About My Japan-Related Business
I started a company that is connected to Japan, helping businesses do international marketing to the country.
In 2023, I officially started a business that works a lot with Japan.
After teaching English in Fukuoka, Japan as an ALT on the JET Program, I went back into the social media / digital marketing world. It was what I had done at a startup in Silicon Valley before moving to Japan.
I fortunately found a job at a medium-sized Japanese digital agency called TAM which had been around for more than a couple decades, and worked with the CEO to help crack a window so that the company could do more internationally related work.
What I’ve learned doing international marketing
The language and cultural barriers that exist between Japan and other countries, especially Western ones, prevent most Japanese companies from working with ones outside of Japan and vice versa. They also present enormous challenges for businesses trying to market and sell to and from Japan.
Throughout my years at TAM, I’ve worked on Japanese government projects, helping clients such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Yokohama City Government with outbound international marketing.
I’ve also worked with a lot of international companies trying to market to Japanese people - Small startups, large corporations, airlines, fashion brands and so on. While doing so, I’ve learned the different challenges that are common, what some of their needs are and what I could do to help them.
I will continue doing this through my new company.
My company is called TAMKO X, and we are an independently operating company within the TAM Group.
What my company does
The TAM Group has several companies within it doing things like digital ad strategy, content production, e-commerce site design, AI tool building, VR world creation and more. And with the way that we’re set up, we can all draw upon the group’s resources, knowledge and network when we need to in order to best help clients.
For the projects I’ve been a part of in the past several years, I collaborated with Japanese specialists at TAM because they know the market the best and they’re Japanese themselves. They currently live in Japan so they have an up-to-date pulse on things, so together we’re able to help out and provide a lot of value to these international clients.
The challenges we help businesses with
I’ve learned that most of the challenges international businesses face when trying to market to Japan extends beyond just translating and learning business etiquette and things like that.
Much of it relates to how to actually reach and communicate with people in Japan in a natural way, how to build relevance with their lifestyles which can be quite different so they pay attention, and then how to spark an interest so they think about buying.
A lot of times the approach in marketing communications is quite different from how they’d be done in places like the US, for example, and there are a lot of nuances to think about and figure out.
We help localize and connect culture so that our clients have a better chance at getting Japanese customers. We do this through things like native Japanese social media, content creation and transcreation, influencer marketing, Japanese ad management, website creation, Japanese article creation and publications. Basically if it’s a form of digital communication that can have an affect on people, we can do it.
I’m looking forward to continue working with those I currently work with but also working with new passionate clients and new people who would like to collaborate on these types of project as well.
If you’re interested, feel free to contact me.
Website: https://tamkox.com
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First Day Back in the Tokyo Office After Lockdown
What it’s like to go back to work in Tokyo after the COVID-19 / Coronavirus pseudo-lockdown.
In Tokyo, we had a stay-at-home request issued by the government that lasted for the majority of April and May 2020.
When the emergency declaration was lifted, some companies were quick to bring everyone back (despite few adjustments to the work environment), while others, like my company, are moving towards trying to work out a balance.
I went back to the office for the first time in early June as we are trying to get team members to be in the office at least twice a week.
I made a vlog to show how that first day was.
Returning to office work makes you reconsider its value.
What I realized was that while office work and remote work each have positives and negatives, it depends on the person and tasks at hand.
As a non-native Japanese person who isn’t fluent at Japanese but works primarily with Japanese colleagues, being in the same physical space helps eliminate existing barriers when it comes to understanding meanings or contexts.
It’s also beneficial when working on a team project or if there’s a lot of collaborations happening to get things done.
On the negative side though, it really made me question the need of commuting every day.
Despite it only being about 40 minutes door-to-door for me, the stopping of what I’m doing, getting ready, then commuting twice per day is an interference in production. While I can work on my phone, it’s often not as easy as a laptop.
Tokyo trains also can become very congested, and with the virus still around, it’s a little nerve wracking to be body-to-body in a box with little ventilation.
