Technical translation (JP > ES/EN, and one day FR).
I taught English when I was a student and I didn’t hate it tbh, it was mostly stress-free. My salary was… not great though.
Hospitality. Worked my way up from Housekeeping and got hired this year as a seishain “operations supervisor” for a major company.
Animation (work for an anime company). Been in my studio less than a year and already did work for a couple movies and a few very popular shows, couldn’t be happier with what I do!
3D Animator in the game industry. Had previous experience before moving here though I did do the English teaching gig for a while until I could find a job.
Neuroscience research. Did my PhD in Japan and the rest follows…
I’m a professional suburban lawn caretaker and my wife is training hamsters part time. Our budget is 1,7mil.
I’m the kitchen manager and head pizza chef at a craft beer bar. Pay isn’t great, but I get free beer and pizza.
Translator at a game company. Doesn’t pay enough so I do general freelance translating as well.
Finance
Some of the non-tech jobs of people I know.
– Sales – HR – Working on construction sites. – Agricultural work. – Factory work – Caregiver in nursing home.
And being a staying at home mom is also a popular choice.
Science shit
Secret shopper
Tbh I’m not really sure. They seem to enjoy it when I ask if they want anything when I go to get a coffee and I’m the only one who ever waters the plants. I guess I’m part receptionist, part meeting lubricant, part translator. Basically just the token office foreigner.
HR. Started as a recruiter at an agency, moved in-house, then transitioned to a non-recruiting role and into a role doing employer branding, contracts with job boards, maintenance of our interview space, etc. Basically making sure recruiters can work effectively and comfortably while reducing hiring overhead. Pretty good gig, but I’m also looking at other HR roles in future.
I teach middle and high school technology and computer science classes at an international school.
I shoot TV commercials and Music video. Been freelance for 5 years, in Japan for 7. I work mostly with japanese crew. Hours are insanely long and hectic, but the pay is great and I’m my own boss. It’s quite fun, no job is the same!
Once I got put of the Eikawa game, I worked in Niseko in various roles for a couple years, then found a job in international marketing for a toy company. I loved that job and was there for several years, but after an economic slump a few years back I got let go. The whole team I was part of no longer exists, though many of them are still there in different roles. After that I worked at IKEA to barely pay the bills til I found something better but ended up stuck there for4 years. I finally left for a job on a construction project that paid triple what I made at IKEA, but it was only a year or so until the project was finished, leaving me looking again. After a stretch of not being employed longer than I should have been, I got a job with a Japanese construction company that was pure hell so I quit that black company after a month (3 months later, the fuckers still haven’t paid me, either). I’ve been at my current job 2 weeks, driving (pickups & deliveries of human remains) for a company. Once you hit 50 in Japan, you won’t hear anything back on most of your job applications, apparently, so I’m at the point of taking whatever job I can get. That being said, this one’s going well so far. Still learning some things, but it’s far better than some other things I’ve done.
I do side gigs as a professional magician; does that count?
Slave
Hello Work.
Man, I’m happy for all y’all who made it in Japan.
I need to get my s*** together, I’m pushing 40 and all I do is teach English.
Nothing wrong with that, I know, especially when students like your classes and you get good feedback. The pay though…
Foreigners working in Japan not related to IT or teaching I’ve met in Iwate:
-own a brewery
-own a co-op style farm
-mechanical engineer (temporarily in Japan for joint project)
-ski instructor (winter) / farmer (summer)
-athletes on the Asia circuit for their sport
-musician
-factory supervisor
-hospitality worker for a really exclusive onsen
As the name would suggest farming. Job comes with some great perks, free organic vegetables all year round, 3 hour (or more) siesta in the summer, work finishes at dusk (or before) and absolutely no overtime. The commute is literally stepping outside the back door and you are doing something different every day.
I run my own business where I go to people’s houses and teach violin. Unlike Eikaiwa, I have the freedom of doing my own schedule and being picky with students. Truly the best job ever.
It’s kind of weird this notion that most foreigners either teach English or work in IT, when in reality both are very far from what most foreigners actually do, which are manufacturing and retail.
Professor and head of department (infectious diseases) at a national university medical school. Came over as a JSPS international post-doc straight out of a PhD about 18 years ago and here I am. It’s great. Pay’s awful, but the job is interesting, to say the least.
I did translation editing for a bit, but the work was depressing. You basically rewrite everything from zero and get paid as if you changed one word. Also, at one point someone was apparently dissatisfied with my work and had someone else take a pass at my draft. Now the page on one website I did that was originally titled “Annual Fire Inspection” is titled “anal fire inspection”. I have timestamped drafts that prove I didn’t write that, but if I send that to potential employers with my portfolio it looks like I am disgruntled, and if I don’t it looks like I titled a webpage “anal fire inspection”. I have sent like 4 emails to them asking them to fix it and telling them that anal means アナル but they haven’t done anything.
