Hello! from Japan

About Japan and music

foreign workers in japan

How’s your life in Japan? (Online interview with Sean)

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How are you doing?
We had another online interview with a foreign resident in Japan.
It was really fun talking with him and we got some interesting opinions about life in Japan.

He came to Takayama city about 3 year ago!

0:13 日本に来たきっかけは？
What brought you to Japan?

1:29 日本に馴染むのは大変だった？
Was it hard to fit in the different culture?

2:08 日本が外国人にとっても住みやすい場所になるには？
What should Japan work more on for foreign citizens?

3:35 どうやって日本語を習得した？
How did you learn Japanese?

5:11 日本の幼児教育について
About early child education in Japan.

7:23  先輩移住者としてアドバイス
Tips for new-comers

9:06  今回インタビューをしてみて
After the interview

I hope this will be helpful for someone thinking about coming to Japan in the future!

See you next time!
Taka

*I’m a professional composer by the way.
You can listen/download my music below.
Multicolors
Free Somebody
Skyhigh

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me: [email protected]

Interview with a foreign worker from Mexico

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How’s everything?
We had another online interview with our new friend from Mexico, Uriel-san.

30min interview movie with English subtitles!

0:38 日本に来たのはいつ？　When did you come to Japan?
1:37 どこで日本語を学んだの？ Where did you learn Japanese?
2:08 日本に来たきっかけは？ What brought you to Japan?
3:17 メキシコでは日本語を学んでいる人は多い？ Do many people study Japanese in Mexico?
3:43 どうやって日本語を勉強したの？ How did you learn Japanese?
5:27 日本での仕事は? What do you do in Japan?
6:32 いつから高山に？ When did you move to Takayama?
6:49 地方の生活は慣れた？ How’s life in countryside?
7:18 初めて日本に来たときの苦労 Did you have any difficulties when you first came to Japan?
8:02 日本に移住してから苦労したことは？Did you have any difficulties after moving to Japan?
8:40 日本とメキシコの文化の違い Differences between Japan and Mexico.
10:52 日本の食べ物はどうですか？ How’s the food in Japan?
12:35 日本でメキシコの料理を食べる？ Do you eat Mexican food in Japan sometimes?
13:20 ホームシックになる？ Do you get homesick?
14:12 他の外国人移住者と交流はある？ Do you meet other foreign workers?
14:50 東京にいた時は交流の機会はありましたか？ How about when you were in Tokyo? 
15:55 交流イベントの重要性 The importance of meetup events.
16:32 多文化共生を実現させるには？ What can we do to live in harmony?20:44 先輩移住者としてアドバイス Tips for new-comers.
21:56 これからも日本に？ Will you stay in Japan?
22:29 高山での生活における改善点 Any improvements suggested for Takayama?
25:03 今回インタビューをしてみて After the interview

I hope it will be helpful for those who are planning to move to Japan to know about what’s it like to live here.

See you next time!
Taka

*I’m a professional composer by the way.
You can listen/download my album below.
Free Somebody
Skyhigh

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me: [email protected]

How much can you earn working part-time in Japan?

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Hi, How’s it going?
Now that the coronavirus is going around the world, it is unlikely that we will be able to travel/move to another country anytime soon.
But as the Japanese government started a new policy in 2019 to welcome as many as 345,000 workers from overseas within 5 years, it is most likely that there will be more and more opportunities for people all over the world to come to Japan to work. 

Especially if you are a student, you might think of coming to Japan as an International student and work part-time (you are allowed to work up to 28 hours a week with a student visa). Approximately 75% of International students take some kind of part-time job (it is called “Arubaito/Baito” in Japanese).

Hourly rate

According to a study by Jasso , about 45% of international students choose to work Food and Beverage related part-time work (such as convenience store, or supermarket), and about 24% of them take Sales and Marketing related job.

Hourly rate for part-time job is over 800yen (if the work you find is below that, you should not take it…!). Ratio of part-time job that offers 800yen to 1,000yen is 50%, and 1,000yen to 1,200yen is 30%. You need to be careful if you find a part-time job that offers over 1,200yen without requiring you to have a specific skill as it might be a fraud (However, the wage of a teaching job is high. From around 2,000yen to 5,000yen per hour). 

You can find part-time job opportunities online.
Here is one of the most popular site: Gaijin pot

It might be difficult at first…

At work place, you might face some culture shocks seeing the way Japanese people work. People work really hard, you need to be respectful to seniors, and there are a lot of unspoken communication which is very hard for foreign workers to comprehend…So my advice is to listen what people say carefully and do as others do until you get comfortable working there. And ask when you are not sure about anything.

For an International Student

If you choose to work part-time in Japan, you need to make sure that the work does not affect your studies. International students who work over 28 hours limit has been a big problem, and you will be forced to go back if you do that.

I hope the current situation will get better soon and I’m looking forward to meeting the newcomers to Japan! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me [email protected] .

Have a great day! 
Taka

*I’m a professional composer by the way.
You can listen/download my album below.
Free Somebody
Skyhigh

Interview with a foreign worker in Japan

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Hi, it’s been a while since I posted something here on my blog.

We used to have a lot of tourists from overseas in Japan but because of the virus, we have none these days.
I hope things will get better soon and everyone will be able to travel freely soon.

Although we do not have any tourists from different countries, we do have foreign workers living together in the community.
Me and my friend, Aya interviewed one of them and asked about life in Japan to share it to those who are planning to live in Japan.
Here’s the video of it.

Interview with Luke-san from the States

Interview with Luke

0:32 日本に来たのはいつ？When did you move to Japan?

2:19 日本の良い所は？Good things about Japan?

3:08 アジアで他に興味がある国は？ Interested in other Asian countries?

3:50 他国で働く事は普通？ Is it common to work overseas?

4:51 どうして日本を選んだの？Why did you choose Japan?

5:48 生活に慣れるのは大変でしたか？Was it hard to get settled?

8:23 日本の都会の生活はどうでしたか？ How was your city life in Japan?

9:34 日本の地方(高山)の暮らしはどうですか？How is your life in Takayama?

13:18 友達は作りやすい？ Is it easy to make frieds/meet new people?

13:55 これからも日本に滞在する？Are you planning to stay in Japan?

15:09 多文化共生に日本が必要な事は？ What should Japan work on to live in harmony with foreign workers?

16:42 外国人労働者が日本社会に溶け込むには？ Any good ways to get both Japanese and foreign workers together?

18:49 これから来る外国人労働者へアドバイス！Tips for newcommers. 

I hope it will give you some ideas of living in Japan.

Feel free to contact me [email protected] if you have any questions.
I teach Japanese/Japanese culture online (private class using Skype) as well.

Have a great day and stay safe!
Taka

*I’m a professional composer by the way.
You can listen/download my album below.
Free Somebody
Skyhigh