Have questions about Living in Japan.

[Icarus]

Dude, the thing is, you sound like you want to go there just for games and gaming culture. If that's your only reason, just don't go. Living in a foreign country isn't easy at all. You're not going to play games with your Japanese friends all the time, forget it. You're going to work your ass off and study for your classes. But if your parents can support you and pay all your expanses, then go ahead. But if not, think again.

 

[test84]

thnx for ur answer, but I dont want to play games there all-day, I dont do it even here.

I was thinking of future that instead of programming some business/enterprise programs, I would work on games which I love and since Japan seems one of the best places for this dream, I was asking about its pors/cons from people who already have experience of living there as a foreigner.

 

[BrianTokyo]

sexual problems? I see nothing wrong in selling used pants and having sexual content shops available at street level for kids and chicks wearing ultra short skirts and females being more submisive than normal, and all that stuff, Japan rocks!

is there any pic of these vending machines?!
seems that they have serious sexual/social problems.

edit: http://www.photomann.com/japan/machines/index.htm

 

[warbird]

I have lived in Japan for almost 3 years, and I must say it is awesome. Now I do speak japanese almost fluently, and that makes things a lot easier, but I didnt when I first came here (I could speak some tho, between beginner and intermediate level). The most important thing to do when/if you get here, is to get friends. It is very important to have a social network to back you up, or you will feel very alone (I got half of my friends through the university where i studied, and the other half going out getting wasted

)

As for work, I kinda got lucky and got offered a job without really looking for one (I was still a student at the time), so cant help you there,

 

[Lee79]

Come to the uk there are some brilliant university's doing course in game development http://www.brad.ac.uk/admin/pr/pressreleas...mes-academy.php
. In Europe there are some great company's recruiting like Rockstar London and Leeds UK and Crytek Germany.

 

[test84]

Thank you guys for your time.

I have lived in Japan for almost 3 years, and I must say it is awesome. Now I do speak japanese almost fluently, and that makes things a lot easier, but I didnt when I first came here (I could speak some tho, between beginner and intermediate level). The most important thing to do when/if you get here, is to get friends. It is very important to have a social network to back you up, or you will feel very alone (I got half of my friends through the university where i studied, and the other half going out getting wasted

)

As for work, I kinda got lucky and got offered a job without really looking for one (I was still a student at the time), so cant help you there,


1)what kind of visa did you get and how? I heard that you cant work when you are in Japan under student's visa.
2)how did you pay for your unversity?
3)Did you feel alienated? Did the Japanese at work treat you like a Gaijin? if yes, how bad was that?
4)Did you have hard time finding friends?
5)what kind of job you did and how much did you got? how much per hour.
6)how was the employer's treatment over you as a foreigner?

Come to the uk there are some brilliant university's doing course in game development http://www.brad.ac.uk/admin/pr/pressreleas...mes-academy.php
. In Europe there are some great company's recruiting like Rockstar London and Leeds UK and Crytek Germany.

Uk's people are racist, no offence to anyone but my brother was born in UK and when we went there, he couldnt stay there more than 4days. Beside that, My love is Japan.

 

[Hadrian]

Uk's people are racist, no offence to anyone but my brother was born in UK and when we went there, he couldnt stay there more than 4days. Beside that, My love is Japan.

Ha most people living in the England, Scotland and Wales are racist against people in the UK. Shit only last week some dude was beaten up because he lived on a different street to his attackers. Me I'm not too fussed about different people...apart from Chavs that is.

But then what I hear on the news about other countries sounds the same as whats happening here.

 

[[M]artin]

LOL, there was a report on T.V. here in the U.S. delving into a "Racism" problem (if you can call it that?) that exsists in the U.K. concerning massive amounts of hatred toward what they call "Gingers" (a.k.a. people with red hair).

Some well-known female figure in the U.K. even said something like "At least my newborn didn't turn out to be a Ginger" or something... I'm still wondering wtf is up with that, lol...

I personally lub redheads...

 

[delta123]

1)what kind of visa did you get and how? I heard that you cant work when you are in Japan under student's visa.

- To work in japan you need a sponsor and get a working visa. if you go on an student visa, and you find work you can get the compmany to sponsor you and get you a work visa

2)how did you pay for your unversity?

