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The best time to get a job in Japan was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

Teaching English is how most people break into the market in the Land of Sushi. There are certainly other opportunities, but teaching English remains a good way to jump into the tide pool.

The classic book on getting a job there is Jobs in Japan: The Complete Guide to Living and Working in the Land of Rising Opportunity by John Wharton and Liz Netzel (Paperback). You can still pick up a new copy on Amazon for $14.95 or a whopping 0.01 used. Not bad for 261 pages. The prose is entertaining, informative and encouraging. A good primer on what to bring, finding housing, getting around and daily living.My only caveat is that lots of details have changed since1993 when it came out.

For one thing, it's a lot easier to line up a job without even jumping on a plane. Every year Aeon, one of the big Japanese schools holds interviews in Vancouver/Seattle. Be sure to check out the jobs board on Dave's ESL Cafe (daveseslcafe.com). If you're a college graduate under 30, there's a whole program set up to recruit you called JET.

If you don't have anything lined up don't hesitate to dive in. It will take time to land a job and even after starting you'll probably only have a few classes until the school checks you out. Payday is once a month in Japan so Living costs are high so have access to a minimum of a couple of thousand.

Definitely bring a suit - Japanese people are very conscious of appearance. If you're confident, energetic and have a decent wardrobe you move to the front of the job queue.

April and September when new school terms start are the best times to be job-hunting. Monday's edition of the Tokyo English paper, The Japan Times has the most job ads. These ads are expensive so any schools advertising in the Times are either rich or desperate.

The beswt advice is to get a list of English schools and start phoning as soon asyou arrive, Keep track of the schools you're phoning and don't stop until you get at least one interview. Rinse and repeat.