Hi, I’m looking for some advice related as I’d like to move to Japan someday.
I’m currently studying Business at college, with a minor in finance, plus I’ve been studying Japanese for three years now. Once I get my degree I’m planning on staying in my country (Spain) for a couple of years for work, which will allow me to both save money and gain some work experience. I’m also thinking about keeping studying Japanese until I get to about N3-N2, then I’d sign up for a Japanese school in Japan for 2 years to get to N1 and finally I would hope to land a job there.
I’d like to get a job outside English teaching, preferably related to finance. Problem is, based on what I’ve already researched, most finance related jobs seem to be in the Tokyo area, and I don’t really fancy living in such a big ass metropolis. I’d ideally like to go to somewhere in the Kansai area. Osaka, Kyoto or Nagoya (in that order).
Is there any chance for me to find some finance stuff in Kansai? Or should I just stick to Tokyo? I’d really appreciate any advice you could give me c:
4 comments
Do you mean an internal corporate finance type of job or accountant or a deal guy for an alternative investment firm?
My advice is to focus on applying for international companies in Japan until you get a good offer while working elsewhere rather than going to a school to improve Japanese. Jobs here tend to undervalue multi-lingual skills and have terrible business practices that could prove to be a big setback career-wise. So it’s better to approach Japan cautiously than to be here and feel rushed into accepting less than ideal job due to visa / financial constraints.
The location really won’t matter too much, Tokyo tends to have more jobs available due to sheer size, but no reason to limit your search.
There are still large banks with regional offices.
When I used to work in Trade Finance, I regularly send and receive stuff from SMBC in the Hommachi area of Osaka. I would love to work there, but without proficiency in Japanese, it’s unlikely (even though the jobs in Trade Finance requires fluency in English).
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