Working in the office isn’t comfortable as well due to mask-wearing and no new seating arrangements or protective adjustments.
Because of this, I noticed that I drink far less water throughout the day.
How will companies adapt moving forward?
It will be interesting to see how companies continue to adapt. There is a need to due to changes in people’s psychologies and behavior.
People like Andrew Yang have said there’s been 10 years of progress in the last 10 weeks. How much that’s true with regards to Japan is unknown, though.
A survey revealed that in mid-April, a couple weeks after the emergency declaration was made by the Japan government, 64% of small to medium-sized businesses did not move to remote work. [J]
There’s also the issue of Japan as a whole being resistant to let go of traditional work practices - many of which require a physical presence. And of course, there is the workforce that is accustomed to it.
On the flip side, there are companies like Twitter and Shopify saying they will be making efforts to move to 100% remote work.
As of today, Shopify is a digital by default company. We will keep our offices closed until 2021 so that we can rework them for this new reality. And after that, most will permanently work remotely. Office centricity is over.
— Tobi Lutke 🌳🌲🛒🕹 (@tobi) May 21, 2020
While I think that may be a bit farfetched for most, the boldness of the move is admirable.
What companies can’t do is simply go back to exactly how things were. The world has and is changing since this global pandemic.
Let’s see what happens.
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UNIQLO’s Initial Black Lives Matter Statement Highlights Japanese Marketing Struggles
UNIQLO’s initial Black Lives Matter post highlights the struggles Japanese brands sometimes have when marketing to an international audience.
Today, June 3rd, 2020, is a tumultuous time right now in the US as many Americans protest against the systemic racism that has plagued society for hundreds of years.
It's a time for us, at the very least, to listen, learn and reflect.
As an American working at an agency doing marketing in Japan, I’ve become aware of the differences in marketing strategies, brand communication, customer expectations, internal struggles, etc. in Japan versus the US.
UNIQLO recently posted a statement during these protests in which they got heat for. They were able to make up for it nicely, but it does highlight an issue Japanese brands face when marketing internationally.
On average, Americans care a lot more about than just if a product is good, affordable, or from a longstanding brand. In the social media era, where everyone has a camera, production studio and mass media broadcasting capabilities in their hands, people care about transparency.
What is the role you feel your company plays in society? What are its values? Sure, you make a good product but how do you treat your employees?
Research has even shown it to be good for customer loyalty.
64% of consumers who have a relationship with a brand cite “shared values” as the main reason.
77% of consumers say that they at least sometimes purchase products or services from a brand solely because they believe in the brand’s values/reputation and they want to support them. 2 out of 5 young people make purchases based on this regularly.
Because of this, we often see companies in America communicate about their actions and values. When the effects of COVID-19 began to take place, many were quick to communicate about the measures they were taking, even before government decisions to lockdown.
It's the same for Black Lives Matter. Here are some examples.
There are many more examples.
Each of these posts clearly state their values and their positions on the issues. It should also be mentioned that when some have asked if they're making donations, some brands (like Diamond Foundry) have responded to them saying exactly where they're donating.
Now let’s look at UNIQLO’s initial post:
Some of the popular comments:
This is so vague. If you're going to put up a support message, address the community that you intend to support, address them directly because they need the support. Posting an empty message like this is nothing short of following a trend....
U SAID NOTHING.
Fire your PR team. This is a pathetic collection of words at a time when words and action are everything. That's a whole lot of words to say absolutely nothing! Way to use your platform to take zero stance.
Is this the first AI-written PR message? Because it's so non-specific and feels like an imitation. Sorry, but a bunch of vague words in white on a black background isn't it.
When I first read the post, I also stopped and though, "Wait, what did they actually say?"
In the other examples, the brands clearly state their position on a specific matter, even released statements about which organizations they're donating to and what actions they are taking in order to support their position.
UNIQLO didn't initially do this. They did not define who is feeling the pain, what diversity means to them, what specific actions they're taking, etc.
