Schools in affected zones say they want foreign staff to return when crisis lifts
The earthquake in Japan on 11 March, which triggered a series of devastating events across the east of the country, has left tens of thousands dead or missing, huge swaths of the population anxious about nuclear energy and had an economic impact that remains opaque. For the English language teachers, that means an uncertain future, not that those remaining are thinking ahead too far.
The earthquake came at both the best and the worst time for the region's English language teachers. During an exam period and close to Japanese spring break, many teachers were not at work when the tsunami struck, and have had time to think about their ongoing residence in the country. By the end of March, only one ELT fatality from the disaster had been reported, that of 24-year-old Taylor Anderson, a teacher on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme in the tsunami-struck town of Ishinomaki in Miyagi prefecture.
However, with many schools offering one-year contracts that end on 31 March, employers have struggled to keep teachers as much as teachers have struggled to keep their jobs. "Many foreigners in Japan are on yearly renewable contracts, most of which end in April," said Louis Carlet, vice-chairman of Zenkoku Ippan Tokyo General Union, which represents a large number of EL teachers throughout the country.
"What we are seeing is some companies failing to renew teacher positions in this time of crisis. But on the other hand a lot teachers have left the country, so other jobs have opened up, albeit with worse conditions in a lot of situations," he said.
David Jones, a programme co-ordinator for the JET programme with the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (Clair), said the organisation was working on a case-by-case basis to organise future teaching programmes.
"There are places in the affected areas who are working with JET, but right now we are waiting for local governments to assess the situation. The decisions are made by local governments in every area, not us."
Kazuyuki Hoshi, the assistant director at the international affairs section at the Miyagi prefectural government, told the Kyodo news agency: "I want more JETs to come in the future, but due to the current situation I cannot welcome them openhandedly.''
Among those that have decided to stay, some have taken up posts as volunteers in evacuation centres. Many have families and roots in the country, and never thought about leaving.
"I'll be staying," said Justin Doub, a father of two and a 31-year-old teacher with a dispatch company in the city of Kitakami, Iwate prefecture. "I haven't signed a contract for the coming year yet, but I have been promised one. If anything, I'll probably have more work because so many ALTs left."
Doub's attitude is similar to that of many that remain, stoical in the face of tough times. "I say things here are normal, but the restaurants are still closed and the convenience stores are half empty. My family back home keep asking whether we have food, and we do have food, but you can't choose what you get. Not that this bothers me, I'm just grateful to be able to eat."
In Tokyo, managers with numerous large "eikaiwa" English conversation companies report a business-as-usual attitude.
However, there are factors that could damage English teaching outside of the worst-afflicted region.
In tough economic times, English teaching is badly hit. Long considered a luxury in Japan, English schools can often lose students when the economy is struggling. And the government expects the earthquake and its consequences to cost the country more than $300bn.
And it is uncertain whether teachers leaving will be replaced in the short term. By the latter half of March, foreigners entering Japan via Narita airport, the nation's eastern hub, had declined by 60%. And convincing new teachers to come to work in Japan after the worst nuclear disaster the world has seen since Chernobyl may be difficult.
As Russell Mallon, a resident of Sendai who works in the PR department of an ELT programme, explained: "I just don't want to be near to any nuclear facility ever again."