In this paper, Japanese teachers' experiences under the new communicative course of study guidelines that became fully implemented in April 2016 in the new Japanese high school English Language curriculum, "Communicative Course of Study Guidelines" are examined. The study explored 21 high school teachers from a variety of schools, and with experience ranging from those who have just begun teaching to those who are reaching the end of their careers. It analysed their proficiency and confidence in teaching various skills, the workplace pressures that shaped their pedagogy within the new curriculum guidelines, and whether their implementation of the new curriculum was achieved. Results show that even though there is a willingness among newer teachers to implement communicative approaches within the high school English classroom, the workplace hierarchy and the culture of "senpai-kohai" (senior-junior) influenced the approaches they used within the classroom regardless of what the new curriculum sets out to achieve.