivity these days, but speaking from experience, there are still kinks and hurdles.

When going from a Japanese university to a job in Japan, everything above is obviously a non-issue. As mentioned in the previous section, it’s actually an advantage.

What if I’m a non-native English speaking foreigner?

Some non-native English speaking foreign teachers get jobs at Japanese universities teaching English. I’ve worked with two or three falling into this category.

You’ll need to be highly competent in the language – as in approaching native-like ability. It helps to have a test score to back your level up. Otherwise the same masters degree requirements and any other necessary qualifications apply.

For non-native speakers, university English teaching is actually a more likely possibility than teaching English at a corporate school. Private language companies usually don’t need your masters degree. Instead, they lean hard on the native speaker selling point.

As for other languages studied in private conversation schools, you have a better chance to teach your native language regardless of your English fluency level. There may be fewer positions available, but then your native ability is working in your favor.

In summary

My first time living in Japan, I was the type of person looking for an experience. The second time over, I was looking for career advancement and financial stability. I couldn’t do either without a degree of some kind.

Ultimately, if you see yourself teaching in Japan long term, a degree program at a Japanese university could be for you. It’s hard to know for sure how long you’ll want to stay if you haven’t spent time there and aren’t sure about the type of job you want or are able to land.

You’ll also want to know how much you can expect to make, where the degree will take you over the long haul, and if life in Japan is really for you.