Generally it depends where you live. In most places the landlords don't really care as long as you are considerate, not noisy, and are a good tennent. In the 3 different places I've been in I haven't had landlords check in on me... Basically as long as you pay the rent on time and don't cause problems it's fine. 

If you are in a private rented apartment then sometimes the landlord will drop by to be friendly but again usually don't care. In fact my first place my landlord said I could invite my family over and they could stay as long as they want. 

In my current apartment I have 2 bedrooms and for almost all of last year I had a friend live here cos I subletted the room to him and he used the extra parking pace which usually costs 5000en a month. But no one said anything. 

Generally I would say 2weeks is about right. More than a month is not being considerate...2 months is pushing it. BUT as I said it does depend on where you are. 

Also if you get a leopalace they might put it in the contract. Also a leopalace is very small and a long time in one room will test your relationship (this is what others have said)

Good luck. When are you coming over?

Hi there,

Thank you for the response on my blog post. I appreciate the advice and will definitely take a look and do some investigating!

Thanks again and all the best!

Becky

I'm more than happy to help...I was in the same shoes as you 2 years ago and had many questions...most of which will be answered when you get here but I think knowing as much as you can helps to calm the nerves a bit...it's going to be a mad roller coaster ride...for some people they get off at the start (I know some people quit during induction), most rides are short but others are on going but have calm periods...but I can safely say Japan has kind people willing to help you and the schools are not scary (usually the teachers are busy but willing to help).

As for money...I would advise taking out the interac loan, this will cover you apartment set up costs (rent, key money nd deposit which) which can be about ¥150,000 at the start...depending on your position you might have to furnish your own apartment - second hand stores are great here and cheap, daiso (¥100 shop) is great for plates etc...

Also your first wage is not until the end of the may because you work a month in advance... For me I took out the loan, my plane ticket was £650 (I flew with emirates) and I brought about £2000 which was just enough... I think £4-5000 is a good amount if you don't want the loan and want to live comfortably

I work for interac - im about to go into my 3rd year with them... they are an ok company - just like any other companies...ive had mostly teathing problems with them...and anything major has been easily sorted out, such as when i first got here they were expecting me to catch a 30min train and then a 20min walk to one school and i was located in a small fishing town on my own with the last train from the nearby (mini) city at 9pm...eventually they gave me a car.

as for teaching - a few positions (especially for high school and in Iwate) they are called NS (native speaker)... you prepare and teach your own classes with the support of a japanese teacher...i do have one busy school that treats me like an almost full teacher and im slightly over worked but my other school is a breeze, i use the text book mostly and on occassions i play games (the teacher requests this)...

but most positions are ALT - some times you only do an activitiy or read from the book (we call this team teaching) other teachers want you more involved and a few are prepared for you to take over...the latter is very rare for an ALT position and even for NS positions you find a lot of team teaching goes on.

finally...i found the level of english to be lower than what i expected...i would also advise not to put too much presure on yourself (i did and got a bit stressed) - remember you will be new, they know that and even great teachers make mistakes...ive learn to just accept that sometimes a class will fail and you move on and try to make the next one work

Hi...just read your comment...

The I-to-I course usually takes people about 3 months max to complete depending on how often you sit down to do it... Fr me I was working full time so did the course part time... I applied to interac while I was still doing the course and I did my interview etc while still doing the course...when I finished I sent them copies of the certificates...the TEFL course is not a requirement but a bonus, although some schools that you are placed in do request a teacher with a TEFL or higher.

As for speaking Japanese...I bought Rosetta stone with the intention of learning before I came...my advice is grab a phrase book to help at first but learn hiragana and katana (don't bother with kanji just yet)...this will help you at most places because you can read and check the words in a dictionary...learning to speak is better when you are here.

Pas for experience. I worked in an archaeology educational museum...I knew nothing about archaeology at first or teaching but I soon picked it up... It's the same with teaching... Remember for most part you are an assistant in Japan, so less pressure compared to a full time teacher (like the Japanese teacher)