Does teaching English in Japan pay well in 2023?

Anyone considering teaching English in Japan will want to know how much they are likely to make. Obviously, your salary depends on the teaching position you land. Let’s look at two of the more common teaching contexts: eikaiwa (English conversation schools) and daigaku (university).

It’s tempting to just look at the numbers and move on, but there’s actually a lot more here to unpack. Considering all the factors discussed below will give you a clearer picture of teaching salaries in Japan.

Private English schools

Eikaiwa is where a lot of people get their start teaching English in Japan. I’m going to get right to the point here. You won’t make that much money at an eikaiwa. Still, with the cost of living and the lifestyle being what it is, you can live relatively comfortably.

When I was an eikaiwa teacher, I knew some who had 200 yen in their account when payday came around. On the other hand, my roommate was pacing himself to save what was, at the time, about $800 USD every month. As exchange rates fluctuate, these numbers take on slightly different meanings. 

Eikaiwas pay usually somewhere between 200,000-300,000 JPY per month. This has changed very little from when I started out 15 years ago. The variability in salary depends on how many hours/lessons per week you teach and possibly some small performance-based considerations as well. Some companies offer different contract types with heavier or lighter workloads.

University contract-type positions 

We’ll spend most of our time with universities. If you have an MA in TESOL or Applied Linguistics, you’re well set up to get a position at a Japanese university. It’s harder if you’re not already in Japan, but not impossible. 

Contract-type positions are often 1-year, renewable up to 4 times for a total of 5 years at that university. Often after 5 years, a teacher is given no option but to move on. Usually, universities are very upfront about the nature of the contract when you are hired. You may well see 3-year contracts often with a couple of 1-year extensions tacked. Sometimes there’s no extension.

The salary for full-time teachers varies on a couple of factors, the first being a university’s own salary regulations. Each university has its own pay scale, factoring in mainly position level, but also merit-based, and other miscellaneous allowances. 

Also, universities in larger urban centers tend to pay more than rural ones due to the higher cost of living.

Some light data

It’s not uncommon for universities to avoid listing the salary for full time teaching positions. I found twelve universities that did. These are pretty representative of what contract university teaching in Japan has to offer. This grouping includes schools from both urban and rural areas (a bit subjective), are regionally diverse, vary in national rankings, and list various experience requirements. 

The numbers below are not official -based off available postings. Nor do they represent universities as a whole. The sample size is very small and consists of predominantly private universities together with a couple of national ones. No public universities are used, but otherwise these dozen schools represent the Japanese university system fairly well.

Annual salary of sampled English teaching positions: AY2023

Total average salary: 5.01 million JPY

Two+ years experience required: 5.77 million JPY

No exp/unspecified exp requirements: 4.78 million JPY

Highest paying position: 7.8 million JPY

Lowest paying position: 3.84 million JPY

Mode salary (the most common salary figure): 5.3 million JPY

Some things to consider

The following are some aspects of work reality in Japanese universities to help put the above figures in context:

(1) In this case, each teaching position is for the 2023 academic year, which starts in April. I know, why April? It’s all about rice.

(2) We are only looking at full-time contract positions here. This excludes tenure track type positions and anything part-time. Coming from overseas to teach English part time is not really a thing.

(3) The numbers above indicate salary only. Things like research grants, commuting allowances, and other minor payments are excluded. While these are common for most universities, minor benefits have too much variability from school to school to be considered here. Just know that they are usually offered in some form. 

(4) None of the positions here list a Ph.D. as a requirement for consideration. A Ph.D. becomes more important as you start looking at tenure track positions.

(5) With these dozen positions, experience requirements are all over the place. Some list none as a requirement, or others are nondescript about the amount, and a fair few ask for 2-3 years of relevant experience. 

(6) Regarding the private vs. public vs. national university conversion, you might find that annual salaries don’t tell the whole story. Tendencies toward bonuses, research grants, merit-based allowances, and other benefits may differ depending on the type of university.

How do university salaries translate monthly?

Job postings may state salaries monthly as well. 300,000 JPY on the lower end to about 450,000 yen on the high end is common. Something like 350,000-380,000 JPY is probably is a rough average. Again, these are for non-tenured positions. When you bring up the currency converter, you find that’s not so much when compared to the dollar, euro, or pound. 

A lot of individual factors will influence how you perceive these salary figures. They can be misleading when one fails to consider the realities of the lifestyle and work context. Please keep these important points in mind when considering the numbers: 

(a) Firstly, it’s common, if not the norm, for universities to pay faculty members bi-annual bonuses. For contracted English teachers, this means something roughly between 300,000 to 500,000 JPY per bonus. These are paid out during summer and the end of the calendar year. However, in some cases a monthly salary might tower over others because the bonuses are factored in already.

(b) Healthcare is supported through your institution. That’s especially welcome for those of us from the US, but anyone will appreciate it.

(c) If you commute by car or, more likely, public transportation, the institution will usually reimburse these costs. 

(d) This is dependent on lifestyle, but compared with the US, the cost of living is relatively low. Unless you go all out on a nice place downtown, you can find decent accommodation. Housing is not as spacious as what many might be used to, but rent is much less now than what I paid back home, even pre-COVID. 

(e) Continuing on housing, some schools have accommodation for their teachers. Bringing in teachers from abroad or even other parts of Japan isn’t a new thing for most schools, and they often have contingencies set up for this. This may end up being more cost effective and definitely less of a headache than finding your own place.  

(f) Owning a car along with its associated costs is generally not necessary in most locations. Apart from the convenience factor, this further cuts down on your cost of living. Even owning a car here, I find it’s much easier to walk or bike to work (in my case), train stations, supermarkets, health clinics, etc.  If you do live in a rural location where you need to drive, you’re likely paying less in rental costs.

(g) If you have kids, local governments pay out child allowances. This is a massive rabbit hole. Let’s move on for now.

I take advantage of all the above points. Everyone’s spending habits are different, but most teachers I talk to, whether single or with a family, tend to get by without any difficulty. 

Not only do all these factors contribute to your financial well-being, but some also give you peace of mind. There are also a lot of non-financial factors to consider, but let’s leave that for another article.

To Sum Up

Hopefully this post has helped you get a better idea of what to expect from a salary while working in Japan. At face value, salaries for English teaching positions in Japan may appear low. That may not be the case when you look at the living and working context in its entirety.

In fact, I would go as far as to say that since teaching at universities in Japan, I’ve been the most financially secure since I joined the workforce. Whether or not that’s the case for you will depend on your circumstance.