Ask our reporter in Japan!

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Yeah, I'm fluent in Japanese- I have to be, I'm a translator :wink:
It wasn't all that hard to learn. I have never read any text-books or been to any classes or anything like that, so my Japanese is very natural and I don't have any forigner-esque accent to it. When I talk to people on the phone, they are suprised when I tell them I'm English.
I learned from talking to people, especially my wife. I don't have any English-speaking friends here either (all my non-Japanese friends are all French) so that helps you learn a lot faster. I have had months without speaking a WORD of English- when I do book/magazine translations.
Watching TV was good too, especially comedy. Japanese comedy is GREAT!!!

Yes baseball is the national sport. I don't watch it much but, one of my friends used to be an ace pitcher for the Yakult Swallows, so I've been to games with him a few times. But, It's so LONG :shock:
 
What would your advice be to any of us other gaijin wishing to move to Japan in the future?

Im worried that the recession in Japan will make it harder for foreigners to work there.
 
The recession has not had all that much of an effect on work for forigners. If you just want to teach English, you'd have no problem, however you will need to have a university degree in order to get a working visa. If you don't have one it will be hard to find a job.
For any other jobs you will have to be rather highly skilled, otherwise it's easier for the company to hire Japanese people.
I would advise you to get a degree then look for a job after you get here. (Its easier than finding one from abroad) You can come here on a Torist Visa that is valid for 3 months, during that time you can find a job and get them to be your sponsor, then you can apply for a working visa.

A good place to get cheap tickets to Japan is
http://www.gendai.co.uk/en/index.html

They do a "youth ticket" that is for people under 25 years old (I think), that is very cheap, almost all are under 600 pounds. You will HAVE to buy a return ticket, otherwise the Immigration people will not let you enter the country, and the people at the airport will not let you leave England on a one-way ticket unless you have a "re-entry permit" from the immigration beaurau in Japan.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask :D
 
I plan on moving after I leave university - I plan on taking a video game production course.

Is it possible to get a job from this degree ASAP? Or would it be advisable to gain additional qualifications, ie English teaching qualification, in order to get a "temporary" job, to one's foot in the door so to speak.
 
This may seem a strange question (particulary seeing as I do have a fondness for the far east - as most peeps on the forum probably will too) but what are the most negative aspects of modern Japanese culture?

Just a curious question I thought I'd ask. :)
 
To be honest, it is not worth bothering with a teaching English qualification. Almost all companies don't care if you have one or not. It's a waste of time and money. It would be better to take Japanese lessons so you can get by easier in normal life.

One of the most negative parts of life in Japan is old people. It seem that when you get to 50 or 60, your common sense and manners seem to dissappear. Old women complain about everything and piss people off and old men turn into perverts and smell. They seem to have a general dress code:
women- a stupid hat, big coat, flower-print (or leopard-print if you go to Osaka) top, pastel coloured trousers, brown or black cheap leather shoes.
Men- baseball cap, light coloured trousers, checked-shirt (tucked deeply into trousers), trainers, an old sports jacket, oh and not forgetting the toothpick wedged in the mouth.
Another bad thing is the police. They are probably the most incompetant force in the galaxy! Did you know that until last year, if a murder case goes unsolved for 15 years it becomes and "accident" and no-one can be prosecuted. Now they've extended it to 25 years. Now thats what I call policing in an advanced country :?
Some of my friends have been caught speeding before, and everytime the police stop them, they purposely speak French to them (even though they speak almost fluent Japanese) When they do that the police just say, "alright, it's okay, off you go". Yet another triumph for the law!

Politicians are also pathetic. Last year there was a big move to get people to pay money towards their pensions for when they get old. Politicians were going on like crazy saying that people shold pay- then it turns out that most of those who were complaining about hadn't been paying it themselves :!: :!: :!: A few top-ranking MP's resigned over it.
 
So basically old people are very well depicted in anime then! :lol:

As strange as it may seem, the real reason I would love a trip to Japan is to go doll hunting :D My dream is to be able to go to the Volks and Azone shops and to one of the big doll shows they have over there :lol:
 
Chris said:
To be honest, it is not worth bothering with a teaching English qualification. Almost all companies don't care if you have one or not. It's a waste of time and money. It would be better to take Japanese lessons so you can get by easier in normal life.