The reluctance to take a firm stand or voice a strong opinion is a common shortcoming of many Japanese companies.
There is a fear of being disliked, especially due to being rooted in a group-oriented society with comparatively low diversity. There’s a lot of trying to stand out without disrupting, and the outcome is often vanilla messaging: “Cute!”, “The most popular!” “Great for everyone!”
That type messaging doesn't work in markets with greater ethnic, religious, sexual and intellectual diversity and individuality.
My guess is that there was probably an internal struggle between the UNIQLO US team and UNIQLO Japan office, and that's why the message became a diluted mess.
UNIQLO, to their credit, managed to respond to the situation quite well.
Here is UNIQLO’s follow-up:
They showed that they’re listening and got specific in explaining what actions they’re taking. So far, the response has been largely positive.
It's a good example for future Japanese brands with foreign aspirations to learn from.
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Working in Japan Can Be Lonely
Due to language, cultural and mindset barriers, working at a Japanese company as a foreigner can be unintentionally lonely at times.
This time working remotely has let me reflect a little on why I sometimes feel lonely working in Japan.
Since moving to Tokyo in late 2014, I’ve been working in marketing at a Japanese agency. My immediate team has just under 20 people. Everyone is Japanese aside from myself and a couple of Taiwanese who are either based in Taipei or frequently in and out of the Tokyo office.
I’m generally fine working on my own.
When working in marketing, however, especially with regards to strategy and creative - things that I do - it’s best to be able to collectively brainstorm and have discussions where ideas are bounced off each other.
But I don’t really have that on an everyday basis. Nor am I able to fully take part in a lot of discussions or training events.
There are a couple main reasons why a separation exists.
1. My Japanese isn’t good enough.
Not only does my Japanese language capability provide an obstacle in my comprehension and ability to effectively communicate, my not being as culturally in tune as the Japanese people around me can sometimes put me on a different wavelength.
A recent example is when a colleague talked about an “online business card trading” service being amazing, especially during this time of remote work. I understand business card trading is a part of Japanese business culture so the service may be useful, but I consider it more to be a timid half-step forward. This is especially the case for me since while on a business trip to the CES convention in Las Vegas in 2015, I was about to give my business card to someone when he simply waved his phone over my neck pass and got my info. I remember clearly how I felt like an outdated fool. That was 5 years ago.
And of course there’s just a lack of commonality in the pop-culture we’re a part of for general conversations. Compare App Store, Apple Music or Netflix popularity rankings - Japan is often quite different from a lot of other countries. I wouldn’t expect it to be like my or another foreigner’s home countries obviously, but it does mean that there may be even less common ground to connect on.
2. Lack of “International”
In relation to non-Japanese residents living in Japan, this is a really general outline of society:
LEFT: You have typical Japanese people. The majority doesn’t speak English, have little or no international experience and aren’t used to working with non-Japanese.
RIGHT: You have the various foreign expats who may or may not speak some Japanese and are in Japan for a short-term.
MIDDLE: The internationals. They have experience both in Japan and out but some may not be truly native-level speakers anywhere, they likely speak a language that mixes English, Japanese and perhaps another language. Many of the capable ones will work in international companies.
I fall into the “international” category, probably leaning to the right because of my mediocre language skills. But because almost all of my colleagues and company itself falls firmly into the left side, it takes more effort for someone like me to try to include myself.
The truth is a lot of Japanese - and this is for any country, not just Japan - don’t have an interest in things foreign. My non-Japanese colleagues and I have been told in the past that there are some colleagues that we can’t work on international projects with because of a lack of interest and ability to comprehend things foreign. This wall and lack of workaround is an unfortunate reality that only impacts the foreigners.
I was reminded of this separation when the only email to unsubscribe from the English newsletter I sent out on behalf of our team was, in fact, our own team’s email address. That meant a colleague decided to unsubscribe from it.
