The workday usually starts at 10:00 am or 11:00 am, depending on the day of the week, although teachers and staff arrive at the school fifteen minutes early. In Japan, being "on time" for work means arriving early so you are ready for the start of the workday.
Each
day starts with an informal 5-Minute Meeting, which
gives the manager an opportunity to go over the
day's schedule with you. Teachers teach an average
of five to seven classes a day. Teachers will not
teach more than twenty-five hours a week, or they
will be paid overtime.
Teachers
usually have one or two late morning/early afternoon
classes followed by a break for lunch and time for
lesson preparation and other non-teaching responsibilities.
Children's classes are often scheduled in the early
afternoon, with elementary age classes in the afternoon
and junior high/senior high classes in the later
afternoon and evening.
The lunch break is one hour every day.
In the evening, a common schedule is to teach classes from 3:00pm until 7:00pm. Classes can be from 40 to 50 minutes, with the majority of classes being 50 minutes in length.
The school day typically ends at 7:00pm. Teachers have a wide variety of options to choose from to fill their time outside of work, including language classes and other cultural lessons.
