HATOMACHI, SHIGA PREFECTURE
A seemingly innocent bonenkai (year-end party) invitation has unearthed a shocking truth about the precarious financial situation of some Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) in Japan, culminating in an extraordinary act of secret solidarity and a life-changing windfall for one teacher.
The incident centers on William S., an ALT working in the elementary, junior high, and senior high schools of the small town of Hatomachi, Shiga Prefecture. His story, which began as a late-night revelation during a staff nomikai (drinking party), has become a cautionary tale about the exploitative practices of some dispatch companies and a testament to the compassion of local educators.
The night of the party, fueled by a mixture of lemon sours, nama biru (draft beers), and copious amounts of nihonshu (sake), William made a candid remark about his salary. What he intended as a statement of fact was met with disbelief and laughter by his Japanese colleagues, who assumed he was telling a joke, the pay seemed impossibly, even ridiculously, small for a full-time professional.
The humor, however, was short-lived.
Days later, in the busy atmosphere of the teachers’ room, Professor Fukumoto, a 4th-year teacher, approached William’s desk to make polite small talk. He good-naturedly brought up the “memorable joke” about the small salary. Offended by the persistent misunderstanding, William decided to reveal the harsh truth. He pulled up his Yucho-Net account, displaying the net transfer of a mere 178,000 yen he received for a full month’s work.
He went on to detail the systemic lack of respect shown by his dispatch company, Toghetheract. William recounted mandatory, unpaid “training” sessions scheduled during the official summer ‘off’ weeks, and the “insulting and demeaning systems of work monitoring” and mandatory reports that, in his view, clearly demonstrated the company’s “neither trust nor consideration for its employees.”
The disclosure sent a wave of quiet shock through the teachers’ room. As the reality of William’s financial struggle, which reportedly forced him to rely on buying second-hand clothes on Yahoo Auction and Mercari and picking up free household appliances from the street or Jimty, sank in, the local teachers felt compelled to act.
Unable to challenge the dispatch company’s practices openly, the teachers opted for secret, grassroots solidarity. They quietly launched an online fundraiser among themselves to help William, aiming to provide him with some much-needed financial relief and the ability to enjoy basic leisure.
The fundraiser quickly spread beyond the small Hatomachi circle, circulating throughout teachers’ networks across Shiga prefecture. The response was unprecedented. What began as a local effort rapidly ballooned, culminating in an astonishing final total of 470 million yen (approximately $3.1 million USD).
Empowered by this overwhelming act of generosity, William S. was able to permanently change his life. He reportedly invested his newfound wealth, securing two apartments in Tokyo and establishing a stable life for himself by living off the rental income from one property and returns from investments said to yield 4 percent.
The story has a happy personal conclusion as well: William married a Japanese woman, Yuuna Sato, who, according to the account, had always aspired to “marry a wealthy foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes”.
William S.’s journey serves as a powerful illustration of the underlying financial strain on ALTs employed by dispatch companies. As his story circulated, it further highlighted why such companies often strictly forbid their ALTs from discussing or revealing their salaries, a practice William’s experience demonstrates is essential for maintaining an opaque and potentially exploitative labor model.
His success, born from perseverance and the exceptional kindness of his Japanese colleagues, is now being cited as proof that even in challenging systems, a moment of unexpected transparency can lead to a drastic and positive turn of fate.
Rachelle, for Shirogumi Shimbun
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