[jasonbvr]

An instructor visa costs like forty dollars. It isn't exactly going to drain your life savings.

If you are worried about job security, go the ALT route versus eikaiwa. ALTs are hired by the board of education, and the numbers needed will increase with the mandatory instruction of English in the elementary schools starting in 2011. That being said, most people who send their kids to eikaiwas or go themselves are in no danger of losing their jobs. The people being laid off are mostly laborers, and in the case of factory workers most of these are the migrant workers.

And here is an encouraging thought: The strength of the yen has increased around 10 percent since summer 08. What is bad for exporters here and retailers just about everywhere has English teachers making bank without taking on extra work or getting a raise.

Oh yeah, and if you do get "sick of your job and leave before six months" it will simply reflect negatively on your resume, showing future employers that you're a quitter and likely wimp out at the first sign of a challenge. The fact that you are already worried you might quit tells me you probably shouldn't even bother coming over. Life isn't always overflowing nihonshu and sakura blossoms, but we stick in there and get the job done.