28 comments
[removed]
Technical translation (JP > ES/EN, and one day FR).
I taught English when I was a student and I didn’t hate it tbh, it was mostly stress-free. My salary was… not great though.
Hospitality. Worked my way up from
Housekeeping and got hired this year as a seishain “operations supervisor” for a major company.
Animation (work for an anime company).
Been in my studio less than a year and already did work for a couple movies and a few very popular shows, couldn’t be happier with what I do!
3D Animator in the game industry. Had previous experience before moving here though I did do the English teaching gig for a while until I could find a job.
Neuroscience research. Did my PhD in Japan and the rest follows…
I’m a professional suburban lawn caretaker and my wife is training hamsters part time. Our budget is 1,7mil.
I’m the kitchen manager and head pizza chef at a craft beer bar. Pay isn’t great, but I get free beer and pizza.
Translator at a game company. Doesn’t pay enough so I do general freelance translating as well.
Finance
Some of the non-tech jobs of people I know.
– Sales
– HR
– Working on construction sites.
– Agricultural work.
– Factory work
– Caregiver in nursing home.
And being a staying at home mom is also a popular choice.
Science shit
Secret shopper
Tbh I’m not really sure. They seem to enjoy it when I ask if they want anything when I go to get a coffee and I’m the only one who ever waters the plants. I guess I’m part receptionist, part meeting lubricant, part translator. Basically just the token office foreigner.
HR. Started as a recruiter at an agency, moved in-house, then transitioned to a non-recruiting role and into a role doing employer branding, contracts with job boards, maintenance of our interview space, etc. Basically making sure recruiters can work effectively and comfortably while reducing hiring overhead. Pretty good gig, but I’m also looking at other HR roles in future.
I teach middle and high school technology and computer science classes at an international school.
I shoot TV commercials and Music video. Been freelance for 5 years, in Japan for 7. I work mostly with japanese crew. Hours are insanely long and hectic, but the pay is great and I’m my own boss. It’s quite fun, no job is the same!
Once I got put of the Eikawa game, I worked in Niseko in various roles for a couple years, then found a job in international marketing for a toy company. I loved that job and was there for several years, but after an economic slump a few years back I got let go. The whole team I was part of no longer exists, though many of them are still there in different roles. After that I worked at IKEA to barely pay the bills til I found something better but ended up stuck there for4 years. I finally left for a job on a construction project that paid triple what I made at IKEA, but it was only a year or so until the project was finished, leaving me looking again. After a stretch of not being employed longer than I should have been, I got a job with a Japanese construction company that was pure hell so I quit that black company after a month (3 months later, the fuckers still haven’t paid me, either). I’ve been at my current job 2 weeks, driving (pickups & deliveries of human remains) for a company. Once you hit 50 in Japan, you won’t hear anything back on most of your job applications, apparently, so I’m at the point of taking whatever job I can get. That being said, this one’s going well so far. Still learning some things, but it’s far better than some other things I’ve done.
I do side gigs as a professional magician; does that count?
Slave
Hello Work.
Man, I’m happy for all y’all who made it in Japan.
I need to get my s*** together, I’m pushing 40 and all I do is teach English.
Nothing wrong with that, I know, especially when students like your classes and you get good feedback. The pay though…
Foreigners working in Japan not related to IT or teaching I’ve met in Iwate:
-own a brewery
-own a co-op style farm
-mechanical engineer (temporarily in Japan for joint project)
-ski instructor (winter) / farmer (summer)
-athletes on the Asia circuit for their sport
-musician
-factory supervisor
-hospitality worker for a really exclusive onsen
As the name would suggest farming. Job comes with some great perks, free organic vegetables all year round, 3 hour (or more) siesta in the summer, work finishes at dusk (or before) and absolutely no overtime. The commute is literally stepping outside the back door and you are doing something different every day.
I run my own business where I go to people’s houses and teach violin. Unlike Eikaiwa, I have the freedom of doing my own schedule and being picky with students. Truly the best job ever.
It’s kind of weird this notion that most foreigners either teach English or work in IT, when in reality both are very far from what most foreigners actually do, which are manufacturing and retail.
Professor and head of department (infectious diseases) at a national university medical school. Came over as a JSPS international post-doc straight out of a PhD about 18 years ago and here I am. It’s great. Pay’s awful, but the job is interesting, to say the least.
I did translation editing for a bit, but the work was depressing. You basically rewrite everything from zero and get paid as if you changed one word. Also, at one point someone was apparently dissatisfied with my work and had someone else take a pass at my draft. Now the page on one website I did that was originally titled “Annual Fire Inspection” is titled “anal fire inspection”. I have timestamped drafts that prove I didn’t write that, but if I send that to potential employers with my portfolio it looks like I am disgruntled, and if I don’t it looks like I titled a webpage “anal fire inspection”. I have sent like 4 emails to them asking them to fix it and telling them that anal means アナル but they haven’t done anything.