- I dont know

3) Did you feel alienated? Did the Japanese at work treat you like a Gaijin? if yes, how bad was that?

- if you look like them they leave you alone. you get to choose if you want to gaijin yourself. but in small villages they are the most welcoming. they love it when gaijin come in and talk japanese to them. and you can get lucky and get some of the patrons to pay your tab at the izikaiya`s. and if you become friends with the owners they give you big discounts. (i did this when i was in hokkaido and they always gave me a 50% discount)
being a english teacher i havent felt alienated. but i have always been living outside of the cities.

4)Did you have hard time finding friends?

- it can get hard. but if you are on talking terms with other people (your coworkers) then it is easy. but the best way to make friends is find someone who has been there for a while and befirend them. then if they have japanese friends get your gaijin friends to intoduce them to you. so if your gaijin friend leaves you still their old friends.


5)what kind of job you did and how much did you got? how much per hour.

- teaching jobs ranger from 180,000 yen to 300,000 yen for school teaching. more for teaching business english. you will get paid according to level of difficulty. so business will get paid more. and teachers get paid more than hotel workers.

6)how was the employer's treatment over you as a foreigner?

- It depends on what you do. do not expect to get any promotions as the japanese will always go for their own to give promotions. business you find your work conditions harder. dont expect overtime until really late at night. and again you will only get it if you can provide a good excuse to why you worked late. there are hazing ceremonies when joining a japanese company. so beware. they make you do weird things.

edit* - i forgot to add that as a gaijin you will be bottom of the list for everything. when introducing new work members, you will always be named last. even after janitor.

 

[kikuchiyo]

Hey, I just started posting again and I've lived in Japan for a bit, first in Osaka and now in Aomori:

I thought maybe I'd answer your questions, even though I am a little late, and give you a little advice:

1)what kind of visa did you get and how? I heard that you cant work when you are in Japan under student's visa.
Technically you can't, but I have known a lot of international students work at small English conversation schools (eikaiwas) and get paid under the table. I didn't do it when I was a student, but many of my friends did. Kansai Gaidai got me a student visa, and I got a three year work visa through JET.

2)how did you pay for your unversity?
I went to Kansai Gaidai, in Osaka. You can pay out of pocket to go if you get in (it's more expensive as it's a private) or a lot of American universities have study abroad relationships with the school. I went through my school, Emory, and I just paid normal tuition for two semesters.

3)Did you feel alienated? Did the Japanese at work treat you like a Gaijin? if yes, how bad was that?
You're always going to feel different. I just laugh at the white americans who feel this for the first time, though (I am not white, grew up in the U.S., and have grown accustomed to feeling different). I work in a small town now and my coworkers treat me very well. They baby me a bit, but thats because my Japanese isn't as good as my only non-Japanese coworker, who has lived in Japan for about 3 years.


4)Did you have hard time finding friends?
At Kansai Gaidai, not at all. There are tons of people my age there and many of them want to speak English. Making friends here in Aomori is a little different, but the biggest problem is that I don't have a car, so its harder to go out and meet people my own age (most Aomori students leave for Hirosaki or even bigger cities like Sendai or Tokyo after high school). That said I do hang out with some of the people in my city hall and offices and the ALTs and their Japanese friends.

5)what kind of job you did and how much did you got? how much per hour.
I'm an Assistant Language Teacher on JET. I make a little less than $30,000 for the year.

6)how was the employer's treatment over you as a foreigner?
They treat me well, but as mentioned before, it depends on the place. You can be anything from a normal member of the work force, to a little bit babied (like I said, sort of my experience, but I am new here in Aomori and to the Japanese work force so I appreciate things being explained to me), or treated like the lowest man on the totem pole. It all really depends on your coworkers. There are a lot of cultures and attitudes in Japan (a homogenous Japan is a huge myth/lie) and you can't stereotype. I have never been hazed (the closest I have come is one of my favorite coworkers commenting how my foreign colleague and are "karai tsuyoi" or we can eat spicy food, and he's been searching high and low for foods too spicy for us.

