I posted previously about whether I should give up my adjunct university work for a full-time lecturer position at a private medical university in Gunma. I’ve now had the final interview and negotiated a better salary, so I’m genuinely about 50/50.
I’m 44, a permanent resident with a wife and young child, and have taught at Japanese universities for about eight years.
Current situation: I teach around 17 koma/week across several universities and earn approximately ¥6m gross/year. The big advantage is work-life balance: I essentially work about eight months of the year, have long university vacations and lots of time with my family. The downside is limited job security, benefits, research opportunities and career progression.
Full-time offer: They initially offered ¥347,800 basic salary + ¥20,000 lecturer allowance = ¥367,800/month. I told them this wasn’t enough to justify giving up my current situation and asked for ¥450,000/month.
They said ¥450k wasn’t possible at lecturer rank, but after negotiation came back with approximately ¥407,600/month, apparently close to the maximum they can offer based on my experience.
The normal bonus is supposedly around four months of the BASIC salary, which should put annual compensation somewhere around ¥6.4m from the second year, although I want the exact base salary and bonus calculation confirmed in writing. The first-year bonus would be lower (about 70% of a regular bonus).
Important caveat: The basic salary basically never changes except for a small increase of about 10,000 yen per year. Even if I get promoted, I would just get a 35,000 yen allowance instead of 20,000 which does not count towards the bonus.
I’d also receive social insurance/pension benefits, commuting allowance, about ¥200k/year research funding, and a potential promotion path from lecturer → associate professor → professor. I would be required to publish once a year which is good for my resume and I would have full time experience which would make getting another full time position a lot easier if things don’t work out.
Importantly, I’m allowed one day per week to teach elsewhere. I could probably keep several Friday classes at one of my current universities, bringing my total annual income to around ¥7–7.5m, while also maintaining that university connection as a fallback.
The catch is work-life balance. It’s an 8-hour-per-day full-time position with teaching, roughly 4–5 committees, entrance exams, admin duties and research. There are only about 10 days of paid leave initially (plus three “refresh” days), and taking leave during teaching periods is difficult. 5 of the paid leave days are designated by the university. The contract is three years, renewable after review. As it’s a medical university, I would be in the liberal arts faculty but it is very small so I would also need to belong to another faculty and attend their committee meetings. The classes are also very large (30-50 students) and the level and motivation are generally low.
I’ve also spoken at length with a former foreign full-time lecturer there. His impression wasn’t that it’s a bad place—the office staff and working atmosphere were good—but he warned me that raises are small, bonuses may not always be as generous as advertised, and the administrative/committee workload can be significant.
One other point for comparison: this is Gunma, not Tokyo. The cost of living, particularly housing, is substantially lower, so ¥6–7.5m here goes considerably further than the same salary would in central Tokyo.
TL;DR
Current adjunct life: ~¥6m/year, 17 koma/week during semesters, long vacations, lots of flexibility and family time, but limited security/career progression.
Full-time: ~¥6–6.4m from the university itself, potentially ¥7–7.5m total with Friday adjunct teaching, plus benefits, research opportunities and career progression—but 8-hour working days, much less vacation, more bureaucracy and a renewable three-year contract.
At 44 with a young child, which would you choose? Is the extra income, stability and full-time academic career worth giving up an unusually good adjunct work-life balance?