I'm preparing to seek a job in Japan: Who do I call?

[johnnyG]

Since you have a pretty fair amount of experience there, I'd think the obvious thing would be to use your connections to hook up with someone there who is planning to produce something about Japan. A news outfit, Discovery, National Geographic, etc. It'd probably be contract or project-based, but also might open some doors.

 

[MilesOfSmiles]

sorry if my wording was confusing, I meant to use teaching as an example of a field where being a foreigner/native english speaker was an asset, and unlike those fields, you'd be competing against native Japanese applicants for jobs in the film industry.

Oh thank you, I see.

 

[MilesOfSmiles]

Since you have a pretty fair amount of experience there, I'd think the obvious thing would be to use your connections to hook up with someone there who is planning to produce something about Japan. A news outfit, Discovery, National Geographic, etc. It'd probably be contract or project-based, but also might open some doors.

Thank you, I think this is another good idea. I appreciate your input.

 

[MilesOfSmiles]

Doing what exactly?

This is incredibly important information. I don't know why you didn't say this up front. Still, what exactly does that mean you did? Hold the mike? Grip? Clapboard? Anime drawing? "Video production and post-production experience" are far too general terms, especially for people like us who are not in the business.

I appologize, I had thought less information would be better for laypersons. I have worked in almost all aspects of production, but editing is my speciality (I have the editors gut). Because of my location (Far from New York and LA), most of my projects have been small, not large productions. And these have mostly been commericial projects, not entertainment.

I asked "why Japan", and your answer was:
As to why, I have had an interest in Japan, it's people, history and culture since childhood. I have a few Japanese friends who I adore, I like they way they think.

I meant why do you want to live and work here? With your current experience, what's not open to you where you live compared to here?

I'm not sure I want to ultimately, I have an intuitive feeling that I would be well suited to it. Perhaps not. However, I am ambitious. I know that if I don't start working toward this possibility now, I may never get to try, and I at least want to have tried. Anything I have done in life I always assumed it would work, if I didn't I wouldn't have the motivation to follow through.

Depending on what sort of work you will end up doing here, you might qualify for one of 2 types of work visas -- engineering or specialist in humanities. For the former, ten years of experience directly related to your field may be sufficient to get the visa without a degree. That means 10 years of related work, or 10 years combination of some college studying plus work. ("College degree" is all immigration states, by the way. It doesn't matter if it's 4 years, 3 years, or whatever, as long as it's a bachelor's degree.) You might also consider getting a trainee/internship visa to test the waters.

Here's the visa (COE) application form: http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001130090.pdf
Go to this page 日本法令外国語訳データベースシステム - [法令本文表示] - 出入国管理及び難民認定法第七条第一項第二号の基準を定める省令 and change the menu box in the top right to read 英語, then click 表示. to see in English all the requirements for visas. Most are listed.

Thank you for this information, I get mixed answers when I have asked about being admitted into Japan on a work Visa without the Bachelor's degree. So I suppose there is an exception if your employer really wants to hire you and it would be worth the trouble of sponsorship?

Yes. it is. Most English teaching jobs here go to Americans, followed by Brits. But despite the technology that you might think exists here, most employers for teaching jobs will not do an interview via Skype. So, unless you find those, you'll have to be here to take part in the hiring process. Even if you apply to some places (the bigger eikaiwa, for example) that have offices in your country, you have to abide by their hiring schedules and locations, which may mean spending 1-3 days far from your home out of your own pocket.

All JET does is provide ALT positions. Whether an employer in another country sees that as important for non-teaching work is up to them. The best that I an imagine is that they will favor someone who has survived living abroad and gained some measure of Japanese culture, as long as that suits their business needs. How much Japanese you also learn will help if they want that, too. Otherwise, unless the employer is in the teaching industry, doing JET will probably not serve you well at all (unless someone sees that merely as being ambitious).

The idea behind starting with JET (assuming I like the experience of being in Japan when I visit next year,) is that I would have a chance to absorb more Japanese culture before entering a more demanding job. I don't want to be the "nasty houseguest" that comes to Japan with stars in his eyes, becomes disillusioned because he wasn't prepared for reality, and then unloads a lot of unprovoked vitriol about the Japanese onto YouTube, etc. That seems to happen a lot and I cringe when I find such stories.

When are you planning to come here and visit?

Next fall. It is a business trip with my current company and an opportunity to explore a bit.

 

[MilesOfSmiles]

You need a degree from an accredited four year college or university to qualify for a work visa. You can save money by starting in a community college.

It seems specificity (something I have not always embraced) is the most important aspect of pursuing a career dream which involves Japan.

I want to do this the right way, no cut corners, no sloppy non-plans. Here is what the current thoughts look like...

1) Get a BA in Media from my State college (save money / continue building portfolio of work to wow potential employers.)
2) Work hard on Japanese reading / writing to pass N1 or N2 Japanese Language Proficiency Test.
3) Choose a specific production role (like editing) that I will attempt to be hired for in Japan.
4) After getting BA, apply directly to the company and job I have chosen in Japan (maybe having to travel there to interview on my dime.)
5) Get hired, upon which hiring company works with immigration bureau to secure my Visa.
or....
5) Can't get work in Japan, so I get the job I want "somewhere". lol

Thanks again for all your help everyone, this has been an enlightening discussion for me.

