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Just some question according living and working in Japan

Ray Senyu

後輩
10 Jul 2008
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Hello,

I would like to ask some questions about living and working in Japan.
Assume that i graduate from a university of my country in financial economics section and i know english , french and japanese.

1)What are the odds of finding a job with my potentials ?
2)What region in Japan has large job availability?
3)What is the (middle - normal) expenses per month for one person to live in Japan?

I know that my questions are a little general but I would like to have serious and certain answers from people who are sure what they are telling .If possible , could you give any link with information acording those questions?

Thank you
 
1. If you have a bachelor's degree, you have the bare minimum requirements for a work visa, depending on what kind of work you are interested in. Teaching jobs don't usually come with strict rules on having Japanese language ability, but most other jobs do.

2. Everywhere. Obviously, the bigger the city, the more the opportunities.

3. Subsistence wages will vary according to the size of city/town, but figure you have to make roughly 150,000-180,000 yen/month just to get by. No frills.

I can't give you any links because your questions are far too general. Maybe you could tell us what sort of work you are interested in. Otherwise, all I can do is point you to teaching job info or to www.daijob.com/en for non-teaching work (and articles there that are very helpful, but you will soon realize that knowing Japanese is practically vital).
 
1)The jobs that i am interested in are whatever is related in financial economics , bank administration , business advisor , accountants , (even CEO) , markets ,logistics etc.
2)Furthermore , if i start learning japanese now ,about how many years are required for me to get the JLPT 1 grade and how many for the JLPT 2?
3)I checked the link that you sent me and in some jobs ,the japanese level section is blank.What does it mean?
 
How fast your Japanese improves is up to you my friend. There is no set number of years that says... you will be this good in this amount of time. Now realistically, if you start now from square one I doubt you will be able to pass 1kyu by this year or even next year (unless you have absolutely no life). But if you really hit it hard.. (i mean hard) you could probably pass 1kyu in of Dec 2010. Most people though (who are disciplined and keep at it) at a normal pace... you are looking at 5 years probably. The best thing you could probably do though is come here for a year at least and do a language study... you find it is much much easier to improve while living here.
 
Oh and like Glenski said your cost of living will very greatly depending on where you live. And yeah a minimum monthly salary of 150,000 will be on average what you need at least to stay alive. I personally only spend on average 120,000 a month (including 40,000 for going out) but my circumstances probably are not typical as I only pay 13,000 for rent, and most people even in the countryside pay around 30,000-60,000 (usually depending on proximity to a train station). I reality though it all depends. More than likely your easiest access to this country will be a teaching job. Remember, you will need to give them a REAL reason to hire you for a job that any Japanese person could already do.
 
Jobs in finance can be with Japanese firms, where you are very likely to need spoken and written Japanese skills, or with foreign firms that have branch offices here. In the latter case, you may or may not need as much Japanese. Case by case. Makes sense to know as much as possible, though, doesn't it?

Chidoriashi stated it correctly. You start at the bottom rung (level 4) and work your way up to level 1, but how long it takes will depend on you. The test is held only once a year, and you can choose to skip levels if you like. But, learning is a personal thing. Self-study outside Japan will be harder than in Japan, obviously. Book learning vs. real-life language usage is also something to consider. I'd say Chidoriashi's estimate of 5 years from scratch to level 1 is pretty close, but it all depends on your circumstances.

If there is no description for a Japanese language requirement in the job ad, it could mean anything -- they forgot to fill it out, they didn't care what level, they cared but still want to see who applies, etc. At least it's a more hopeful sign than seeing a number you can't yet achieve!

EDIT: I just looked at the site to see what you ran across. One example was for an unnamed company, but since the ad was entirely in Japanese, you will have to use common sense to figure that applicants will need a pretty high level of Japanese.

CEO's hired from abroad are more likely NOT to need as much Japanese, but I suspect that at this stage in your life, you are not going to be shooting for such positions right now.

FYI: Intracompany transfers will provide their own visa type, but you have to work for the company for a year first. So, if you get in with a company in your home country and expect a transfer, remember that. Also, newbies (especially in the lower ranks) are not likely to be sent overseas right away anyway).
 
I reality though it all depends. More than likely your easiest access to this country will be a teaching job.

1)What do you mean by "teaching job"?

2)Could anyone propose me some books or any other kind of multimedia which i could buy so i can begin my studies?


窶忸窶堙?窶猫窶ーテェ窶堙?津ォツ債キ窶堋「窶堙懌?堋キツ。
Domo arigato gosaimasu.

PS: Did i write that right?:)
 
I thought you said you knew Japanese.
Your best bet would probably be to get hired by a firm in your home country and then sent over on an expat package. Then everybody would be kissing your butt while you studied up on Japanese, giving you plenty of time to get things worked out.
 
Orochi> yeah, that sounds like a good idea too.
Ray> Its like this どうもありがとうミスターロボット j/k どうも有り難うございます。。。but I dont see it in kanji that much, usually just hiragana.

And by teaching job I mean, mainly a job teaching at an English conversation school, or possible at elementary, middle or high schools.

I have not picked up a Japanese text book in quite some time. My electronic dictionary has always been my main study tool since i did not really get that much classroom training. So i dont have any books to recommend other than the one i started learning on which is called "Nakama". Get through Nakama 1 and 2 (I recommend with a teacher), and that should give you a base to start studying on your own. Thats what it did for me anyway. I believe the authors name is Seiichi Makino. He also writes some good grammer dictionaries that may be a helpful reference sometimes.
 
