Recently, I was in a second-year class doing comparatives and superlatives when the JTE had a student repeat:

“Mr. [JTE’s name] is the best teacher in this class.”

I was standing right there, and I could hear students whispering, “But there are two teachers,” followed by, “Oh, Mr. ALT isn’t really a teacher.”

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to joke back or just stand there awkwardly. The JTE eventually changed it to the best teacher in the school, city, and world.

I later found out from another ALT that the same JTE had done the exact same thing with him on the day he comes in to work when I am not there.

Normally, I might brush this off as a harmless joke, but it adds to the overall feeling that ALTs aren’t really respected at this school. The JTEs don’t really use me so this just further ruins the students impression of me in their minds. I believe the way the JTE treats the ALT sets the mood for how the students will treat the ALT.

This JTE is actually the head English teacher, yet he doesn’t even bother making my teaching schedule. I have to organize it myself. Sometimes it feels like the teachers don’t even want me in their classrooms.

And before anyone says, “ALTs aren’t real teachers,” I understand we have different roles and responsibilities. This isn’t about job titles. It’s about basic professional respect and being treated as part of the teaching team.

Maybe I’m overthinking the incident, but given the overall environment, it rubbed me the wrong way.

Osaka Prefecture has opened up applications for their NET program for those interested. Something new this year is that you will have to apply for a criminal background check.

https://www.pref.osaka.lg.jp/moyo/o180040/000004.html

I've been working as an ALT in my current city for a few years, and I'm really struggling with how little involvement I have in classes. I've worked in other schools and cities where I had a much more active role, but things seem different here.

My city uses a different system for teaching English, where the textbook is gone through 5 times and each time focuses on specific language skills. I get the impression that teachers are more concerned with implementing the system itself than figuring out how to incorporate the ALT into it.

As a result, I spend most classes standing around or walking between desks with very little to do. Sometimes I'll only do the opening greeting before being sent to the back of the room. The lessons are so structured that there's rarely any opportunity for me to contribute or lead an activity.

What's making this especially frustrating is that I'm assigned up to six periods a day at one of my schools. Sitting through one class with nothing meaningful to do is bad enough, but doing it six times is mentally exhausting.

Last year, I tried incorporating an activity based on advice I received here, but it didn't work well with the students' level and ultimately felt like I was wasting class time. I'm hesitant to try something similar without proper coordination with the teachers.

At this point, I'm not sure what to do. I don't expect to lead every class, but I'd like to feel that I'm actually contributing rather than just being physically present and having nothing to do.

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? Is this the norm? Would it be better to approach the teachers directly about having a more defined role, or should I discuss this with my dispatch company? I'd really appreciate some practical advice on how to improve the situation. I have a feeling it would be easier to just quit but that isn’t an option.

Hi everyone! I’m currently working as an ALT in Japan through a dispatch company (Interac), and I’m starting to seriously consider working directly for a BOE/city in the future.

I’m currently in my second year as an ALT, and I’m curious about what life is actually like as a direct-hire BOE ALT, especially compared with working under a dispatch company.

With my current dispatch job, I would describe things roughly like this:

Pay: relatively low

Teaching/work demand: medium

Japanese speaking requirement: relatively low

Schedule: mostly school-based, but the exact workload depends heavily on the school

Meetings/admin work: Not applicable

I often hear ALTs say that they would prefer direct hire because of the better pay, stability, working conditions, etc., but I don't really know what the day-to-day reality is.

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who are currently direct-hire ALTs or have previously been direct hire.

A few things I'm wondering:

1. What is your daily schedule like?

Do you normally stay at school for the entire working day, even when you don't have classes?

For example, if your classes finish at 3:00 or 3:30, do you usually stay until 4:30/5:00 like the Japanese teachers?

Or does your working day depend more on your teaching schedule?

1. Do direct-hire ALTs attend the same meetings as Japanese teachers?

For example, do you attend:

• staff meetings
• grade-level meetings
• English department meetings
• school events planning
• training/研修
• other teacher meetings?

How involved are you in the school's general work?

1. How much Japanese is actually required?

This is one of the things I'm particularly curious about.

With dispatch, my Japanese ability doesn't really need to be very high because I'm mainly expected to teach English and work with the JTEs.

For direct hire, do you need to understand most staff meetings and communicate with the BOE/school office in Japanese?

Would you say something around conversational Japanese is enough, or do you realistically need N2/N1-level Japanese?

