Working in Japan Guide for International Students

Internationally, Japan has earned a reputation for being a challenging place to work. Japanese workers are thought to work long hours of unpaid overtime, with old fashioned, and outdated procedures and senior leadership being almost entirely male. These are the commonly held stereotypes about working in Japan.

While some of these stereotypes have been true for many companies in the past, the truth is now far more nuanced and the majority of companies have made significant strides in modernizing and improving their workplace culture and HR policies in recent years. In this article we’ll tackle the issues surrounding working in Japan and what it takes to find a good job here. We’ll also cover why you should seriously consider studying in Japan and going on to start your career here.

Key Takeaways

• Japan’s ageing and shrinking population is creating many new possibilities for international students
• Japanese corporate culture has influenced management styles around the world
• The HR policies or many major corporations have improved in worker’s favour over the last ten years and work life balance is increasingly respected

Understanding the Japanese Work Ethos

There has been lots of discussion about the Japanese work ethos and what it took to create the modern Japanese economy pre and post World War II. Here are four factors that are still relevant today and drive much of the thinking of Japanese corporate culture. Adopting these concepts into your own work style can make you a more professional and valuable member of the workplace.

1. Omotenashi

The spirit of Japanese hospitality, the concept of anticipating your customer’s needs and providing a smooth and seamless service, as exhibited by the highest end restaurants in Japan. In the white-collar world, this should extend to providing clean and welcoming spaces for clients, replying quickly to their enquires, anticipating their needs, and always providing exemplary service.

2. Kaizen / PDCA

Popularised by “The Toyota Way”, Kaizen (改善) is a Japanese phrase which refers to continually improving a business practice. The idea is to assess a business function through PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) cycles. The idea being that you Plan and improvement to the process, implement it (Do), Check the results of the new and improved process against your old results, and finally Act on your findings by tweaking the process further. PDCA is intended to be a repeatable process as you seek to further and further fine tune your processes.

3. Hourensou

Hourensou (報連相)is a portmanteau of the following three Japanese words:

Houkoku報告 Report

Renraku連絡 Contact

Soudan相談 Consultation/Discussion

How does this work in practice and how does it affect you? Let’s break it down.

Houkoku – you are expected to report any updates, mistakes you’ve made or problems that have arisen to your immediate superior in detail.

Renraku -You must contact all relevant parties quickly when any decisions have been made or facts come to light. You are not to include your personal opinions or make guesses, as decisions on what to do will generally be made at a group level.

Sodan – you are expected to ask your superior for their opinion or advice on matters from time to time. You don’t need to do this before taking action every time, but your manager will feel better if you check in with them and take benefit of their experience.

When it is done properly, Hourensou can result in an office atmosphere where people feel comfortable verbally reporting errors and potential problems speedily to their coworkers so they can be resolved quickly and before they become a problem for the company’s customers.

4. Work life balance

There is no getting around the fact that Japan is a more collectivist culture than most. If you are originally from a culture that values individuality highly you may find the group’s welfare being more important than yours a jarring concept to get used to. Simply put, your co-workers rely on you and your reliability is your bond. When you are not there, someone else is taking up your responsibilities, or otherwise being negatively affected by your absence. You will be expected to go the extra mile in helping your team at busy times, because they will do the same for you. You should not seek out or expect special treatment. The emphasis on group equality and harmony will prevent you from getting it.

None of this is to say you cannot take time off. The days of workers not taking leave for vacations is firmly a thing of the past, but you are expected to try to take vacations at times that will not negatively affect your workplace. You should however take note of the overtime policies at any prospective workplace.

Job Opportunities for Graduates

Japan’s position as the 4^th largest economy in the world and it’s ever-increasing internationalization provide ample opportunities for graduates of Japanese universities to gain employment. In the words of one recent iCLA graduate currently working in investment banking after graduating with a major in Political Science:

“The language proficiency and cultural understanding I nurtured at iCLA have been immensely beneficial in my workplace, particularly due to the diverse international composition of our staff… In both Japanese and international job markets for recent graduates, technical skills specific to Japan are often not prerequisites. Thus, meticulous preparation, coupled with a coherent career vision and high motivation, and the transferrable skills acquired through a liberal arts education are the pivotal factors in securing a position here.”