Feel free to continue to comment (like I need to say that.)

 

[Glenski]

I had thought less information would be better for laypersons.

How ignorant of your business did you think most of us were? How did you figure there weren't any people here with at least some experience in your field? Think again. The more you tell us, the better we can understand.

Me: I meant why do you want to live and work here? With your current experience, what's not open to you where you live compared to here?
You: I'm not sure I want to ultimately, I have an intuitive feeling that I would be well suited to it. Perhaps not. However, I am ambitious. I know that if I don't start working toward this possibility now, I may never get to try, and I at least want to have tried. Anything I have done in life I always assumed it would work, if I didn't I wouldn't have the motivation to follow through

Please realize that yours is a non-answer, and it really pisses off people to hear such nondescript almost evasive answers. If I were hiring and heard this reply, you wouldn't have a good chance. Try again.

The idea behind starting with JET (assuming I like the experience of being in Japan when I visit next year,) is that I would have a chance to absorb more Japanese culture before entering a more demanding job. I don't want to be the "nasty houseguest" that comes to Japan with stars in his eyes, becomes disillusioned because he wasn't prepared for reality, and then unloads a lot of unprovoked vitriol about the Japanese

But you are unprepared, even for JET! You are likely to be placed in the boonies of a countryside, where luxuries that you consider commonplace could not even exist or be close by. You would (like me) start a job with virtually no training or background, too. So, IMO you would unload vitriol or complaints during that time. It is par for the course. One way to avoid it is to learn a lot of Japanese first, so you aren't faced with the burden of figuring out how to pay bills, use public transportation (which in the country, like where I live, is not always in English), and perform other daily things such as shopping for groceries.

Next fall. It is a business trip with my current company and an opportunity to explore a bit.

There you go again, not telling us all the facts from the beginning! Geez! Your initial post was taken as a personal visit (i.e., vacation), but now you are telling us something totally different. Moreover, you haven't explained where you will be and how much time you'll have to explore. "A bit" is meaningless to those of us who are trying to help you. Are you coming alone? Are you in charge of the business trip dealings? What the hell are you actually going to do here at that time?

I'm sure you also realize that just visiting is not going to give you a dose of reality for living and working here, but it's better than nothing. Coming for business means interacting with potential employers and seeing how colleagues do business to some small degree. Learn as much as you can. But also, if you plan to leave your company to come here to work, you will have to be somewhat cautious about how you sniff around, so please explain what you figure you would do to "explore" a new job opportunity while here on business, ostensibly with coworkers.

After getting BA, apply directly to the company and job I have chosen in Japan (maybe having to travel there to interview on my dime.)

Probably, not maybe.

 

[PatrickNZ]

As a personal observation (and happy for more learned people that are better at Japanese than myself to comment), getting JLPT doesn't mean you can communicate with people. One of my friends that lived here for 5 years did N2 and for her it was all about obscure grammar, but she is still very proficient at her job in English and Japanese (she is an engineer by training). The one time I tried out a JLPT test it really didn't test any ability to talk to someone which is the main way I deal with people around Japan, but focused more on listening and reading (and tick boxes is not writing).

 

[MilesOfSmiles]

As a personal observation (and happy for more learned people that are better at Japanese than myself to comment), getting JLPT doesn't mean you can communicate with people. One of my friends that lived here for 5 years did N2 and for her it was all about obscure grammar, but she is still very proficient at her job in English and Japanese (she is an engineer by training). The one time I tried out a JLPT test it really didn't test any ability to talk to someone which is the main way I deal with people around Japan, but focused more on listening and reading (and tick boxes is not writing).

Good to know, thank you very much. I regularly have speaking and listening language exchanges with native speakers plus classroom time, so I will continue these and not use N1 or N2 as my sole barometer.

 

[johnnyG]

Maybe ten years ago, a teaching colleague of mine decided teaching wasn't for him, quit (his full-time, 正社員) job, and based on an earlier film school-ish BA (Canada), went on to do a couple years for an MA in that in the UK. I think he did some contract work for NHK, but was never able to break into full-time employment in Japan (in spite of knowing some Japanese).

Maybe he wouldn't say it, but he's struggling, and he has occasionally asked for letters of recommendation to come back to Japan as an English teacher.

Video/TV production is a cut-throat field, and film would be even worse, if I were guessing.

 

[MilesOfSmiles]

Maybe ten years ago, a teaching colleague of mine decided teaching wasn't for him, quit (his full-time, 正社員) job, and based on an earlier film school-ish BA (Canada), went on to do a couple years for an MA in that in the UK. I think he did some contract work for NHK, but was never able to break into full-time employment in Japan (in spite of knowing some Japanese).

Maybe he wouldn't say it, but he's struggling, and he has occasionally asked for letters of recommendation to come back to Japan as an English teacher.

Video/TV production is a cut-throat field, and film would be even worse, if I were guessing.

A very relevant story, thank you for sharing!!