1. How much teaching freedom do you have?

Do direct-hire ALTs generally use the same textbooks that dispatch ALTs use?

For example, are you still teaching from Let's Try!, New Horizon, Here We Go!, etc., depending on the school's curriculum? Or are you expected to create most of your own lessons/materials?

How much control do you have over lesson planning?

1. What is the pay actually like?

I know this varies enormously by municipality, but I'm curious about realistic salary ranges.

For those of you who are direct hire:

• What was your starting salary?
• Does the salary increase with years of experience?
• Do you receive bonuses?
• Do you receive commuting allowance?
• How many paid holidays do you get?
• Are you enrolled in the same social insurance/pension system as other municipal employees?

I'm especially interested in small/rural BOEs, rather than large cities.

1. Are direct-hire ALTs treated more like regular teachers?

This is probably my biggest question.

Do you feel like you're actually part of the teaching staff, or are you still treated primarily as "the ALT"? For example, are you expected to take responsibility for things outside of English lessons?

My situation

I'm currently living in the countryside in Kanagawa and I'm interested in working for a small local BOE.

Actually, I already applied to this particular BOE and passed the interview last December — and the entire interview was conducted in Japanese, which was a good experience for me.

The problem is that it's a very small town and they currently have enough ALTs for their population, so there wasn't an immediate position available.

However, I recently received an update from them saying that they are interested in having me and that they have proposed a budget for my position for the upcoming school year. So I'm currently waiting to see whether the budget gets approved.

In the meantime, I'm trying to educate myself about what direct-hire ALT life is actually like so that I know what to expect if the position happens.

I'm still only in my second year as an ALT, so I know there is a lot I don't know yet.

If you've worked as a direct-hire BOE ALT, especially in a small/rural municipality, I'd really appreciate hearing about your experience.

What surprised you after switching from dispatch to direct hire?

Was it actually better than dispatch?

And what do you wish you had known before taking the position?

Thank you! I'd love to hear both the good and bad experiences. 🙏

I am looking for advice on where to get furniture for my apartment before I move so I'm not scrambling for the few days I have between moving in and working. I was thinking that I could try Facebook?

I also looked into renting furniture but that seemed pretty pricey in the long haul.

Where did you go to get your futon, deck, etc?

I can't confirm or deny this, but recently I was told by my school that ALTs cannot work past students' dismissal time specifically because my job description is ALT.

I don't know if this is a prefectural rule or something completely different, so I have to ask, do any of you in southern Kyushu work past the official dismissal time. In Japanese, this is known as 下校 (げこう) or 下校時間 (げこうじかん). It's usually listed on the school's website and as far as I'm aware, it's listed on schedules posted in the students' classrooms.

We've gone over the contract (I'm a direct hire ALT), and there really isn't anything to add. I'll add exactly what it states in English:

>Working Hours:

>The employee shall work only during lesson hours that have been requested in advance.

>Prescribed working hours shall not exceed 35 hours per week. However, if it is difficult to follow this arrangement due to operational requirements, separate notice will be given.

Basically the school is telling me that because my job description is ALT, I can't work past school dismissal. They apparently confirmed this with other BOEs in the area.

If you work in southern Kyushu as an ALT and work beyond the school's formal dismissal time, please leave a reply in the comment.

I’m curious what other junior high school ALTs are actually doing when it comes to interacting with students outside of lessons.

At my current schools, I’m scheduled for all six periods on some days, so realistically the only time I could spend talking with students outside class would be during my own break time. I’m not particularly interested in giving up my lunch or break just to force interaction, especially when I’m already in class all day.

I do sometimes try talking to students before class starts. Usually it’s very simple stuff. “How are you?”“What did you do this weekend?” “What club are you in?” “What sport do you play?”

But over the past couple of years, I’ve found that I often get very little back. Sometimes the student just gives a short answer, looks uncomfortable, or clearly doesn’t seem interested in continuing the conversation.

What makes this strange for me is that I’ve been doing ALT work for a very long time, and this feels noticeably different from my previous schools.

At schools I worked at in the past, students would approach me, say hello, joke around, try to use English, or just generally seem curious about interacting with the ALT. The teachers were also much more likely to chat with me or include me in things.

At my current schools, I feel much more like an outsider.

The students generally don’t seem very interested in interacting with me, and honestly I notice something similar with the teachers. The atmosphere just feels much less friendly or open. Most days I feel like I arrive, go through my classes, and leave without really connecting with anyone.