Takaaki

Japan

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Key Industries

There are some key industries that recent graduates of Japanese universities will commonly find employment in. With the right skills and preparation. Due to the ageing and shrinking Japanese population there are currently skill shortages in many of the following industries:

• Information Technology
• Finance and Banking
• Import and Export
• Engineering
• Education
• Tourism

Emerging industries

Japan has followed the trend of many developed countries with young entrepreneurs striking out in many of the following emerging industries, and others:

• Renewable Energy and Sustainability
• Aeronautics
• Agri-tech
• Technology start-ups

Navigating the Japanese Job Market

Knowing a little about the Japanese economy and the exciting and secure job opportunities on offer here you are now more prepared than even to navigate the job market. There are some unique differences here and preparation is a must, but your efforts will be well rewarded.

Understanding the Recruitment Season

Traditionally, students will start job hunting in their third year of university in the hope of securing a guarantee of employment in their fourth year and being able to enter a company straight after graduation. This process is referred to as Shūshokukatsudo (就職活動), or Shūkatsu (就活) for short, and sees students attending large job fairs and recruitment sessions, usually wearing black suits and shoes. The Shūkatsu system started in the 1950’s to allow big business to systematically address Japan’s post war labour shortages and offered graduates the security of lifelong employment. While having been a cornerstone of Japan economic success, the process is not without its critics.

Fortunately, nowadays more and more companies hire year-round, allowing them to take advantage of a wider diversity of hires, not least of which is the increasing number of foreign graduates who will typically graduate in September or October, not in April as most Japanese graduates do.

Even as the traditional Shūskatsu system is changing to meet Japan’s future needs, job hunting in your third and fourth year remains vitally important for all university students, both international and Japanese. International students studying in Japan should keep in mind that while it is easy to switch from a student visa to a working visa if they have an offer of employment, if they don’t have one, they will need to switch to a job-hunting visa which is valid for a maximum of 6 months. For these reasons, attending a university with good career support, assistance finding internship opportunities and a strong alumni network are all factors that will increase your chances of securing employment before graduating. You should also recognize that you may need to apply to upwards of 20-30 companies in order to secure employment. Starting early and being prepared are the keys to successfully attaining an offer of employment and becoming a “内定者“ (naitei-sha).

Creating a Japanese-Style Resume

The Japanese style resume differs in both layout and content to what is widely expected internationally. For one, some companies may request it to be handwritten, but this is less and less common. A professional photograph is commonly requested as well.

A standard Japanese resume consists of two parts, the Rirekisho (履歴書) which details your personal details, academic and work history etc in brief, and the Shokumukeirekisho (職務経歴書) where you expand on your work history and skills.

College students in Japan often use a rirekisho which is tailored for new graduates. This rirekisho focuses on what the applicant worked on most in school, known as Gakuchiku (ガクチカ). These days,  many companies ask job seekers to fill out their own Entry Sheet (ES) online instead of creating a rirekisho 履歴書 and shokumukeirekisho 職務経歴書. So always check with the company you’re looking to apply to.

Internships and Networking

Undergraduates across the globe are increasingly being advised to do internships during their degree. In a culture where personal networks are so highly valued, doing an internship while studying in Japan can give you an advantage when it comes time to look for work. Furthermore, Japanese universities often have long Summer or Winter vacations, making finding an internship that gives you a real opportunity to experience life in the Japanese workplace more viable.

Most Japanese university departments, like the International College of Liberal Arts at Yamanashi Gakuin University, assist their students to find internship opportunities and can help students assess whether the company fits with their career goals.

"My time at iCLA allowed me to explore various subjects in many different areas and helped to determine my post-graduation focus. I majored in Global Business and Economics, and after my third year of studies I had the opportunity to put my acquired knowledge into practice during an internship at Bosch Japan in their Software sales department. During my three months there, I applied and strengthened the diverse range of skills I’d learned from my professors, from conducting competitor analysis to product development including financial modeling. Currently, I am employed at a renewable energy company in Tokyo, as part of a newly established data intelligence team. Thanks to the excellent Japanese language courses offered at iCLA, I acquired a proficient level of Japanese, enabling me to confidently participate in meetings and deliver presentations to my Japanese colleagues."

Liina

Finland

Required Qualifications and Skills

Just like most other countries, you will be expected to speak the native language to some degree of fluency. Even if the company language is English, you should be able to speak Japanese to a N2 minimum to broaden the job opportunities available to you. Thankfully, Japanese is not as hard to learn as you may think. Beyond that, the qualifications you require will depend on the industry you hope to enter. A Bachelor’s degree is a must for many white collar jobs and in fact, you will need it to be eligible for the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services Visa.

