Working and travelling around Japan

I want to go to Japan for a year but was hoping to travel from place to place and work at the same time.

If i was going to get a job i'd say English teaching is my best bet but i don't want to be stuck in one school for a whole year (no matter how good the pay is).

I heard if i went through a programme like the JET i'd have to work for a year minimum or maybe i'm wrong?

Would it be possible to teach English in different schools around japan while travelling?

I nearly have a degree by the way and my Japanese is intermediate.

According to your profile you are from the UK.
In that, you can get a WORKING HOLIDAY VISA.

Though not many English schools or companies are going to hire someone who wants to move around a lot. You'll have to commit to at least 6months or 1 year contracts.

The JET program is a Japanese Sponsored Program, you are set at one location, it is very competative program to get into, based on your plans I don't think it would be best for you.

Seeing that you are from the UK, you can come on a Working Holiday visa (age restriction applies, though), then maybe go from one area to another while hoping to pick up real casual jobs like working in ski resort, or WWOOFing (this is just accommodation and food for the work you provide - please check their website), but I would say no English language school would seriously consider you if you want to stay only a few weeks/months, as that's what if sounds like from your post. I wonder if you'd have credentials to be hired for a few months only, for example for a substitute teacher for a short program, etc.

Please search this forum and other resources on Working Holiday visa program; that should give you some ideas about what other casual job opportunities there might be fore you.

The above posters are right- very few employers, if any, are going to want to go to the bother of hiring someone who will only stay a few weeks/months. Think of teaching jobs where you are- do teachers normally only stay in them for a short time before moving on? It isn't worth the employer's time to interview, recruit and train (most schools have their own methods they want you to to use) someone who won't stay for very long.

You might want to have a look at an English conversation school called Gaba- while their pay is not high or guaranteed (depends how many lesson you teach), you are free to choose your schedule and it is possible to transfer to schools in other regions of Japan (most Kanto and Kansai though) quite easily. It's possible also to work for a couple of months and then take a month off to travel- I knew people who did this when I used to work part-time there several years back.

If you mentioned that you want to move around a lot at the interview though you would probably be rejected- there are not nearly as many teaching jobs as there used to be these days and a lot of people applying for them so that even Gaba is able to pick and choose these days, and they are likely to go for someone who says they will make a year commitment or more.

If you do get a job and leave after a short time, future employers may be reluctant to hire you. The recruitment process for teaching can be quite long so you would have to start setting up future jobs well in advance- basically teaching is not something where it is easy to "hop" from one position to another like bar-tending or similar jobs.