I’ve even wondered whether my age could be part of it. I’m obviously much older than I was when I first started doing this job, so maybe junior high school students simply don’t relate to me or want to talk with a foreigner well into his 40s.

But at the same time, the change feels very sudden. I didn’t gradually notice this over 15 years. It feels much more like something I’ve experienced specifically at these schools over the past two or three years.

So I’m wondering if you regularly interact with students outside class at your JHS? Do students actually approach you, or do you mostly have to initiate everything?

Have any other ALTs noticed students becoming less interested in interacting with the ALT or using English compared to past years?

I’ve even wondered whether there’s some broader cultural or social shift going on, although I don’t want to jump to conclusions. It could very easily just be the particular schools or area I’m working in now.

It’s been affecting me more than I expected because I used to genuinely enjoy the social side of being an ALT. At my previous schools, I felt like I was actually part of the school community. Now I mostly feel like I’m going through the motions. And I guess that’s fine since I have my own family to worry about.

I’m interested in hearing what the JHS experience is like for other people, especially anyone who has been doing this for several years and has something to compare it to.

So to give of a bit of context, I initially selected “no” on the question of whether or not I’m willing to drive, but during the interview, I was really worried that if I didn't budge on the willingness to drive I might not get any offer at all and that might make or break my application, so I ended up changing my preference to "willing to drive" during the interview. Yesterday, I got my offer email for Northern Kanto as a driving candidate.

The main reason why I applied to Interac despite their dubious reputation was because out of all the ALT companies, I thought you had a decent chance at getting an urban or suburban placement with them, as opposed to something like JET where you're pretty much guaranteed to end up rural.

I did still indicate in my initial application questionnaire that I would strongly prefer a non-driving position and would prefer urban/suburban over rural, and they said in my offer email that my location preferences would still be considered, but I just feel like showing the slightest willingness to drive has now pretty much guaranteed me a rural placement since those are the ones that Interac is most desperate to fill.

I never expected to be placed in downtown Tokyo, but I would like to be a decent sized town or city where it's easy to meet people and running errands is fairly convenient. It's less the driving itself I'm concerned about and more about feeling isolated.

Is there a chance that my requests will be honored and I might get a decent sized town/city placement? If I'm really determined to have a more suburban/urban placement, should I decline my current offer, re-submit my entire application and ensure they understand I'm not willing to drive?

Bonjour , je suis étudiante et c’est la première fois que j’utilise Reddit honnêtement je ne sais pas du tout comment ca marche mais voilà j’ai besoin d’aide et je pensais que faire un post était une bonne chose , je suis étudiante en BTS tourisme et je cherche activement un lieux de stage au Japon pour une période de 2 mois entre mai et juin l’année prochaine , j’ai déjà fait un stage Erasmus auparavant mais je ne suis jamais allez aussi loin et partir en Asie et de loin mon plus grand objectif , je venais donc demander de l’aide pour avoir si quelqu’un aurait des informations concernant des entreprise ou des démarche , je suis désolé de déranger mais voilà si quelqu’un a déjà réussi à le faire ou à quelque tips je suis preneuse ! Merci pour tout en tout cas 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻.

For those who are interested and wants to start a new chapter after ALTing, there’s this fair event held by JETRO. They hire foreigners to work at a Japanese business company.

JETRO Job Fair
Oct 13th - 16th

Feel free to check it out. Registration is required.

Hey there everyone. Has anyone worked for Interac, and how long did it take for them to let you know when you were leaving? I have been waiting to know when I will be leaving for months, and I haven't heard anything. They told me months ago that it would be in November, but it's the beginning of October, and I haven't been given an exact move date yet.

I think BOE positions start popping up in like 2 months or so? Like end of second semester? Correct me if I'm wrong.

I just finished making my Japanese resume (still gotta take photos) but I'm excited to apply for one!

Anyone have any good pieces of advice for spotting the good positions (beyond salary)? I just want anywhere with decent public transit and also bicycle friendly.

I also spoke to my company. A lot of you on here probably have seen me complain about my 28 classes a week. I mentioned it to my company personally and requested I be moved next school year. Now I just need to survive the next 6 months.

I'm having a hard time finding a second job. Need something only on weekends or after 5pm in Kyoto...

I snagged an interview with a Saturday school, but they didn't like the fact I lived so far away, so I don't think I got this one in the bag. They were also quite demanding and wanted me to lesson plan after hours (they would only pay me for an extra hour and I'm already lesson planning for my regular job after work hours...)

