At the end of July 2025, Telegram channels talked about a harsh decision that the leadership of one of the Japanese schools allegedly made. We have verified the accuracy of such publications.
It is alleged that a teacher was recently spotted in Japan working as a cashier at a convenience store. Because of this, he was forced to publicly apologize to students and their parents for his unworthy behavior, and then he was completely fired from the school with the wording “for undermining trust in the education system.” Many posts about this story clarify that in Japan such side jobs are considered something shameful, although, for example, drinking after work is a normal socially acceptable practice. Similar publications appeared in Telegram channels “Axe. Economy"(357,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Ax - hot news"(249,000), "What's trending?"(131,000), "KB. Economy"(103,000), etc.
A search of Japanese media showed that an incident similar to that described in Telegram channels happened in July 2025 in the Japanese city of Okayama. The principal of a local school received a tip that one of the teachers was working part-time at a convenience store and went there to check it out. When the information was confirmed, the trial began. It turned out that the teacher had been working at the store on nights and weekends since November, earning a total of about 1.7 million yen (approximately $11,000) during that time. According to the man, financial difficulties pushed him to take this step: he returned to work at the school after he retired, and in such cases the salary is noticeably is decreasing (by about 30%). To compensate for the difference, the teacher decided to get a part-time job.
Working in 24-hour convenience stores (convenience stores) in itself is not considered something shameful in Japan. Traditionally do part-time work high school students (about 65% of them have such experience) and students (among them this figure reaches 98%). Typically this is takes they have three days a week, four to five hours a day. Most often they work part-time in catering establishments (30%) and shops (25%), primarily in convenience stores.
However, teachers in Japan are considered government employees who are subject to Law on civil servants of local authorities. Article No. 38 of this law expressly prohibits civil servants simultaneously engage in business or work in commercial companies without receiving special permission to do so.
Commenting on what happened, the offending teacher said: he deeply regrets that his actions violated the professional ethics of a civil servant, and asked for dismissal. “Verified” did not find information in the Japanese press that this request was granted. It only says that the Okayama Prefectural Department of Education issued a disciplinary sanction to the teacher in the form of a reprimand. In addition, the department convened on this occasion, a meeting of school directors, at which he recalled the importance of compliance with the law and professional ethics.
Thus, although the posts of Telegram channels are based on real news, many of its details are retold incorrectly. The Japanese teacher actually combined teaching with work in the store and thereby violated the law prohibiting civil servants from working part-time without the permission of management. For this he was given a disciplinary reprimand. He submitted his resignation of his own free will, but at the time of publication of this analysis there is no information that his application was granted.
Cover photo: Okayama Prefectural Department of Education press conference. Source: screenshot news.tv-asahi.co.jp
Read on topic:
- Is it true that in Japan the husband's salary is transferred to the wife's account?
- Is it true that the video shows a labor lesson in a Japanese school?
- Is it true that Japanese cat cafes offer the services of cat massagers?
If you find a spelling or grammatical error, please let us know by highlighting the error text and clicking Ctrl+Enter.
