NOTE: Please contact your predecessor, or board of education, before deciding on your final pack list. Your requirements will vary from mine depending on your placement and or work environment.
When I came to Japan, I brought three pieces of luggage with me.
- A large backpack as my carry-on
- A large suitcase packed with summer clothes
- A large suitcase packed with winter clothes
Depending on where you are located, you may not need an even split of winter and summer clothing.
I packed food and important items, like my suit, in the summer suitcase. Once I landed in Japan, they shipped my winter suitcase to my board of education. This meant I would not have access to it for a couple days during orientation.
Backpack (carry-on)
- Passport and Visa
- International Driving Permit (valid for 1 year)
- ¥652,000 ($5,000) in cash from my bank
- For context, I had to purchase a car with insurance. I also spent around $700 on furniture. Ask your predecessor how much you should bring and if they are leaving furniture behind.
- Medication (I didn’t have any)
- You may have to fulfill certain requirements for medication
- Travel sized Tylenol
- Travel Band-Aid kit
- Travel Kleenex
- Toothbrush with travel toothpaste
- Laptop and charger
- Rechargeable battery
- Noise cancelling headphones
- Nintendo Switch / Steam Deck
- Neck Pillow
- Type-C chargers
- All of my US power bricks have worked in Japan.
- eReader
- Mirrorless camera
- 2 extra camera batteries
- wide angle lens
- Charging station
- Wireless lapel microphones
- Wireless mouse
As you can tell, I am a pretty tech-oriented guy. So you can probably replace half of what I packed in my backpack with whatever you find more useful or entertaining.
Summer Suitcase
- Suit jacket, pants, and dress shirt – IMPORTANT
Yes, you are required to wear a suit. Even though our orientation was only two hours, they had everyone wear their suits. Currently, I only wear my suit for special events, such as school festivals, picture day, graduation, etc. But you may be required to wear a suit to class. Please check with your predecessor or BOE. I packed my suit at the top of my summer suitcase, so it could be easily accessed for orientation.
- Dress shoes with dress socks
- A couple khaki pants
- Comfortable slip-on shoes for INDOOR USE ONLY
In Japanese schools, you must have a dedicated pair of shoes for indoor use. I brought a pair of Vans with me, but I would recommend something more like slide on shoes/slippers. Simply because they are faster to put on and take off.
My schools also require dedicated gym shoes, but teachers sometimes just walk around in their socks.
As of writing, I carry my shoes between three schools. I will probably buy a cheap pair of slippers for each school in the near future.
- Socks and underwear
- A few white shirts
- A nice belt
- T-Shirts
- Cargo and athletic shorts
- A couple breathable exercise shirts
- Razor and electric shaver
- Snacks to give co-workers (omiyage)
- Reese’s cups
- Chocolate tootsie rolls
- Fall themed apple gummies from a local candy store
If you are packing snacks for your co-workers, buy something that is small and individually wrapped. Usually, Japanese omiyage are small treats without intense flavor. You can bring snacks with strong flavors, but it’s a good idea to also bring something tame. Make sure to pack them securely inside a Ziplock bag. This includes things like toothpaste, deodorant, etc.
Winter Suitcase
- A couple nice looking jackets
- A few comfortable hoodies
I packed a few hoodies, but I am unable to wear them to school. During the winter, I wear my more formal jackets and pullovers.
- Winter coat
- gloves
- hat
- A couple jeans
Because I only wear khakis at school, I brought way more jeans than I should have. You really only need a couple pairs.
- Athletic sweatpants – I usually wear these at my elementary school. Also great for the gym during the winter months.
- More socks and underwear
- More T-shirts
Closing Remarks
Try to avoid packing too many unnecessary items. Even in my rural mountain town, I can buy lots of things at the home goods store, in neighboring cities, or even online from sites like Amazon. Unless you have unique body proportions, or can’t live without a specific snack, you can probably find what you need in Japan.
Most of the clothes I have bought in Japan are from Uniqlo. It is a modern fashion brand with decent prices. I highly recommend their “heat tech” brand undershirts for the winter months.