One of the most negative parts of life in Japan is old people. It seem that when you get to 50 or 60, your common sense and manners seem to dissappear. Old women complain about everything and piss people off and old men turn into perverts and smell. They seem to have a general dress code:
women- a stupid hat, big coat, flower-print (or leopard-print if you go to Osaka) top, pastel coloured trousers, brown or black cheap leather shoes.
Men- baseball cap, light coloured trousers, checked-shirt (tucked deeply into trousers), trainers, an old sports jacket, oh and not forgetting the toothpick wedged in the mouth.
Another bad thing is the police. They are probably the most incompetant force in the galaxy! Did you know that until last year, if a murder case goes unsolved for 15 years it becomes and "accident" and no-one can be prosecuted. Now they've extended it to 25 years. Now thats what I call policing in an advanced country :?
Some of my friends have been caught speeding before, and everytime the police stop them, they purposely speak French to them (even though they speak almost fluent Japanese) When they do that the police just say, "alright, it's okay, off you go". Yet another triumph for the law!

Politicians are also pathetic. Last year there was a big move to get people to pay money towards their pensions for when they get old. Politicians were going on like crazy saying that people shold pay- then it turns out that most of those who were complaining about hadn't been paying it themselves :!: :!: :!: A few top-ranking MP's resigned over it.
Click to expand...

Really interesting reading that. :)

The bit about politicians however I think can apply on a global level. :D :D :D

That bit about crimes that are unresolved after 'x' period of time is something I wouldn't bet being adopted by the UK one day. :wink: :D

Cheers again for the info. :)

Take it easy.

Until the next time...
 
Yes there is still problems with groping on trains (chikan). Every so often theres some story on the news about some school teacher or bussinessman getting caught doing it.
 
Ramen89 said:
Is the whole groping on trains issue really that big a thing or does it only happen in some citys?
Click to expand...

This isn't just a Japanese thing you know, it happens in this country too :wink:
My Mum is 69 but she still remembers instances of groping (and general male naughtiness) whilst being cramped and jammed into a London Underground tube train as far back as the 1950's :lol:
 
hi i have a question i would like to ask.
i am currently a student (going to start college i after summer) (im 16,Asian)
and i was planning to go to japan (and "probably" get a job there) after my University days.
so i was wondering if you could give any tips on things to be prepared about for when going to Japan. And also since i am an Asian (Indian) i was also wondering that would there be any racial problems or anything :? (just a thought, since i hear that there are hardly any Indian/Asians there)

well thnx in advance.

p.s. - is the cost of living in japan more expensive than living in the UK ?
 
There should be some info that could be of help to you earlier in this thread about coming to Japan.
There is a bit of predudice towards asians in Japan. But there are rather a few asians here :)

The cost of living is quite expensive- especially for housing. But, for other things, like food etc, it's not all that bad. The money you get from your job is pretty good, so it balances out really.
 
Damn "predjudism" when will it stop :cry:
but im still gona go to japan, like all otaku's who would like to see and buy all the lates anime/manga/merchendise/games......u get the idea!
i hope it turns out good in the end....
 
There is predudice to asians in Japan mainly because a lot of crime is committed by them. On the whole most of the forigner-crime is caused by Chinese but, also many Iranian/Iraqi/Middle Eastern people sell drugs and stolen or fake items.
I haven't heard much about predudice to people from India etc... but I'm sure there is some. If you're white, you're treated pretty well. The only problem is some Japanese people talk to you in English- even when you ask them something in Japanese :evil: Which REALLY pisses me off :x
Some of my friends, who don't speak English, get even more pissed off and usually say something along the lines of "I don't speak any English you twat, I'm bloody FRENCH!!!".
The best thing about being forign is that when you don't want to talk to a stranger etc.. you can pretend to not understand ANYTHING they are saying and ignore them. Sometimes when people try to show off to their girlfriends by speaking English to me, I talk back to them in a very broad Hull accent- very fast and use a lot of slang. That leaves them looking rather stupid and very "dassai" :wink:
I do the same sometimes when English people speak to me in Japanese- I talk back using Osaka-ben or some other local dialect. Leaves them scratching their heads sometimes :twisted:
I only do stuff like that when I'm stressed-out at work- I'm usually a very nice guy though :lol:
 
Hi Chris, i'm not sure if this has been asked before or not, but i was just wondering what your job is, what qualifications did you need to get it, and what kind of jobs are avaliable/do most foreign people get?

Also i was wondering what anime(s) are big in Japan at the moment, or recent past?
 
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