Journey To Work In Japan
By Randy Wong
RANDY WONG sets out to find how to tread the common routes many embark on to find work in Japan, despite the difficulties.
(Illustration By Randy Wong)
Eleven hours has passed by since the opening of a café in Japan. Locking up the doors, the café owner is satisfied with another day of feeding customers dishes from the place he called home for majority of his life. According to video on a YouTube channel called Akadot TV, this is a standard day in the life of Mr Mark Namiki.
Mr Mark Namiki, 36, is the café owner of Little Merlion, a Singaporean café and bar. Serving dishes such as Laksa and Roti Prata, Mr Namiki works together with his fiancée to give Japanese a taste of Singaporean cuisine. Likewise, he also wants to give Singaporeans residing in Japan a chance to eat authentic food from their birthplace.
​As a half-Japanese growing up in Singapore, he wanted to get back in touch with his roots by going through life in Japan. He said, “I wanted to learn and experience the daily lifestyles of living and working in Japan. At the same time, I wanted to learn about the cultures and norms of Japan.” After graduating from Japan, he figured that the best path in terms of self-interests and future career aspirations was to look for job opportunities in Japan after graduating from Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
Mr Peter Lackner, an employment insider expert, stated that those seeking job opportunities in Japan should move to Japan before starting their job search. He said that, “a failed overseas hire is really expensive for a Japanese company”.
However, despite the fact that Mr Namiki was not in Japan during his applications, he landed his first job in the hospitality sector. With the power of networking, he attained a referral from his then-boss in Singapore who “had a small minority stake in the hospitality venture in Japan”. Ms Julia Hurtado, a writer on capital-placement.com, wrote about the importance of networking. “A positive word about you from a relevant source to your potential employer works like magic. People are inclined to trust referrals for business and service providers rather than engage strangers,” wrote Ms Hurtado.
​Mr Namiki advises future Japan seekers to “learn and be able to speak Japanese before coming to Japan”. However, he also says not to “worry about good enough” as personal experience proved that real-life interaction beats weekly Japanese lessons.
Tertiary student Mr Al-Akid Bin Muhammad Airwan De Souza, 20, understands the importance of learning Japanese. This anime and manga fan is currently teaching himself Japanese through Japanese animation.
​While watching Japanese animation, he alternates between English and Japanese subtitles. In doing so, he hopes to “better understand commonly used words”.
​“Even if you get a job that does not require Japanese language to do, it is still better to learn the language to better communicate with your peers and colleagues later on,” says Ms Sarah Chu, 26, Coordinator for International Relations under the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program.
​Her journey started during her tenure at Ngee Ann Polytechnic where she earned a certificate in Japanese language. Citing a long love for anime and manga, Ms Chu said she, “always wanted to work or study in Japan”.
​After graduating, she decided to apply to Japanese universities but was rejected. Instead, she applied to the University of Hong Kong and double majored in English and Japanese studies. It was then that she learnt about JET from her senior.
JET is a program that, “invites young collegiate-level graduates from around the world to participate in internationalisation activities”, by working as teachers or intermediaries. “The process is quite long, as you need to apply a year in advance,” says Ms Chu when remembering about her time applying. In Ms Chu’s case, she works as an intermediary between Singapore and Japan in the international relations sector.
Despite the huge responsibilities, Ms Chu is satisfied as she says, “This is my dream job.”