The Importance of JLPT

The JLPT is a widely recognised test that provides a standardized measure of language ability for employers when assessing prospective employees. The accepted minimum for some companies is N2 but increasingly N1 is being asked for by many employers. Even if you have not passed N1, you should still consider applying. There are skill shortages in many industries and beyond the qualification itself, employers are interested in your personality and intelligence, which they will judge via your speaking ability in the interview.

Visa and Documentation

If you are not in possession of a Japanese passport, you will need a visa to work in Japan. If you have graduated from a Japanese university or a transferring to a new company and require a change in your status of residence, the company will assist you in changing your visa. Depending largely on the length of your initial contract, the validity period of your working visa will either be 1, 3 or 5 years. You can renew the visa at the end of this if you are still employed. You can change employers at any time, you just need to update your information with the Immigration Department.

Types of Japanese Work Visas

The following two are the most common work visas for people with a bachelor’s degree at a minimum, and each has it’s on restrictions on the type of work you can do.

Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services

The most common “working visa” in Japan for white collar workers and “Eikaiwa” (language school) teachers. As with the Instructor visa, a bachelor’s degree is required to be eligible for this visa and you will need a work permit for part time work outside the scope of it. Please see our guide to part-time jobs in Japan for more information.

Instructor

This is the visa Assistant Language Teachers (ALT) will require. You will need a work permit for any other work activity outside your primary ALT job. As you are viewed as a “sensei” you cannot work in bars, entertainment, or construction etc part time.

This list is by no means exhaustive and does not cover those available for “unskilled” labor in particular. For a full list of the working visas available in Japan and the types of jobs they pertain to, please visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan’s (MOFA) website.

Cultural Acclimatization

Japanese business etiquette is different from that in many countries and will no doubt take you some time to get used to. Japanese is a high context language, meaning that the true meaning of a statement, whether written or spoken, may be somewhat veiled, or seemingly lacking in context. You need to be able to read between the lines. Even if you come from a higher context language background you will probably find the ways in which you need to read people and what they are saying is different. The key to navigating this as a non-native Japanese speaker is to ask clarifying questions of your coworkers and customers if you are ever in doubt as to the meaning of what is being communicated to you.

A major cultural difference you may encounter is a lack of specific job descriptions when you are being hired by a company. While less common when going for a role in an international company active in Japan, Japanese companies frequently do not have job descriptions or titles for their employees beyond their rank within the company structure, which is tied to pay scales. Rather, new recruits, especially those coming out of university will go through a period of company training and being seconded to different departments. At the end of the process, they are placed in a department based on the company’s needs and the employee’s aptitudes. Your responsibilities are expected to grow as you show you can handle them. It is not unusual for an employee to be transferred to another department, or even another branch after a period of 3-5 years in a position. The motivation behind this is to give employees a more overall view of the company they work for, while ensuring that knowledge does not get overly siloed with individual workers.

Common Company Benefits in Japan

All company employees working more than 29 hours per week will be enrolled in Social Insurance, with company contributing half of the cost. Social Insurance covers both your health insurance and pension contributions.

You may also receive a housing benefit from your employer, and some larger companies even have dormitories for new employees to live in, alleviating the cost of renting in a big city like Tokyo. You should also have your transportation costs covered by your employer, but please note that this is considered taxable income.

Fixed Term and Permanent Contracts

Many staff will start as fixed term contracted workers and may be offered a permanent position after a series of contract renewals. There are benefits to becoming a permanent employee such as easier access to home loans, company retirement benefits etc, but it is important to be aware of any changes in pay structure between monthly salary and bonuses, so you can budget accordingly.

Conclusion

Japan has a deserved reputation as a strict and exacting place to work. It is however, a country that has good protections for its workers. While fewer workers stay with one employer for their whole career now, the life-time employment system has entrenched pro-worker protections and things like at-will employment are simply not a feature of working here. Given Japan’s shrinking population, the increasing reluctance of young people to work for companies with poor reputations for respecting work-life balance, and media attention to these issues in recent years, the labour laws and practices are shifting more in favor of workers here at a time where they are shifting more in favor of employers in many countries. Simply put, there are increasing employment opportunities for international graduates, and you should be able to build a good career here given the skill shortages apparent in the economy, at companies that treat you well. The skills and enhanced professionalism you will acquire while working here will take you far in your chosen career if you decide to relocate overseas as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

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