To be honest, I thought that was fucked up considering it’s clearly sent from our own company. I know better than to unsubscribe from our Japanese or Chinese communications. Our non-Japanese communications are generally ignored, which can feel isolating, but to take action to stop it is another level.
But other than that, there’s no real maliciousness or purposeful segregation. It’s mostly whether or not someone wants to make an extra effort to connect. I was astounded when I took a look at how much time I spent on just trying to understand communications, time I could be spending on being productive in something else. That’s completely on me.
This feeling of separation and created walls, though, is to be expected unless a company is really striving to be diverse.
I think this is a challenge for any Japanese company attempting to be more international. How do you do that without straying from being “a Japanese company”? It’s a structural revision tied to core values that needs to be carefully planned out and purposefully followed. I don’t have an answer for that either, but I know it’s not just adding foreigners onto the payroll.
I’m lucky that, for the most part, I have some colleagues who I do connect with, others who are in that left side but do their best to do so, and that there’s no discrimination or anything.
Yes, it is often lonely and there is a separation that’s often felt. After all though, the choice of where to work, where to live and what to do is our choice and up to us.
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Working From Home in Tokyo
A look at working from home in Tokyo, as the city is now in a quasi-lockdown and tries to reduce person-to-person contact by 70%.
Unfortunately, shortly after I talked about Tokyo being in a mystery situation regarding COVID-19/Coronavirus, cases spiked.
The situation in Tokyo (as of April 2020)
The country declared a state of emergency in early April. Apparently, the law forbids the government from enforcing a full lockdown, so Tokyo and several other prefectures are in more of a quasi-lockdown, with the government firmly requesting adjustments to business and working from home.
The goal is to cut person-to-person contact by 70%.
While many non-essential workplaces have abided, some haven’t.
Luckily, my company has had a work from home option since the beginning of March.
What I do
I work at a marketing agency, TAMKO, and most of the projects I’m on are with international clients so I’m never in physical meetings with them anyway.
Even on regular office days, it’s common for my teammates or myself to not always be in the office, so communicating through chat or video conferencing is already something we’re used to.
The daily routine
Slack is our main communication tool
The majority of our communication happens over Slack. To clock in, we type one of several messages and it’s recorded automatically. Most people use “おは” (oha) which is short for ohayogozaimasu, or “good morning.”
Almost all communication happens in Japanese.
I go about my day checking and replying to emails (we use Gmail), working on client projects as well as internal ones, and having an occasional meeting or virtual team lunch.
Uber Eats has become more popular
For lunch, I try to make something simple or eat leftovers, but sometimes there’s nothing or I’m lazy.
My usage of Uber Eats has gone up quite a lot.
I’m not alone, apparently.
The app has recently been in Japan’s top 5 of the App Store’s free app rankings, and has gotten additional exposure by people like celebrity Tsubasa Honda, who recommended the service in a YouTube video that got 1.8M views in a little over a day.
I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube while I eat lunch. I tend to watch videos where I can learn something from, videos from channels like CNBC, Vox, Gary Vaynerchuk, Business Insider, some vloggers and so on.
Amazon has also been pretty great.
Amazon delivered to a apartment delivery box
For the most part Amazon deliveries have been so far unaffected by the situation.
Amazon Prime deliveries in Tokyo are really fast, sometimes within 12 hours if you order the night before.
My apartment also has a delivery box system in case we aren’t home or able to get our deliveries when they come in. It’s been helpful as we order online a lot, especially during this time.
About twice a week, we have an all-hands team meeting. We were using Google Hangouts but have more recently switched to Zoom for these.
Team meeting on Zoom
If you’d like to see a day in motion, feel free to watch the video I made.
Otherwise, I hope everyone is doing as well as can be.
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Life in Tokyo During the Coronavirus Pandemic
How it’s like living and working in Tokyo during the COVID-19 / Coronavirus pandemic.
