How is it like working in Japan?

Question

Anybody with an experience working in Japan, care to share some of your stories?

1. people
2. office environment
3. clients
4. any weird cultural stuff that foreigners should know about?
5. discrimination issues?
6. food
7. living standard
8. average salary

etc

btw, I got a job offer in Tokyo.

just wondering how they treat women there?

i heard there's a mandatory group get-together to bars every week or something... and u can't get out of it...

and what's up with Welcoming party (they told me they will hold one for me when I arrived)?
I don't even speak Japanese and I feel very unconfortable...

Answer 1

I'd say working in Japan is tough but it is a good experience.

The people are kind but are also very hard working.
The office enviornment is very professional.
I am an English teacher. I'd say most of my students were there because they really wanted to learn.
You'll figure out the culture stuff along the way. Buy a book ahead of time to learn about Japan.
Foreigners in Japan will always be discrimated against but it will rarely be acted out and the government won't do anything about it.
The food is excellent.
Tokyo is expensive but if your company helps you with your apartment, then you should be fine.
The average salary for an English teacher is good enough to live on and even enough to save some money.

Answer 2

I am an intra company transferee from San Jose, CA working for a very large Japanese/world wide company. I have beein working in Japan for 3.5 years. I am not a junior empoyee. Expect a roller coaster ride. There will be som ebad days that are made worse when you start to miss your home/famiy/friends or things you wish you had iin Japan. The Japanese work environment will get to you and you will get frustrated. This is a when and not if if thing.

1. people - Everyon eis different, but all is good.
2. office environment - Depends, I work in engineering, we have large desks because we sometimes need the space for testing and developement. Overtime, meetings, will kill you.
3. clients - I work in engineering, so I have to travel to my clients.
4. any weird cultural stuff that foreigners should know about? This is a wide open question, but I can try and sum it up. Yes meand I heard, you, no means no. Meetings about meetings to tell you they already decided behind your back. Meetings to confirm what you already know. Meetings to confirm what you alredy don't know. Meetings that drive you into overtime everyday even Friday nights up to the last train.
5. discrimination issues? - None, but contractually you can be limited to a certain scope of work. In general, if I wanted to try to go and work for the semi conductor group the comapny could legally say no because I was hired on a contract with specific limitations. I have other gaijin freinds who feel this is a form of discrimination.
6. food - good, smaller portions. everything is here, but is usually not the same as back home. I do miss the freedom of going out to lunch. We have to eat at the company cafeteria. We have plenty of choices, but every once in a while I wanna go out to someplace off campus with some co workers.
7. living standard - good, but less space. Also depends on your budget.
8. average salary - depends on you. but comparable to the equivalent pay grades of the same position in the USA. compensation packages could have some differences.

Answer 3

I worked in a traditional 100% Japanese Import / Export company for a year and worked in a UK Based IT company for 2 years. Both in Tokyo.

1.
Import / Export - Friendly in a Japanese sort of way. Was invited to go drinking almost everynight of the week. (Although I didn't go much) Very strict about the way you present yourself. (ie: Clothes, posture, hair, nails, shoes...etc). Oh and EVERYONE was Japanese in this company BTW so very strict on age differences and showing respect to people who are older than you. (Even if it's only a year)

IT Company - Nationality was diverse. Many people from Australia / New Z / US / UK. Everyone was very casual and laid back. Friendly in a western sorta way. Went out drinking from time to time but it was more like a friendship rather than work related. Work style was also diverse and nobody really gave you a hard time about the way you dress as long as it was approriate. (ie: No jeans and T-shirt but a cotton shirt with collars and slacks was good enough)

2. I'm guessing you mean office atmosphere?
The 1st answer should cover that.

3.
THis one is hard because it depends on the personality of each client. Some will give you slack, others will bite your head off if you make a mistake. But most of the time, Japanese clients are very strict and expect a very high level of service. Giving them what they ask for is not enough, you have to give them what they ask for and then some to make a positive impression. Also many will expect you to be on call 24/7. So they will call you at all hours when they run into problems. At least they called me whenever they liked. "I'm sorry I'm on my day off today." is not an answer they will respect and listen to.

4.
Working in a Japanese company will be very hard for a foreigner. Japanese are hard workers and sometimes it goes over the limit. As someone said in a past post, peer pressure is intense in a Japanese working society so even if you're done with the days job and ready to leave the office at 5:00PM most people will stay an hour or two so as not to give a bad impression to the others who have things to do. (WHich I think is nonsense but it's just how it is. So I saw many people staying after 5:00 and playing solitare on their PC just to kill time until the clock struck 6 or 7.

