My story
When I arrived in Japan, I was what some call a “mid-career” professional, with an honours science degree and 11 years of experience in various aspects of software development. With this background, it would not be hard to find a job in the US, UK or Australia. But here, I faced the two common obstacles for foreigners in Japan: I hardly spoke Japanese; and I had no working visa.
I knew it would take a while before I could improve my Japanese to the point where it would help in my job hunt, so I decided to look for a job that required only English. After lots of research and emailing before I left, and a bit of legwork during the first week, I managed to get a verbal offer from a company after less than a month. Unfortunately, I was away travelling by this time, and by the time I returned a month or so later they rescinded the offer due to various company politics and so on. It took about two more months before I found another good company.
When I first arrived, I thought it might take 3 months to get a job; if I still had nothing after 6 months I would have to reconsider. In the end, it took about 3 months, as expected.
I’ve distilled my experiences down to a few topics. Lots of this stuff took me quite a while to sort out, much of it from various websites, so it should save you some time at least. In particular, it wasn’t easy to get complete and reliable information about working visa requirements and procedures, especially considering how crucial it is to get it right.
Related reading
So You Want To Learn Japanese?
Here's an excellent description of what it's really like to study this fascinating language. This piece was written by Dan...
Hey, that’s a good story. I am a highschool student right now in the U.S. Iv’e applied to many colleges in Japan for Japanese Language Study. I have some questions to if you don’t mind. Is Japan very expensive to live there? How did you survive 3+ months there without a job? After I get done with college there, does that mean I can live and work there? I asked that because I want to make video games in Japan and I wanted to know If I could do that. Thank you for your time.
Living in Tokyo is expensive for what you get — especially accommodation. You can get by but expect to live in quite a small apartment. I was living with my partner, who already had a job — so I was able to take my time looking for work.
A student visa only lasts for your course of study. After that you have to apply for a work visa like everybody else. Remember that making a living as a game programmer anywhere is hard; even more so in Japan, and even more if you’re a foreigner. My advice: find a foreign company to work for; or become fluent in Japanese; or both. Good luck!
hey, that s agood story and i really admire your hard work! i jst want to us you if u coould help me to work in japan, i been in japn for almost 1 year i went there last year as a trainee my co. here in phils. sent me there and i really enjoy working there esp. the salary they gave me it is much bigger compare to the salary i received here in phils. hoping for your reply! good luck and God Bless!
Hey there, I am looking forward to working in Japan, I am currently still in college getting my Bachelor’s Degree in CIS [ Computer Information systems]. I am currently 19 years old, and I am ONLY going to college for the degree, and for some extra learning, since I have 4 years of experience in self taught, CIS and java, c++,ect. So I figured experience points wont be a very big deal, since I already know as much as a mid-career person would. I have been looking at websites offering jobs in Japan, like careercross.com, ect. I have been reading your website, and I have found it very helpful, especially on the work visa articles. I have read EVERYTHING on the MOFA JAPAN website regarding this, but it never said anything about having to already have a sponsor before obtaining the work visa, so this helped me alot, when you mentioned that. So, my question for you is, if I get a job offer [ which I have ] online, from a company in Japan, [ I natively speak english, and I am fluent Japanese speaker, and writer/reader,ect. have been studying and taking Japanese classes for 4 1/2 years now.] How would I go to an interview, applying for a Japanese job, online? After that, how would they sponsor me? I find your story very insightful, and it helps me alot. I was thinking of working for NOVA, but I dont want to teach to english, I want to work in computer programming/software engineer career. Another thing I would like to ask you, is regarding my degree. I am currently going to a community 4 year college, here in America, called DeVry University, and I am enrolled in a 3 year Bachelor’s Degree program. I am not sure if my degree HAS TO BE 4 YEARS, or it probly doesn’t matter? As long as I have a Bachelor’s, thats all that matters right? Thankyou for your help, I appreciate it!
hi! im samantha 4m sri lanka. i need to find some job 4m the japan / my addres is Smantha jewan/64/a,wanarathana Rd/ kalubowila/dehiwala/sri lanka////////// so still im learning abt the japanese language. plz help me and thank you very much.
Good story! well i’m in high school right now, and i plan to go to DSU (Dakota State University) to get a degree in a IT position. I plan to go to japan after i graduate. I don’t know any japanese, but i would like to study abroad in japan and get some courses under my belt. Well any pointers would be helpful plz
thnx
Am a Kenyan Citizen I have a Diploma in marketing and am currently working with a learning institution. Soon will be pursuing a degree in marketing.
my question is whether in japan one can find a marketing job after learning japaneese language. I will be glad to hear from you
hi my name is George Hatzakis im 20 years old.
I was born and raised in South Africa but currently live in Greece.
English is my first language.
Basically I have always wanted to go to japan u can understand a youngsters desire to leave home and live the so called “life”
I’m fluent in English.
I’ve worked as room service for about a year at a private villa.
Work as a waiter
and i have three years at technical college studying computers
so keeping that in mind lets say I pass visas and all that stuff
i go to japan with 2000euros = roughly about 300.000 yen
what are the chances that i can actually make it
please email me cloud5strife@hotmail.com
let me know
thanks a lot
by the way
impressive what you have accomplished
u have true spirit
I don’t have a degree in computers so what are my chances? I guess I could teach english which I would like, but they seem hard to get into. I really want to work and live in Japan, I’ll keep trying! email me at pirate2900@yahoo.com