Not much panic has been seen so far, supermarkets are fine but some items are out of stock
Big changes for me include optional remote work, but many companies are business as usual
There seems to be little social distancing, but Japanese cultural norms may help a little
Japan was one of the early countries to see COVID-19 / Coronavirus cases boom. The cruise ship Diamond Princess was quarantined just south of Tokyo in Yokohama Bay and others got it from a taxi driver in the city.
The government then canceled school, graduations and school entrance ceremonies. (The school year ends in March, starts in April)
So how is life now in one of the early Coronavirus hot spots?
THERE HASN’T BEEN MUCH PANIC, BUT THERE ARE SHORTAGES
From videos of Costco rushes to brawls over toilet paper, it seems that there’s considerably more panic occurring outside of Japan.
A sign at a drug store entrance saying masks are sold out
Masks have been sold out for weeks now, however, toilet paper and tissues are scarcely found, and soaps and hand sanitizers are low on stock. The rest of the items in the supermarkets are fully stocked as usual.
This lack of panic is something that Japan has been quite good at, albeit access to necessities are currently problem-free.
Could it be naivety and having too much faith in the good infrastructure? Maybe. But even after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, people lined up for supplies and rations despite questionable government response, a far cry from the reports of looting during the Hurricane Katrina aftermath due to a failed response.
Tokyo likely would be different, however.
There is debate on the actual number of infected, though, and Japan seems to be under-testing.
Theories as to why range from limited testing capacity to Japan being good at treating pneumonia, to autopsies not being typical, to a desire to maintain the perceived ability to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.
I’m not knowledgeable on testing, so I can’t comment much on it, but people have said hospitals are denying those with fevers for reasons such as not having traveled abroad.
THE BIGGEST CHANGE FOR ME IS THE SHIFT TO Optional Remote Work
My company implemented optional remote work starting at the beginning of March and has been deciding its continuation on a weekly basis. The goal is returning at the end of the month.
Even though this option has been given, there seems to be several staff members in the Tokyo office each day. Part of the reason some are in the office or on the move is due to client requests.
Team meeting: 5 members were in the office, 11 remote on this day. On other days more seem to be remote.
While some companies in Tokyo have IMPLEMENTED remote work, others are struggling to adapt or haven’t at all.
With no demand by the government, companies are deciding courses of action on their own, and they seem to be quite varied. Of course, there are huge concerns about people not being able to afford their living expenses if they’re out of work for a while, but the following are also likely reasons many are slow to implement adjustments.
The first potential reason is outdated work culture and policies.
As some know, many Japanese companies tend to have outdated work cultures in place. This includes overvaluing the amount of time employees are physically in the office. Policies or tools that allow employees to work remotely probably aren’t set up.
A response denying an online meeting and requesting face-to-face during Coronavirus pandemic
A colleague of mine tried to switch a meeting to an online one, but the reply said that while their party considered it, they’d rather keep it face-to-face.
We work in marketing by the way, so in-person meetings are not exactly necessary.
This email was from a municipal government office despite the Prime Minister encouraging social distancing, so it’s hard to expect private companies to do any different.
Another possible reason for lack of remote adoption is low tech literacy.
Despite Japan having a high-tech image, tech-oriented businesses often suffer from slow domestic market adoption. Smartphones, for example, are only used by 74% of Japanese as of 2019, lower than most major countries. For reference, that number is 88% in the UK, 91% in Australia and 92% in South Korea. [J]
If that gives us a glimpse of the situation at some schools that were mandated to go online, imagine that at the corporate level.
Older employees in particular may not know how to work remotely and take part in an online meeting if they have to do it themselves. This is likely a challenge companies need to overcome.
The third possible reason is low concept of social responsibility.
I’ve noticed that outside of sales, profits and losses, and other easily measurable data points, things such as brand building, public relations, human resources and social responsibility have not become a big thing yet in Japan.
It doesn’t mean they have ill intent by any means, they’re just slower to mobilize and be proactive when it’ll mess with their normal procedures and balance sheets.