Chidoriashi i am writing "domo arigato gosaimasu" in japanese hiragana but it doesn't show what you are writing above. In addition, when i go to an english-japanese translation program and write "domo arigato gosaimasu" in hiragana , the translation gives me something completely irrelevant to "thank you".Here is how "this" is shown:
どもありがとごさいます
What am i doing wrong?
 
Your first attempt to say "thank you" in Japanese is incorrect as wrong kanji are used.
Also, it is not domo 窶堙??堙? but doumo 窶堙??堋、窶堙?.
Chidoriashi showed the correct spelling in hiragana and correct kanji for "arigatou". (No kanji used for 窶堙??堋、窶堙? and it is far more common to write 窶堋?窶堙ィ窶堋ェ窶堙??堋、 in hiragana without kanji.)
 
it wasn't showing up correctly because you were (and still are) writing "gosaimasu," when it should be "gozaimasu."
 
umm you forgot the 窶堋、 in 窶堋?窶堙ィ窶堋ェ窶堙??堋、ツ。ツ。ツ。ツ。look carefully ツ 窶堙? 窶堋、ツ 窶堙?ツ 窶堋?ツ 窶堙ィツ 窶堋ェツ 窶堙? 窶堋、ツ 窶堋イツ 窶堋エツ 窶堋「ツ 窶堙慊 窶堋キ
I know it can be easy for beginners to forget those extra 窶堋、s
Keep at it though, it will eventually get drilled into you.
 
I thought you said you knew Japanese.
He said assume which to me is as hypothetical as the spirit of the entire posting was intended. After graduation and before leaving....to know when it really, really counts and matters for anything.

I agree with the expat idea. Especially if you're busy squeezing it between French and economics for four years in the meantime. 😌
 
窶堙??堋、窶堙? 窶猫窶愿ッ窶堋、 ナ津、ツ催?窶堋「窶堙懌?堋キ
doumo arigatou gozaimasu

I believe the "ナ津、" (go) is an honorific prefix but then it's usually not written in kanji much.

I usually see "arigatou gozaimasu" all in hiragana though =|.
 
How about work in Japan if I know only English and Polish and I dont know Japanese?
A 17-year-old Polish student who knows no Japanese is pretty much stuck with only 2 options.

1) student visa. The visa alone doesn't permit work, so you will have to apply for special permission. Easily enough accomplished if you are enrolled in a school here full-time.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan

2) cultural visa. This means you study some craft (pottery making, sword making, martial arts, flower arrangement, etc.) under the tutelage of a master who has agreed to sponsor the visa. As with student visa, you need special permission to work.

In both cases, the work is only part-time, and you have to meet the visa requirements.
Immigration Services Agency of Japan
VISA
 
Glenski said:
2) cultural visa. This means you study some craft (pottery making, sword making, martial arts, flower arrangement, etc.) under the tutelage of a master who has agreed to sponsor the visa. As with student visa, you need special permission to work.
Unless things have changed these days, I believe one can get a Cultural Visa to study the Japanese language as I did. I got back to Japan after making the mistake of returning to the US at the height of a recession in 1981, under a "Cultural Visa" after only a year in the US to study the language at a language school. I was quite fluent in the language already, but who knew? I needed a "sponsor" and one of my Japanese friends obliged. The strange thing was is that I had to sign a statement at the Japanese embassy stating that "I was not going there to teach English."

However, by law I was allowed to work part-time, which I did. And what kind of work did I do part-time you may ask? Teach English! And it was legal.

Therefore, if it is still allowable to study Japanese under a cultural visa, that may be one's best bet as no degree is required for a cultural visa and one can work teaching English. It's an easy way to live in Japan if one can find affordable housing and pay the tuition. As long as you can afford it, you can stay for a few years studying the language.

The link Glenski provided says nothing about studying the language under Cultural Visa, so it would be best to check with the Embassy.
 
You don't need a cultural visa to study Japanese. A student visa will do, and it may be easier to get. Not sure. You WILL have to show that you can afford to pay all the tuition, whereas there is no such requirement, I think, for cultural visa.

Pachipro,
Yes, one can work part-time with special permission for the student or cultural visa, but just who do you think will hire a 17-year-old Pole to teach in an office or school setting? How old were you at the time, and who hired you, if I might ask?
 
I would like to ask 2 irrelevant questions about the word "senyu" :

1)Does it mean something in japanese ?If yes , what?

2)Is there a japanese surname called "Senyu" ?

Thank you
 
senyuu (long u ending) can mean a few things:

a war-comrade

possession or occupation of something

senyuu suru means to occupy or possess something
 
senyuu (long u ending) can mean a few things:

a war-comrade

possession or occupation of something

senyuu suru means to occupy or possess something

1)Is there any japanese name or surname called "Senyu"? (because i have seen some chinese)

2)The "senyu" that u are talking about is writen "senjuu" or "senyuu"?

3)Is it true that "senyuu" also means "monopolization"?
 
Glenski said:
Pachipro,
Yes, one can work part-time with special permission for the student or cultural visa, but just who do you think will hire a 17-year-old Pole to teach in an office or school setting? How old were you at the time, and who hired you, if I might ask?
When I received my cultural visa I was 28 and two schools hired me to teach at night at various corporations.

My first teaching job in Japan was when I was 18 years old (1973) and in the country only 6 months with the US military. I had absolutely no experience and no college degree. I found the job after reading the want-ads in the Japan Times. The pay was 2,000/hr. It was just a small "school" and I taught 2 hrs/night, two nights a week. However, it started me on the road to a very rewarding career for many years to come.

I know things have changed since pre-historic times, but I'm sure there are still "fly-by-night" schools that will hire someone with no experience that may just change their life also and point them in a whole new direction. It doesn't hurt to try.
 
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