
A visual novel about living through a sudden and chaotic job loss, and making tough choices about your future. Based on the real-life experiences of foreign teachers living in Japan.
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About

In “Life of a Dispatch English Teacher in Japan,” you play as Maria Ramirez, an American working in Japan as an English teacher. It’s a rewarding, fun job, and you’re beloved by students and coworkers alike–until suddenly, one day you lose your job. You work for a dispatch English teaching company, and they lost their contract with your school, just one month before the end of the school year.
Out of nowhere, you must change the course of your life. You have a loving girlfriend to support you and other friends facing this alongside you, but ultimately you must make an extremely tough choice about your future.
This game is based on the real-life experiences of English teachers throughout Japan, on issues that tens of thousands of people endure every single year, and is designed to provide an up-close viewpoint of what the dispatch contract system does to the individuals impacted.

Live through real-life shock – You’re an English teacher in Japan, and suddenly, your life is turned upside-down. Experience the chaos of a last-second life meteor.
Make tough choices – End your relationship? Risk it all? There are no easy answers to how to face your future.
Exploration of underdiscussed issues – Tens of thousands of English teachers in Japan face the same problems every single year, and “Life of a Dispatch English Teacher in Japan” sheds light on these solvable issues to a mainstream audience.
A myriad of social issues – Job loss, foreign work visas, cross-country moves, same-sex marriage, adult loneliness–this game covers many different factors in a short time span.
Brisk story – Across all endings, the story runs about 6,000 words long, so a full playthrough should take thirty minutes or less.

Yuri Kissaten is a game studio that makes narrative-focused games about girls loving girls, founded in 2024 by Fruz and Beatrice Baker. We create experiences with strong stories and memorable characters. All Yuri Kissaten projects focus primarily on LGBTQ+ characters and their relationships, romantic and otherwise. We hope you enjoy our games!
This game was created thanks to:
Beatrice Baker, the beautiful director and writer.
Fruz, the captivating UI and background artist.
linguisticspaceship, the alluring programmer.
And this game couldn't have been possible if not for the incredible quality Creative Commons assets by character artist sutemo. Thank you so much.
Genres
Stats
Languages: English
Engagement
Reviews
Норм чё.
This is one of the best written games i have played, and one of few exeptions to the fact that most games dont make me feel genuine sadness no matter how sad they are. the was dispatch english teachers are treated isnt fair, and i wish i personally could do more about it. 10/10 please play this game!
[h1]#tinygamereviews[/h1] [code]seems well-researched and -written, though there're a lot of screens of top-to-bottom text. Interesting stories, though; teaching's seldom dull, no matter where you are.[/code] [list] [*][b][u]Overall Score[/u][/b]: 3/5 [/list] [hr][/hr] [h1][b]Curator: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42137521/]Nostalginauts[/url][/b][/h1]
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Concurrent players on Steam, sampled daily since tracking started.
Hours played at review time, across 26 reviews with recorded playtime.
I know people that have gone through situations like the ones outlined in the game and it really allowed me to see how hopeless it is when the system is set up to work against you. This isn't a happy story, but it's a necessary one to tell.
Honestly a heart-breaking game even though it's so short. It's awful what teachers have to live through. All the endings were tragic, but I guess that's how life is for some...
Игра "Life of a Dispatch English Teacher in Japan" предлагает интересную и, во многом, правдивую симуляцию жизни преподавателя английского языка по контракту в Японии. Юмор, встречающийся по ходу сюжета, в сочетании с неожиданными трудностями акклиматизации и культурными нюансами создают увлекательный игровой процесс. Приятно удивила возможность выбора между различными подходами к преподаванию и взаимодействию со студентами, что влияет на концовку. Графика, конечно, не шедевр, но она вполне функциональна и не отвлекает от основного. Главный плюс игры – погружение в атмосферу японской повседневности, от шумных улиц Токио до тихих сельских школ. Несмотря на определенные упрощения, игра хорошо передаёт ощущение жизни иностранца в Японии. Рекомендую тем, кто интересуется японской культурой, преподаванием или хочет испытать себя в роли экспата. Однако, стоит помнить, что это скорее развлекательная симуляция, чем абсолютно реалистичное отражение действительности.
Audience
Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.