If the App Store is any indication of people moving to remote work, Japan doesn’t seem to be in a hurry.
Some companies have yet to make any announcement about the Coronavirus to their employees.
I’ve also heard of people showing up to the office despite having a fever due to the Japanese concept of gaman (perseverance) and their fear of judgment from others.
THERE’S LITTLE INCREASE IN SOCIAL DISTANCING
I’m just as guilty of it since I was out in busy Harajuku, Tokyo, for an errand recently. I will say though, looking around, you wouldn’t really guess there was a global pandemic going on.
People walking in Harajuku during the Coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic
It did seem a tiny bit less crowded, but the most noticeable difference was a lot fewer foreign tourists.
Trains seemed pretty full as well, sometimes with groups going out as shops and restaurants by and large still remain open.
Cherry blossom season has just started, which is bad timing since it will likely draw larger than desired crowds.
A few cultural norms may help Japan a little in this situation.
While there’s debate on whether or not masks protect at all, it’s said they may help prevent infected people from spreading the virus. Luckily, mask-wearing is normal in Japan.
I noticed more people wearing masks in late February than I do now, though, but I feel that’s likely due to a supply shortage than anything else.
Another cultural aspect is that compared to many other cultures, Japanese don’t touch each other during greetings and interactions. They’re actually very hands-off - they bow rather than shake hands, and they don’t hug or kiss.
On trains, talking (loudly) is discouraged.
Overall, Japanese tend to be pretty clean. Anyone who has visited the country likely noticed this simply from walking the streets or using public facilities.
Looking forward, Tokyo has two outcomes
One can only guess what will happen, but either Tokyo is a ticking time bomb or it somehow escapes. Hopefully the latter.
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Typical Workday Lunch Costs in Tokyo
What my typical lunches on Tokyo workdays are like and how much they cost.
Workday lunch costs in Tokyo are pretty reasonable. This is coming from the perspective of an American who has lived in major US cities.
The average cost for weekday lunches in central Tokyo is about ¥822/day, or about $7.58 USD/day.
According to a survey, 89% of Tokyoites average under ¥1,000/day, or less than $9.09 USD/day.
33% keep it under ¥500/day, or less than $4.55 USD/day. [J]
It’s not because they’re eating bad food or barely eating anything either. There are just a lot of affordable options, including going to one of Japan’s top notch convenience stores.
I decided to test this out.
To be honest, I don’t have a strict lunch budget set, and I just go with how I feel that day. I kept track of a week of my unplanned workday lunches, eating as I usually would.
Here’s where I went and how much it cost.
Kitaka Shokudo
A casual ramen shop whose style falls in the “Chuka soba” category, or Chinese soba. The broth is mainly soy sauce based, and the bowl is topped with pork.
Cost: ¥750 (~$6.83 USD)
MAP
Note: The bowl pictured above is a higher grade than what I had this week and costs ¥950 (~$8.64 USD)
Sutadonya
This is a fast food “donburi” chain, which is basically meat on rice. More popular chains in the category include Yoshinoya or Sukiya, but Sutadonya is known to have bigger portions, be really flavorful and utilize a lot of garlic. Note: Eggs are a staple in the Japanese diet and eating raw eggs are safe in Japan.
Cost: ¥630 (~$5.74 USD)
http://sutadonya.com [J]
MAP
Ethiopia
Due to working in the Kanda area of Tokyo, there are a lot of good curry shops. It’s the curry capital of Tokyo, and Ethiopia is one of the famous ones. Their main location is this 2-story, hole-in-the-wall, and sometimes people will line up just to try it.
Cost: ¥920 (~$8.38 USD)
https://www.ethiopia-curry.com [J]
MAP
Xinglong (Koryu)
Taking out and eating at our desks are common in my office. I tend to do this a couple times a week, either choosing foods from a convenience store (aka “conbini”) or going to a nearby restaurant for takeout. This Chinese shop is run by Chinese, and sells pretty decent combination places.