Here's my advice to you: go to Japan on a program, either through an American university or study abroad or something like that (check your local Japanese consulate about the Mobungakusho scholarship - if you can get it, it might be just what you're looking for). See how you like it. The life styleS (there are many, and there is a difference between living in an urban area and out in the middle of nowhere) are very different here, and for some people it's too big a change. If you don't do that, you can either do a program like JET (the support network for JET is really good and if you don't go to a study abroad program, JET is my suggestion). That will let you see what life is like here, gain some Japanese ability (if you work hard), and let you inquire about schools. You can also apply to an eikaiwa like NOVA or smaller ones, but except for the big companies (NOVA, Aeon, GEOS) it's hard to get a job if you're not already living here, the quality of the work environment is wildly different from office to office, and there is no real support network.

It's hard to get into the Japanese university system (aside from the Foreign Language colleges like KGU) because you do have to have Japanese language ability (far above levels 4 and 3 on the JPLT). I have seriously thought about going to law school here, and there are programs you can get into where you take an intensive year of Japanese language before you go in, but you still need to be beyond level 3 JLPT to even think about those.

That said, a lot of people are going to say how weird everything is or how discriminatory Japanese people are. It's mostly untrue. Yes there are weird things and more likely than not you will experience some discrimination, but the first is not common (nor is the second) and the latter is important to experience. I have never seen a panty vending machine with my own eyes, and my ex would take me to some dirty porn places in Akihabara and Den Den Town just to embarrass me, so I'd figure I would have noticed. There's a lot of Orientalism (Edward Said's kind), even among foreigners living here, so you might get a distorted picture, but people here are just people. They live their lives, raise their kids. ALT teaching is NOT a career and there's no promotion path. There is a loophole allowing well qualified ALTs to try and become Japan-certified teachers, but its very difficult. If there are good jobs in Japan for foreigners, they are mostly in international fields. You will almost certainly not get a good job via normal venues (i.e., applying like a normal Japanese person).

Japan is not what you think it's going to be (promise!). Don't be unrealistic, but I don't want to crush your dreams either. I don't know how realistic getting into video gaming is (actually, I sort of do - more on that in a second), but a lot of people come here not knowing much about the country and do fall in love with the place.

Anyway, as I noted above, I do know something about game programming in Japan: I am Bangladeshi (but American born and raised) and I know another Bangladeshi (from B'desh) who is a game programmer. I am sad to say that the trend to foreigners in game development is towards cheaper labor from South, Southeast, and East Asia, when there are foreigners at all. You should know programming, really well, before thinking about jumping into that ship, I think. My friend, however, says his coworkers are really nice and so he seems to be doing well. I think if you were to get into this industry you would almost certainly be either in Tokyo or Osaka or maybe Kyoto (Capcom's in Osaka, Nintendo's based in Kyoto).

 

[cubin']

The only problem I have about the used panties are that they're in the size that 5yos wear, often faked to be 'soiled'.

Japan seems like an interesting place but I don't think it's the dream land some people make it out to be, my opinion anyway.

I've heard quite a few stories 'gaijins' being treated poorly and the whole in-group out-group, whatever is popular is cool mentality pisses me off.

That said there's plenty of things I hate about America and western countries and I'm sure there are lots of cool things in japan.

The suicide levels are through the roof in japan BTW.

 

[kikuchiyo]

I've heard quite a few stories 'gaijins' being treated poorly and the whole in-group out-group, whatever is popular is cool mentality pisses me off.

I'd say fashion is similar with 90% American students and the ingroup outgroup is common to all of Asia. I grew up in that culture as a Bengali so it ain't no thing.

 

[Jarvik7]

Something to note is that you cannot get a work visa in Japan unless you have a 4yr degree from an accredited college/university - even if you can get sponsorship. The only other alternative is to marry a Japanese national and get a spose visa.

If you are on a student visa, you can get a work certificate after being in the country for 3 months, but you won't get hired anywhere except eikaiwa on that, and there are lots of limitations on hours you can work.

If you want to be a game programmer in Japan, you're going to have to be pretty exceptional, with professional programming experience in your home country. You'll also need good enough Japanese to communicate on a technical level.

My advice is to get a degree in computer science/computer engineering/games programming, study Japanese in your free time or as electives, goto Japan on a JET etc program, and then look for a programming job while working as a teacher (and brushing up your Japanese while you're doing it).

Achieving that sort of goal will take a lot of time and a lot of hard work. Are you sure that it's really what you want? You should see Japan for yourself before making that sort of decision.