5. I'm not sure about this one, but again generally speaking Japanese companies will not hire non-Japanese people. Many reasons to this like not having a working visa and language issues and cultural issues. Some people call it racism, some call it just business.
Also, many Japanese will be apprehensive if their sales rep was a non-Japanese. Unless of course they were working with a multi national company as I was where they'd expect a non-Japanese person to come and talk to them.

6. I had many non-Japanese friends in Japan and they didn't have nay problems with food. It's not like ALL the restaurants serve Japanese food. There are Italian restaurants where they serve pasta and pizza, there's mexican restaurants that serve chimi-changas and burritos (FYI there's an El Torito in Tokyo.), there are many American restaurants as well (There's a TGIFridays in Tokyo above the El Torito), they also have Outbacks steakhouse and a Starbucks on every street corner so food is not a big issue in Japan, especially in Tokyo.

7.
Rent in Tokyo will be anything from 60000Yen to 200,000 yen depending on location / distance to the nearest train station / size of the room and when the apartment was built.
Also an "apartment" usually means a building that's no higher than 3 stories anything better and "taller" than that is refered to as a "mansion". So don't get your hopes up if a company tells you they will get you settled into a "manshion" when you get there. They're not talking about a fairly large house with maids and jacuzzis.

8. Average salary is a bit hard because this will depend on the experience / age / education / industry. But I would say the average for a 25 year old who has a couple of years of work under his belt and graduated a 4 year college would get something from 22,000 yen to 30,000 yen a month. Bonus will depend on the company (some companies give annual bonuses while other give none) but I'd say 2 months worth of their monthly salary would be reasonable.

Hope that helps.

Answer 4

Before you go, I think you should read the book, "Dave Barry Does Japan". It is hilariously funny. On the other hand, maybe you should go over there for a while first, and then read it. It will likely then be twice as funny. It begins with him attempting to learn to speak Japanese while on the flight over there, by reading the book "Japanese at a Glance" and continues from there. Alas, he is unable to learn much Japanese, and he concludes that the best way to learn Japanese is to be born in Japan and raised by a Japanese family. Good luck.

Answer 5

1. people

- Everyone's different... Japanese have a reputation for sometimes being not so outspoken and direct (something to be careful of) - then again, if you're not Japanese in way shape or form, you can probably get away with being pretty direct.

2. office environment

- Usually pretty tidy, expect to be doing extra little bits 'n pieces around the place (like water pot plants, sweep a bit etc).. This is very usual in Japan, to always give the impression of 'busy-ness'

3. clients

- Depends whether your clientele are foreign or Japanese

4. any weird cultural stuff that foreigners should know about?

- Weird... Well, any new culture can have it's weird bits (upon first impression)... So long as you're polite and respectful (especially to those 'above' you) i'm sure you'll be fine.

- Oh, most work places and homes will mostly have shoes off areas (where you'd remove your shoes and put slippers on - provided there already in most cases) make sure you adhere to this!! Don't insist on leaving shoes on !!

5. discrimination issues?

- 'Foreigners' in Japan have on many occasions behaved like real idiots in the work place (like teaching stupid things to their students that they shouldn't be, dating their students, behaving like biggots in public etc) In any culture, I'm sure, if you respect tradtions, and perhaps even try to use a bit of Japanese, they'll like you and have no worries...

- You'll probably be quite aware of the stares you get in public, but it's best to take it as a compliment, don't let it get to you!!

6. food

- Very hygenic (if that's what you're worried about- often people put Japan in the same box as, say China)

- Delicious, heaps of variety for local foods, fast food like McDonalds if you're not so game to try new things..!!

7. living standard

- Japan tends to be quite expensive to live.. However, often employers have perks on offer (to keep you in the company for as long as possible) such as some living allowance, travel etc..

(Make sure you suss all this out with your employer before accepting anything - last thing you want is to be just getting by and not being able to save..)

- If you're going alone, you'll most likely live in a one-room apartment.. They tend to be pretty compact!!

- There's always share houses listed on local english newsletters and magazines

8. average salary

- Depends what you'll be doing... If it's English teaching, around 260,000 yen and above per month.

Enjoy your stay in Japan, you'll have a ball.

B.

XX

Answer 6

It is a great place!

1. people are friendly
2. the office is very clean
3. clients are friendly
4. It is very modern
5. No race issue
6. great food
7. comfortable
8. depends on your job