Cost: ¥500 (~$4.55 USD)
MAP
Menya Kokoro
A small chain, Menya Kokoro is known for its Taiwan mazesoba. Oddly originating in Nagoya, Japan, Taiwan mazesoba is a soupless ramen using thick noodles in a strong sauce with flavors like dashi and garlic. It’s topped with condiments like chives, minced meat and raw egg.
Cost: ¥850 (~$7.74 USD)
https://www.menya-cocoro.com [J]
MAP
What was the total cost of lunches for the week?
In this particular week, which I would call is a typical week, I averaged ¥730/day, or about $6.63 USD/day.
My total spend for the week was ¥3,650, or about $33.16 USD.
It’s good to keep in mind, of course, that not every area is created equally. Like Shinjuku or Shibuya, I’m blessed to be working in an area with a lot of affordable food options. Some areas have fewer options or are more expensive on average.
What do you think, all things considered, it’s pretty reasonable right?
PS: I’m sorry if this lowered your food stipend for your Tokyo work trip.
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Finding a Job in Japan
The way I found a job in Japan is an often unknown and underused tool. I explain it here.
Updated April 2021So you want to work in Japan but aren’t sure how. As someone who is on their second job in the country, I’ll tell you what I did as it may provide some help to a few of you.
First of all, my work background.
WORK BACKGROUND
For some context, I began my work life in Japan by teaching English through the JET Programme. It is one of the most common jobs for a foreigner to hold in Japan regardless of if they actually care about English education. JET is known to be the most accommodating, but Interac, Gaba, etc. are alternatives people can look into.
Prior to that, I was doing social media marketing at a startup in Silicon Valley before I just couldn’t ignore my desire to experience life in Japan anymore.
JOB SEARCHING IN JAPAN
Teaching English can be a trap if you’re not serious about that career path, and I wasn’t. Keeping in tune with the online social and startup worlds was what helped me find my second and current job.
But I had a couple of big challenges:
I wasn’t fluent and didn’t speak business level Japanese
My only work experience in the country was teaching English
I tried reaching out and tweeting to Japanese startup founders to no avail — they weren’t ready to expand internationally (where I would fit in).
Networking with anyone at internationally-ready companies were limited since JET has the vast majority of its workers living in the countryside.
Paying attention to trends in Japan - the growing number of outbound-looking companies, the push for foreign tourists, the increase in usage of international social apps and services by Japanese - led me to come across the service that helped me.
The tool that I became aware of that helped me get my second job was Wantedly.
About Wantedly
Wantedly can be called Japan’s LinkedIn, with about 3 million users and 40,000 registered companies as of April 2021. [J]
It’s a service that looks to connect people and companies from a more vision and empathy alignment approach, rather than one that’s focused on things like salary.
There’s more English now than when I began using it in 2014 which will be helpful. It also has broken its service into 2 areas:
Wantedly People - The profile and people networking side, also the ability to scan business cards (5M users)
Wantedly Connect - The connection of people and companies (3M users)
Wantedly is used mostly by those in the IT and digital space. Here’s the approximate breakdown of its users, according to Direct Sourcing Lab [J]:
Engineers - 25%
Sales - 18%
Marketing - 16%
Directors - 14%
Designers - 13%
Corporate - 10%
Writers - 3%
To compare, most on LinkedIn are in business development.
My experience on Wantedly
I created a profile, wrote my experiences in Japanese and simple English to quickly show I’m somewhat capable in both languages. From there, I began “showing interest” (there’s a button) in interesting companies that either were hiring or allowing office visits.
I had a few meetings, all of which ended up being with companies not ready to do international work, until I met with one where the CEO was ready to start moving in that direction due to realizing that Japan was behind in the online space.
There are job listings on GaijinPot or JapanToday Jobs as well. If you’re looking for an internet-related job, possibly at a startup, check out Justa too.
Here’s my video where I talk about my experience:
These are some things that I frequently buy in Japan and recommend after living there for a long time.