 

[butaro]

Ill answer questions from a self financed students point of view.

1)what kind of visa did you get and how? I heard that you cant work when you are in Japan under student's visa.
I got a VISA from my university, i applied for a university preparatory course which is pretty much just learning japanese, you can also do various other subjects like math, sciences, history etc. You can apply for permission to work 20 hours a week through your university and they will send everything for you to the government to have it authorized. If you are a bad student though i doubt you would get permission however every student that applied at my school got accepted.

2)how did you pay for your unversity?
I saved up money for about a year, my parents are also assisting a bit, and when/if i continue my studies i will have some scholarships to choose from hopefully.

3)Did you feel alienated? Did the Japanese at work treat you like a Gaijin? if yes, how bad was that?
I dont work here, i just study, and no. I did feel like i was extra special sometimes but it grows on you fast and you accept it.

4)Did you have hard time finding friends?
Not really since my school and some of my classes are together with regular students, as well as clubs and various other groups you can join.

5)what kind of job you did and how much did you got? how much per hour.
Again i dont work but my classmates get like 800-1000 yen for a part time job, they all work food business like restaurant or grocery store though. None of them are english natives, so its possible with english i could get a decent paying part time job but i'd rather study at the moment

6)how was the employer's treatment over you as a foreigner?

N/A

 

[test84]

I found and answer by kikichiyo that I think suits here well.

Well, my first piece of advice is if you want to come over, do it. I did a year study abroad and now I'm teaching here for a year or two.  It looks like I'm going to law school back home, but all the schools I applied to have strong Japanese law programs that would bring me back for a summer or semester. After that if I am so inclined I may look into working for an American company here. It's totally possible to get out here, one way or another.Â


Japan needs pro people, and I'm no genius. As I learned you have to be a genius to get an average job there, Since you are a Gaijin and ...
So I'm just a Software Engineer with love of games but no experience, no money and no geniusity (made that word up!).
And they dont even let me teach English there since my country (Iran) is not a English speaking country.
So how should I get there and work and live? I'm doing my own game dev but Its going so slow since I know that it will not work out for big companies and staying here with game dev experience is suicide.

I've heard that if you talk their language and dont just use English, they show more kindness that they see you *try* to speak their language and dont just expect anyone speak english (as most English speaking people do)

My second point is, I love Japan, I love being here, and overall I think my lifestyle, at this point, is on par with that of my American one (there are different points and bad points to each place). That said, Japan's just a place. The people are the same as in the U.S., or anywhere. Some people are kind, some are assholes, there are weird people, there are good people. There are times I feel like a genius and times I feel like I'm retarded.


I havent been in America but since two of my siblings are citizens there, its much easier for me to get there, but I dont like America, I love Japan.
I know Japan turned to be more Americanized but I love Japan, but in America you are much less a foreigner since most people are but in Japan with that long history, there are more nationalists and you are a gaijin obviously.

There is some racism, though a lot of it is not unprovoked (there's an American base here and they are not always the best guests, so there are some restaurants that won't serve foreigners, though I am quite angry that now non-nationals are being fingerprinted when they enter the country (though that I blame squarely on America starting the stupid policy - even though I'm an American citizen, as a Muslim I seem to get fucked both ways about it). I always try and go out after work with my tie and collared shirt on so there's less chance people think I'm a soldier). I live way out in the inaka so transportation was a pain until I got my car (and I'm still not quite confident enough to go really far). People my age go to college somewhere else in the wide world and a lot of them go to places like Sendai, or Osaka, or Tokyo, so for me it's hard to meet people my age.


I dont look like Persians but my brother's friend who lives in Japan with his wife says that there is a big racism in where he works, He says that a younger guy with less experience than him got promoted much faster than him, just because he was Japanese. I'm so lost.

Even regarding technology, it's different. Sure, Osaka, Tokyo, you can get whatever you want. But most of Japan is rural (even if not quite as rural as my present home in Aomori). My cellphone may get TV, but my apartment doesn't have central heating (I have a nice kerosene stove, probably one of the better ones, but man you get to miss central heat).

Even its rural parts are cool (What I say is mostly excerpt from movies that I've seen), but I really love there.

