"John W." <worthj1970@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:1177518869.756699.300650@u32g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
> On Apr 23, 9:58 pm, "Marvel" <mar...@helpcarl.com> wrote:
>> A friend of mine married a chick from Osaka, first they lived in the USA
>> awhile and now have gone back to Japan.
>>
>> Any ideas what type of work he (male 44) might pursue to have a decent 
>> job
>> as well as life?
>>
>> And I don't mean one of those English teaching sweat shop schools.
>>
> For starters, in my experience any job in Japan is a sweat shop.
> Prepare for long hours and lots of red tape, and kissing a** to
> sometimes absurd degrees (by US standards). But if he doesn't speak
> Japanese then he doesn't have much of a prayer getting one of those
> jobs, and there aren't any DOD jobs in the Osaka area (that I'm aware
> of). Don't knock teaching English; some of my best friends make very
> fine livings doing it. There's not much growth opportunity, and as an
> older guy he might find it harder to get a job, but it is possible to
> get a corporate job in an English chain school, though usually you
> have to teach first. He should try to get a job teaching corporate
> classes. The schedule can be tough (usually at night after the
> workers' day ends), but the money is usually better for the hours
> worked. Public school jobs also pay well, though my friends who have
> done that said the administrative side is a headache. Finally, there's
> the English media world; there are several magazines in the area that
> *might* be hiring, though I doubt he'll be able to get anything but
> freelance work, and that's a very crowded market.
>
> Personally he might be better off planning to live on the wife's
> salary for a while. He might not want to, which is good; he should
> want to get on his own feet. But the reality is there aren't that many
> jobs there outside of teaching if he doesn't speak/read/write
> Japanese, and even quality teaching jobs might take a month or two to
> get.
>
> John W.
>
After much consideration of the lack of job opportunities he has decided to 
start his own teaching from home.
I'm sure there are certifications that are impossible to get but he plans to 
work around those as well.

He says the regulations are ridiculous and it's a miracle anybody survives 
there. (what a joke)