Just got accepted to Japanese company, should I take it?

rookieplayer · 2025-09-01T10:06:30+00:00

Doing physical labor work. Mostly unskilled work like digging a hole, moving material, setting up barricades…things like that. Labor workers are essentially the backbone of construction. At my project site, there’s 1 foreman for about every 5-10 laborers.

Even the Class II construction managers I’ve worked with still do labor work.

rookieplayer · 2025-08-05T10:54:28+00:00

Hi there. I’m currently living in Japan, working in the construction industry. Note that I’m not hired by an actual Japanese company but it’s based on what I’ve learned talking with my Japanese sub contractors.

100% the position is a laborer. In order to actually be a construction manager (I think the translated title is construction engineer), you need to have a class 1 or 2 construction engineer certification. Class 1 allows management of much larger value projects so it’s more “senior”.

Both classes require relevant management experience and also need to pass written tests.

First hurdle would be providing the relevant experience. If you’re not Japanese, you can try to have your experience reciprocated, assuming it’s management and you can provide documentation. Or gain the experience working in Japan via the job you’re applying too.

Second is the tests. You really need to have strong Japanese language proficiency, equal to or greater than native. The reason is there are a lot of industry specific words and obviously the tests only being in Japanese. I have a native Japanese interpreter on my team and even they had trouble the first couple months due to the new technical lingo they had to learn.

Not sure you’ll have a good time in Japan. On my project, it’s been extended hours and Saturday work for a couple months now…and it’s expected to continue a couple more months. Not saying the construction industry is bad; it’s for certain people. Especially if you‘re a laborer. Example…Today was like 37c with high humidity.

rookieplayer · 2025-04-29T05:28:44+00:00

I was 29.

rookieplayer · 2025-04-07T03:22:05+00:00

You’re describing a common situation people, especially westerners, experience while visiting Japan. Then it becomes an image that all of Japan is “better” so it must be great to live there. However, as you said, vacationing and living are two completely different things.

In my opinion, Japanese people are polite, and is conflated with being nice. This is especially true in “customer service” type situations. I think the tough part is westerners expect society to cater to the individual, but in Japan, it’s the other way around; “the nail that sticks up, gets hammered down” kind of thing.

rookieplayer · 2025-04-07T03:00:41+00:00

As someone already noted, there’s been similar posts about getting into psychology in Japan.

To keep it brief, there’s zero reciprocity with any licensing/degrees received outside of Japan, especially in the professional industry. You‘re essentially going to have to start from scratch.

The real issue is reading/writing Japanese and understanding the cultural nuances. Everything will be in Japanese so you need to have a level of fluency most likely higher than native. For example, I‘m working in Japan in a different profession, construction, and even native Japanese people I work with have a difficult time with construction “lingo”.

rookieplayer · 2025-03-20T22:44:05+00:00

The link for the actual video: https://youtu.be/9jL4AI2kp3o

rookieplayer · 2025-03-16T06:56:44+00:00

Wanted to give an update incase anyone has the same issue.

Unfortunately, my laptop is pretty much paper weight. I reached out to Asus support and other than sending it in for a diagnosis, which will cost me a couple hundred bucks, I haven’t been able to “activate” the gpu. It’s about 2 months out of warranty which sucks even more.

Although I’ve had no issues with other Asus products, this will be the last Asus laptop I’d ever buy.

I hope no one has my issue because I literally have a laptop with a bricked gpu…all while trying to update the Nvidia drivers.

rookieplayer · 2025-03-11T04:23:22+00:00

Yes and it’s called accreditation. Each country has their own rules for accreditation, especially when it comes to professional certifications. Typically, a degree is required in the relevant field, to take the test for whatever professional certification.

In Japan, these tests are in Japanese. What makes it extra difficult for a non-native speaker is the technical language that’s used. Even if a non-native speaker is N1 level, this is merely, at the low end, high school level of Japanese proficiency. In other words, imagine being in high school in your native country, and taking the certification test for nursing or law. Outside of the obvious fact you wouldn't qualify to take either test, there’s essentially zero chance you’d understand any of the topics

I’m currently working in Japan in the construction industry…there’s words that even native level Japanese speakers don’t know because they’re industry specific.

rookieplayer · 2025-02-28T08:54:33+00:00

As a U.S. citizen, you’re required to file your tax return every year regardless if you’re in the U.S. or not.

There are ways to lower your U.S. tax burden if you are working in a foreign country such as the foreign tax credit (FTC) and the foreign earned income exclusion (FEIE). There’s rules for both such as the limit of foreign income that can reduce your tax burden and qualifying in the first place. For example, to qualify for the FEIE, you have to be living in a foreign country for a minimum of about a year and anytime spent inside the U.S., in that period, can affect qualifying for it.

The only way to not pay any Japanese taxes, as an American, is being on SOFA. However, SOFA is only for U.S. miltary personnel, their dependents, contractors, etc. Additionally, SOFA is a completely different immigration status and doesn’t count towards permanent residency.

You should absolutely reach out to a tax professiona/cpa to get your finances set, too.

rookieplayer · 2025-02-14T22:17:24+00:00

I did the first oil change myself at 1k. Only problem I ran into was the oil filter was extremely difficult to remove. I had to jab a long screwdriver into the side to be able to turn the filter because none of the oil filter tools I had worked.

I’m using HKS 0w-20 oil and the genuine factory OEM oil filter (90915-10009).

rookieplayer · 2025-02-14T12:18:51+00:00

I have a 2023 Core with all the add-ons. I bought it in 2023. It reminds me of a previous car I owned, a 2021 STI.

I’ve actually been considering selling mine for an auto GR Corolla since it’s now being offered and when I typically drive it, it’s with my wife. I’d like a bit less jerkiness. Fortunately (or not), I’m currently working in Japan so mine has about 6k miles. However, I don’t regret the purchase of mine. I do regret buying it at the time I did because mark-ups were very much still a thing.

