confused

i really want to go to japan . ihave always loved it . and i heard the best way would be as a english teacher . but thats all i know . i need someone to tell me how much money would i need for house,food,rent, clothes and everything. i need to know how much a teachers salary is .so if it will be enough.i need to know what school would be good to apply in. i need to know everything so i can plan beforehand so i just dont go to another country alone with nothing. btw i am canadian oh and i need to know what visa i need, and what would good for 23 year old female teacher to wear to school

You can find lots of information here:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e625.html

And here:
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quedisplay.html

I'm in the situation you want to be in right now. Except I'm on a college student visa with a park time permit.

I recently moved into my own apartment in Toshima-ku. I have two English teaching jobs to help pay for my bills and rent and other expenses. The best kinds of English jobs are the ones where you teach children. However, since they're children, you'll have to know SOME japanese. If you can't explain a grammar phrase or word definition to them, when their English is limited, they aren't learning. I'm conversational level Japanese, it's enough for me.

Note: DON'T WORK FOR NOVA!!!!! independent conversational schools are best.

Both of the jobs pay me about 1500 per hour. However, I work about 13.5 hours a week (i am part time). It's not quite enough to pay for EVERYTHING like my rent (55,000 yen a month), cell phone bill (about 6000, it varies), electric (6000 also varies), internet (6000), gas and water (combined at least 4000 yen) plus food which should be from 10,000 yen to 20,000 yen a month.

I also had to pay a security deposit to the previous owner of the apartment which is supposed to be the same as the rent, but he let me off with 50,000 yen. Also, my place was pre-furnished by previous exchange students and the real estate didn't have it cleaned for me (under my request) so that saved me about 8000 yen for the key money and even more for the furnishing!

My total initial payment that i had to pay before moving in was 159,125 yen. Fortunately, this included first month's rent. (You pay for the up coming month... not the previous month you lived in).

Don't forget the going out in Tokyo rule. If you aren't careful, each day you go out for fun is about 5000 yen.

My advice before living here... save up TWICE the amount of money you think you'll need. That way, you'll have a back-up savings in case of emergencies and unexpected payments... plus you can pay for furnishings etc. Financially, it's rough here... But I'm just part time. I'm sure if you could have more hours and got a worker's visa you'd be better off. If you want space though... try to find a traditional style Japanese apartment. The newer, westernized ones are way too small for me and too expensive. My apartment was made in the 1970s... it's old for the Japanese, but it's nice for me.

It's kind of individual choice as to whether the best teaching jobs are those teaching children- I love kids but would prefer not to have to teach them so for me the best jobs were those teaching adults.

Older, Japanese apartments are definitely cheaper and usually more spacious, but I know from living in several that they come with the following issues: 1) Very hard to heat in winter and cool in summer due to no insulation. In summer it can be 36 deg C outside and over 40 inside- very uncomfortable.

2) Any building constructed before the mid-1980s lacks much of the earthquake-proofing that was made compulsory from the mid-1980s- to me, living in shaky Tokyo, this is a really important factor.

3) Cockroaches are rampant here in summer no matter how clean you try to be, and the older the building the more there seem to be.

It is nice to have tatami floors and shoji screens though, and the older neighborhoods are definitely more interesting.

Just my 2 cents :-)

thanks guys for all that. i really hate roches really reallu hate them. but its not like there are any few here . and temp here goes forty. i guess i could wait a little and save up some money. and i really dont like children and was hoping to teach a higher grade.and i will apply for a working visa. what i still need to know is can iwork full time to start with or if part time i could work more than one job beacuse here i was told that i wasnt allowed without permission. my japenese is a little shaky but i learned how to speak while in uni. and what part of tokyo would be the best to move in to

the reason why i said kids was because if you're a woman (in my experience) and you get a male, adult student, he might try to hit on you... just look at my post called "my student wants to date me!" in love and relationships.

Now what if you have 3 male students doing the same thing?? I don't like it, so that's why i teach kids.

In Tokyo, if you want convenience, live near a station that has the Yamanote line. The Yamanote Line will take you to the important places in central Tokyo. I live in Toshima-ku, which has Ikebukuro. The older town is where the rent is reasonably priced.

i forgot about your question about multiple jobs.

It depends on your working hours. You'll have a limited amount of hours that you're allowed to work a week. On the student visa I have a limit of 28 hours a week. I'm not sure about the working visa. But i know that for Japanese people, it's illegal to work more than two full time jobs. But multiple part time jobs are ok. Some students i know have 3 or 4 part time jobs!!!!

thaks miyuki i will keep that in mind

i should correct myself... i meant "more than one full time job"