Hi there,
I am in the application process to be a 2D artist in a Japanese AAA game developing company. I also happen to be a contemporary artist with 2 MAs in art from different universities, one being very renowned internationally.
I was wondering how far their checking procedures do go. I work independently and do not have a gallery of anything like that. Since COVID as well I went through a reconversion, so that might look like a gap in the curriculum. If they check for exhibition and international experience, that does exist but nothing intense and it’s been dormant the last couple of years.
If the application goes up to its end and the company is willing to sponsor a visa, is the artist visa suitable?
Sorry this might be such a noob question but it suddenly dawned on me that visa things do exist. Pardon the EU tendency to consider that borders aren’t a thing 😅
If anyone has experience with this particular type of visa or being hired as an artist any advice would be more than welcome!
5 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**How do artist visas work?**
Hi there,
I am in the application process to be a 2D artist in a Japanese AAA game developing company. I also happen to be a contemporary artist with 2 MAs in art from different universities, one being very renowned internationally.
I was wondering how far their checking procedures do go. I work independently and do not have a gallery of anything like that. Since COVID as well I went through a reconversion, so that might look like a gap in the curriculum. If they check for exhibition and international experience, that does exist but nothing intense and it’s been dormant the last couple of years.
If the application goes up to its end and the company is willing to sponsor a visa, is the artist visa suitable?
Sorry this might be such a noob question but it suddenly dawned on me that visa things do exist. Pardon the EU tendency to consider that borders aren’t a thing 😅
If anyone has experience with this particular type of visa or being hired as an artist any advice would be more than welcome!
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>I am in the application process to be a 2D artist in a Japanese AAA game developing company
If you are going to be working for a company you will ***not*** be getting the Artist visa. You would be getting one of the other working visas. Probably the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities visa.
You can search the subreddit to find out more about artist visas – this gets asked a *lot* – but basically unless you’re an internationally recognised and acclaimed artist whose artistic work requires them to live in Japan for a short period of time, you don’t really qualify and shouldn’t be considering it.
Besides, you’re applying for a job with a company – I assume that they would sponsor a regular work visa for you if you were offered the job. The artist visa thing is a bit of a red herring for you here, just focus on getting a job and a standard working visa.
From what I understand you’ll be going to Japan as a commercial artist – you work for a company and produce work for that company. It would probably make sense to have a regular work visa. But usually the company applies for you, so you don’t have to worry too much about this part.
The artist visa from what I understand are for independent artists that are well off and established that wouldn’t have a company sponsor so they wouldn’t fit under a normal work visa.
You can always call your local Japanese consulate/embassy and inquire with them if you want to be sure.
Artist visa is usually granted only to well recognized and self-sponsored artists who will _not work_ here but do their art projects, get inspired by local culture etc.
Working for gaming company you will likely need to meet typical work visa requirements.