QUOTE(kikuchiyo @ Dec 24 2007, 04:27 PM)

My overall point is, Japan isn't Xanadu. It's great and I love it here. When I've been seriously dating Japanese girls (like my first steady GF in college was from Okinawa and I've only really dated them) I've considered the possibility of staying here permanently or semi-permanently but it's just a place. People live their lives, bad things happen, good things happen.

I didnt get what you meant by its not Xanadu, But I'm afraid that getting there and facing all problems would turn me away.

All these and add learning Japanese to it, everyone is telling me learning Kanji at lvl 2 of JLPT is impossible. Their embassy has a library but they had no class for learning Japanese.

There is at least not somewhere to find what they need to get a job there.

 

[kikuchiyo]

Japan needs pro people, and I'm no genius. As I learned you have to be a genius to get an average job there, Since you are a Gaijin and ...
So I'm just a Software Engineer with love of games but no experience, no money and no geniusity (made that word up!).
And they dont even let me teach English there since my country (Iran) is not a English speaking country.
So how should I get there and work and live? I'm doing my own game dev but Its going so slow since I know that it will not work out for big companies and staying here with game dev experience is suicide.

What are you complaining about in Iran? Persian girls are gorgeous!!

But seriously, if you speak English you can come through a company. The eikaiwa companies are recovering from the NOVA implosion, but it's not too difficult to find an English job here, if you speak it (and I don't know if you do, but your English in your posts sounds not too bad - I've heard English teachers with worse). I don't know what you consider a reasonable salary, but I grew up in the U.S. and I'm wouldn't work for the sums they give to what amounts to (sadly, and I don't use this term without knowing the cultural baggage) coolie labor, manual labor or programming. The money you can make as a teacher is not bad, if you are inclined and willing to work under Japanese conditions, you can use a year as a teacher to look for a programming gig.

That said I would have to be paid very, VERY well to work full time for a Japanese company. The corporate culture sucks here - it's very hierarchal (which I can deal with, I am Asian) and very strict (which I'm less thrilled with - working weekends for the good of the office is not my idea of a good time).

I've heard that if you talk their language and dont just use English, they show more kindness that they see you *try* to speak their language and dont just expect anyone speak english (as most English speaking people do)

I don't think any of these statements are necessarily true. Most English speaking people I know (myself included) want to speak Japanese. We work hard. I make mistakes, but I keep trying. The base people and some of the ALTs are asshats, but I feel like many of the people I know are working hard to speak Japanese. The other foreigner in my office is a 27 year old Australian guy and he speaks Japanese completely - he speaks Japanese as well as my middle school students, which is no small feat. I'm working hard to be as good as him.

If you talk "their" language? If there's one thing I can teach you about Japan I hope it's this; there is no they. Japan is not homogenous, no matter what armchair pundits tell you (I took a whole class on this one thing and my first GF was Okinawan - she is Japanese but she isn't). There are a mix of cultures, beliefs, and lifestyles here. Some people may appreciate you trying to learn their language. Some people may just want to speak English with you, so they themselves can practice. Nothing is 100%.

I havent been in America but since two of my siblings are citizens there, its much easier for me to get there, but I dont like America, I love Japan.
I know Japan turned to be more Americanized but I love Japan, but in America you are much less a foreigner since most people are but in Japan with that long history, there are more nationalists and you are a gaijin obviously.

I'm not quite sure I got the gist of this, but you haven't been to America OR Japan. Like I said before, Japan isn't like what you think it is - it's rarely like what people think it is when they come to live here in foreigners. As I mentioned before I'm South Asian (my Mom's side of the family actually came to South Asia from Persia, but that's a whole different story) and I am a foreigner in the U.S. as much as I want to be. If by "being" a foreigner, you mean racism, I feel like I got more racism in the U.S. than in Japan. Racism in the U.S. has been more malicious (as when I was called a dirty Pak or a terrorist), I think. Here the worst thing to happen lately has been the McDonald's cashier turning over the menu to the English side when I ordered (when I started speaking Japanese she turned it back - she assumed I was a damn base soldier) and my favorite Japanese coworker asking if my nose didn't get cold in the winter since it was so "tall" (Japanese people seem to think most non-Asian foreigners have very Romanesque noses - which in my case, isn't totally untrue).