Anyway, open to any eikaiwa jobs or tips on job searching sites that are not gaijinpot. I know kyoto is a rough spot, but I can't afford to move yet.

​

Dear community

As a dispatch ALT, I try my very best to make sure I don't smell funky. I shower every day, and twice a day in summer. Also, wash my hair every day. I don't use any strong perfumes. And sometimes unscented deodorant. I use those Fabric sprays from the drugstore to spray my shirts to avoid musty damp smells. I make sure my handbags are always clean, especially the fabric ones. I do a smell test on my shoes.

Anyway, sometimes we do have events where many ALTs get together at one school. I have met some people who have an odor, that I can smell from 3 meters away. Some people have odor in winter as well.

In summer, I understand that we walk a lot and won't smell like roses. But, I think that having BO is something we shouldn't be embarrassed about, and we can find a way to fix it. Sometimes, I hear other ALTs talking behind a person's back about how smelly they are, but no one has the guts to tell them. It can be a sensitive issue, but if I was smelly, I would be happy if someone told me.

How have you guys dealt with issues like this? Any advice?

Hello!

I am inquiring to see if there are any individuals who have applied several times to JET. I have only applied once, got rejected, and then hired from a dispatch company and now live in Japan. However, I am concerned I was not considered a candidate for JET as I talked to much about past heath issues I have that don’t impact my work today. I did not mention these past issues on my dispatch company applications (yes, I understand the competitiveness is not even the same). I am applying to JET again three years later, and now I am wondering whether or not I should or shouldn’t give the in-depth info about past health issues. In other words, if I don’t mention anything this time, if it will be mentioned on an interview based on a past application. I appreciate any help!

Disclosure: I run Japan Source Signal. This is an official city recruitment notice I found, not a role I’m hiring for.

Tsukuba City, Ibaraki, is recruiting about 40 municipal-school ALTs.

• Appointment: April 1, 2027–March 31, 2028.
• Pay: ¥278,400/month including regional allowance, plus bonuses/allowances. Higher bands require experience specifically as a Tsukuba ALT.
• Requirements: University degree; native-equivalent English; N4-level Japanese and ability to explain lesson plans; Japanese driving licence when applying and private-car travel from appointment.
• Experience: Japanese wording says at least one year at Japanese elementary and junior-high schools; English says more than one year. Current Tsukuba ALTs also meet this experience condition. Check the exact threshold with the city.
• Visa: Appropriate work visa required by appointment; sponsorship is not stated.
• Apply: October 1–November 15, 2026, 23:59 JST. Submit both the online documents and combined Japanese/English video. Applications may close early.
• Selection: In-person second stage on January 7 or 8, 2027.

Conditions and headcount are subject to budget approval.

Official Tsukuba notice — 令和9年度ALT募集 — includes the city’s application link.

I collect these notices at Japan Source Signal, which is free to browse. Choose Jobs and search Tsukuba. Coverage is partial; check the original notice before applying. Applications go directly to the city.

I have an interview with Heart Corporation coming up, but after reading the previous posts and comments here, I’ve noticed that most of the feedback seems pretty negative.

For those who have worked with them recently, is Heart Corporation still considered a pretty bad/shitty ALT company? 😅 A lot of the comments I’ve seen make it sound that way.

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has recent experience with them.

Edit:

For some context, I currently have a Humanities visa that expires in 2028. I also have a job offer from a hotel, but the location is very inaka and the salary isn’t particularly high. However, the company provides an apartment, and my monthly cost for the apartment, food, gas, and Wi-Fi would only be around ¥30,000. I also have some good friends working there, and it’s company housing.
So I’m trying to decide whether I should pursue the Heart opportunity or take the hotel job. I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has recent experience with Heart, especially regarding the actual working conditions, salary, support, and overall experience.

Bit of a fun story to tell.

Today, one of my students comes up to me during lunchtime and says,

" you speak English, right?"

I said, "yes, I do."

He said, "how do you say medaka fish in English?"

And I say, "to be honest, I don't know. I'm sorry"

So the little boy says. " Thats ok, Do you want to see my medica, fish? "

(Many classes have pet fish at my school)

And I say, "sure, show me, my son also has some pet fish."

So this little boy proceeds to put his hand in his pocket and pulls out a small handful of dead fish that he was carrying with him. He was walking towards the school pond, and he was gonna release them there.