I actually worked as an English teacher for NOVA's main competitor, AEON. Of course I'm a little biased, but I had heard some negative things about NOVA and how they treat their employees. I also heard that, although NOVA courses are cheaper than AEON's, AEON's teaching methods are more organized.

I worked from Tuesday-Saturday from noon-9pm. This is because I taught adults, who would come to our classes after their work. It was a tough and challenging experience and I hated working on Saturdays, but I would do it all over again if I had the chance.

As far as whether or not you should go- understand that, unless you choose never to go shopping, travel or go out with friends, expect not to save a lot of money. Japan is expensive, and you won't be making much in your first year (that is, if you stay more than a year).

Therefore, don't go to Japan because of the job. Go for the unique and special opportunity of living in another part of the world and experiencing a different culture. You'll have the chance to meet lots of great new people who can teach you many things, and in return you can share your culture with them.

As for your question about mosques in Japan, I really don't know. Understand that you'll be in a severe minority in Japan. I'm Catholic, and I was fortunate to have a Catholic church in the city where I worked. However, I was a half hour from Tokyo so it's not too surprising. If you're placed in the countryside, it's guaranteed that there won't be any mosques or places to get halal meat nearby. You may have to spend as much as two hours (one way) by train to get to the nearest moqsue.

To prepare for your move, start learning Japanese NOW, if you haven't already. Buy some books, check out some websites. Learn to read and pronounce the kanji for important things like train station, men's and ladies' bathroom, hospital, restaurant, post office, police station, taxi, etc. Learn the train system. The trains are the lifeblood of Japan. Also buy some books on Japanese culture and customs.

Good luck!

i am Muslim living in japan yes there's Masjid in Nagoya so it means for sure there's one in Tokyo.. u can eat halal beef coz they have it from Australia but the chicken here is Japanese.
be careful from the pork oil coz they use it too much .. just say ( no botaniqu )

I lived there for 18 months and started off by working for NOVA for a year and it wasn't too bad, they are one of the better schools for meeting people and helping you get set up. They let you pay rent a month behind and give you a pay advance when you get there which helps you get set up easily. People say its expensive but it dosent have to be. Use the supermarket and cook yourself and its easy to save. I was saving 75% of my wage once i got settled in.
As for halah meat it will be tough unless you are in a big city.
Go to Japan it is worth it, if you dont like NOVA it is simple to get another job once you have a little experience.

Well first off ,are you good with kids, teenagers and adults ?You may be asked to teach all of these . When working for large schools you may be asked to travel to different locations to teach .Where we are in Japan we call NOVA NO LOVE . We call enthusiastic NOVA employees super novas .Try to learn the basic Japanese before coming .Pay is usually fairly good if you are single and can find a cheap place to rent .The culture is in some ways hard to adjust to at first depending on where you are . Be careful with the contracts though .Some of the contracts I have been asked to agree to aren't worth the paper they are written on . Finding a decent employer is difficult . Main thing to concentrate on when teaching is keeping students and parents of those students happy with what you are teaching and how you teach it . You can get some very serious mums here when it comes to scholastic achievement . I've been living and teaching in Japan for the last 13 years .Hope this helped

I think it is worth going, but it can be hard. NOVA is a OK place to work and they help you with accommodation etc, but as you might know, working hours in Japan can be very long ( 45hours+ per week is not unusual) so you might find it tough.
As for halal food, I am afraid that there are not many Muslim people in Japan, so it is very difficult to find it. It is also difficult to find a mosque. I had a teacher from Kuwait, and am not sure how he was coping with this matter, but once he served us kebab, so there must be some halal meat. But you will find plenty of fish, so if you like fish, then it would be OK.
If you don't like it or it is too hard, you can always come back. so personally, I think you should try. Or you'll be thinking about it for a long time. But remember, lots of people really don't know what is it like in other countries and have not got a much idea about Muslim religion, so you may get annoyed, but you have to educate them.
Good luck.

Rightly or wrongly, NOVA has a dreadful reputation. Their staff turnover rate is very fast because nobody stays long. People joke that NOVA stands for 'NO VAcations'. Salary is liveable-on but no more (around 2500 -3000 yen an hour). The culture in Japan is rather opaque, so you need lots of time to start feeling at home (say 10 years), and the Japanese are not exactly the warmest people in the world. If you come, it's far better to be in a big city rather than out in the gumbies.

I was a student of Nova for years. It was ok at the beginning and for a while because at that time I really didn't have any opportunity to speak English in Japan. But later I really couldn' t stand their English lessons because the students were asked to introduce themselves each other in each 45 minute class. If you say to Japanese that you are teaching English at a high school in Japan, it sounds good to Japanese. But if you say you are teaching English for adult at Nova, then it might be opposite.

Nova
http://www.jref.com/practical/teaching_at_nova.shtml

Nova etc. (Japanese)
http://www.nova.ne.jp/kids/index.html
http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~vahoo/
http://www.ikaiwa.com/bbs/nova/
http://www.novaunion.com/index.html

Halal Foods and Restaurants in Japan
http://www.islamcenter.or.jp/eng/hallfood.htm
Mosque and Masjids in Japan
http://www.isuramu.com/eng/usefulinfo.htm

In general Japanese people are tolerance toward Muslim. Please take care not to eat pork inadvertently. I wish you will enjoy your life in Japan.