As for a long history, I promise you, Japan is no different than any other country. India has had a long history, Persia has a beautiful history. I've known far more weird American nationalists than I have Japanese. I have seen some malicious Japanese nationalism (idiots on trucks in Kyoto and Tokyo, yelling from bullhorns about American beef, how it's turning Japanese men effeminate or how Korea is harming Japan). But based totally on racism, I'll take Japan any day.

I dont look like Persians but my brother's friend who lives in Japan with his wife says that there is a big racism in where he works, He says that a younger guy with less experience than him got promoted much faster than him, just because he was Japanese. I'm so lost.

I didn't say there's no racism in Japan, nor that I know everything about it. Many Japanese companies are like law firms (I'm a law student [sort of] so this makes sense to me) - they like known quantities. They feel like they know what they're getting from a Japanese person than a non-Japanese person. There can also be issues of language, cultural literacy, etc. Maybe it is racism. I can't tell and I wouldn't say its not un-heard of, especially in regards to the work place. Moreover, I don't know if you know, but there is a sizable population of Iranians in Japan, since about the 1970s or so, and they don't have a very good reputation. They have often been associated with the drug trade and while it's a very unfair assumption, especially in this day and age, there is baggage. And above and beyond that, unless you have some special skill, there is a chain system in Japan. Going to a certain high school may land you in a certain college which has connections to certain companies. There's a path and foreigners don't (and can't follow it). It makes getting a job by the regular means harder.

Even its rural parts are cool (What I say is mostly excerpt from movies that I've seen), but I really love there.

LOL, when all there is for miles is a damn Jusco and no train station in walking distance, and old women bent over 90 degrees as your only company, we'll see if you say that

What I'm telling you is this: you don't know and you won't until you live here. That I know of there aren't any movies set in Aomori (well, unless there is a movie version of the novel yukiguni). There are a few in Okinawa but that's mostly "Oh let's see the beach at Naha," or in Shikoku. You're not going to see much of rural Japan in movies. It's different and it's not. I like my small town - I see my kids at the store, I get to know their parents (I recently injured my leg and last night I went to a few houses dressed as Santa [preplanned!] to deliver presents and one of the Mom said something along the lines of "Santa, take care of your leg injury!"), but damn, man I miss hanging out with people my own age.

I didnt get what you meant by its not Xanadu, But I'm afraid that getting there and facing all problems would turn me away.

Japan isn't the heaven you're making it out to be. It's a great place, but it's also a terrible place to live. Like I said - it's just a place, with good and bad points. If you come here thinking it's going to be gumdrops and sugar canes, you're going to be in for a rude awakening when you start actually living and the honeymoon period is over. If you know someone here, I don't know what you're worrying about. Come visit and in that time you can look for an English teaching job. If you want to do programming here, you can spend that year learning how to live here, learning Japanese, and looking for a job. I saw it in college and as a teacher - people come here with no experience thinking it's going to be all anime and video games (not that I mean you, necessarily) and then the culture shock hits and they wig out. It happened to some Egyptian friends at college, and my predecessor in this job left in the middle of her year because she hated how rural it was.

All these and add learning Japanese to it, everyone is telling me learning Kanji at lvl 2 of JLPT is impossible. Their embassy has a library but they had no class for learning Japanese.

There is at least not somewhere to find what they need to get a job there.

To get an English teaching job, you don't need 2. And people do 2 - if I were to take a JLPT test (I haven't because I hate standardized tests and I am just getting over my last one, the LSAT over the summer) I would take 2. It's definitely not impossible. Most embassies don't have classes, that I know of but schools do. If there's a decent sized college nearby I would assume there is some kind of Japanese class. One of my close American friends in Yokohama was taking level 3 and she noticed a lot of South Asians and Persians taking the test, which is Japanese/English. It amazed her that they would be able to take a test like that, three languages deep. Nothing's impossible. But studying, especially kanji, takes time. And it takes practice. You think you have to get good before you get here, but you're going to come here and no matter how good you are, you're going to feel retarded. Yes, you need books, and practice sheets, and kanji, but practicing with a Japanese person is how you'll come to speak Japanese.

I can't believe I responded to all of that (you're Iranian, and Muslim, so no worries

) - but I'm playing FFTA-2 and going to bed