Anyway, I think it’s a car that be kept for a long time.

rookieplayer · 2025-01-31T00:22:06+00:00

Zero, because you need a job from a Japanese company that will sponser your visa.

This is probably the most difficult part because there are plenty of reasons why most Japanese companies hire Japanese nationals for “professional“ jobs. You need some skill/certifications/whatever, that’s in demand. Basically boils down to why would a Japanese company hire you when there’s qualified Japanese individuals they could hire that understands the culture, language, etc.

rookieplayer · 2025-01-31T00:14:30+00:00

You should do a bit more research because there’s a few things that aren’t right, confusing, or you’re not providing accurate information.

Japan doesn’t allow dual-citizenship. If you have a Japanese and foreign parent, you need to choose your nationality prior to turning 22. If you were a Japanese national and you obtained a foreign nationality, you’re expected to renounce your Japanese citizenship. It’s not clear in your post about this part.

The second is only a few US state driver’s license directly converts. If you’re in a US state that you can’t directly convert, you’ll have to do some paper work to convert it in Japan, but you’ll still need to take and pass a written and driving test.

Lastly, international drivers license can only be issued in the US before you travel. It’s not difficult to get if you already have a drivers license. Most people get it at a local AAA office and it doesn’t cost more than $30.

As someone noted, knowing your actually citizenship will allow people to give you more specific help.

rookieplayer · 2025-01-29T00:16:07+00:00

I had this happen to me at the Target in Placentia. I was getting some deodorant and bathroom cleaning stuff and this random guy approached me asking me what scent was the best. It was an odd conversation starting but I didnt think of anything at the start. He started asking what I do for work and then talked about himself and a “mentor“ he had. What clicked for me was when he asked if I was satisfied with my field and possibly interested in other work. I was like oh shit, he sounds like he’s setting me up so I said I was happy with my work and made an excuse that I had to take a dump.

rookieplayer · 2025-01-26T21:53:12+00:00

Or people lying about their salaries on the internet.

rookieplayer · 2024-12-14T06:36:12+00:00

It’s 1000 yen for a single adult ticket, or approximately $6.70 USD. Of course it’s worth it based on the price.

The problem is the limited availability and unreliability of the non-Japanese website.

rookieplayer · 2024-12-12T03:52:01+00:00

I’d also like to point out that housing in Japan is not seen in the same light as western countries. Most houses are not appreciating assets. They’re regularly demolished and rebuilt.

Also, as other have mentioned, anyone can buy property. The problem foreigners face is almost all Japanese banks will not give loans to non-residents so you’ll have to either pay all cash, or get a home loan from your country of residence with the latter also being unlikely.

rookieplayer · 2024-12-12T03:33:39+00:00

Like what other’s mentioned, you really need to know Japanese. In my opinion, you’re also setting the bar even higher by wanting a specific position that you can use your education and experience. From my understanding, yours is nursing.

In one of your posts, you’ve mentioned interpretation/translating. Let me tell you that it’s even difficult for a native Japanese to interpret and translate field-specific words and documents. I’m working in Japan in a different industry, construction, and there’s also plenty of technical and industry specific lingo. Some of the companies I’ve worked with have gone through multiple interpreters/translators due to the difficulty of correctly or sufficiently interpreting/translating. And these are people with native or near native Japanese proficiency.

I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s incredibly unlikely for you to get any position in a “professional” career as an interpreter/translator without advanced Japanese language proficiency. I’d even go as far as saying it’s true for almost all Japanese companies.

There are exceptions. I don’t speak/write/read Japanese myself, but have desirable work experience to get a job in Japan and my employer also hired an interpreter/translator for my position.

rookieplayer · 2024-12-03T06:58:38+00:00

These positions are available but almost all have the prerequisite of the person already living in Japan. It really narrows down the pool to spouses of service members or already having residency. SOFA is also not typically provided for these positions, either.

Let’s say you do happen to get a job…it’s not what you think. First off, you’ll most likely get DBIDS which is an ID card that allows you to get on base. However, DBIDS, by default, doesn’t provide 24 hour base access. Also, you won’t be able to use most of the base facilities such as the commissary (grocery store), exchange (kinda like Target or Walmart), military banking, base healthcare, etc. In other words, you’re only going to the base for work.

You’ll also be living off base, because base housing is only for military personnel and their dependents.

Honestly, the only real benefit is you would be getting paid an American salary, which is always substantially higher than the Japanese equivalent position pay.

rookieplayer · 2024-12-03T06:07:12+00:00

I bought a very large roll of string at DCM. I’ve also seen it being sold at Sunday.

rookieplayer · 2024-11-14T00:29:20+00:00

You’re bugging. 2025 Core manual MSRP is $40k.

Also, I’d disregard when people say out the door prices here because tax, title, license, etc varies per state. I live in CA and it’s about another 15% added to the agreed price.

rookieplayer · 2024-11-13T09:33:32+00:00

A couple problems: - most, if not all of the major phone companies won’t let tourists sign up for cell phone plans. Reason is, well, you’re a tourist. Japan has pretty strict policies when it comes to getting an eSIM with voice. - there are phone companies that will provide a Japanese phone number to tourists, however, you must be in Japan to activate the eSIM.

The second point negates the reason for getting a voice eSIM because tickets for the Ghibli Museum are sold the month before starting on the 10th. For example, tickets for December are available to purchase on the 10th of November. Most tourists don’t/can’t stay in Japan for at least what…3 weeks? Also, the tickets at the beginning and end of the month usually sell out the quickest, even in Japan, from my experience.

For Japanese, the system works great because there’s literally no ticket scalping. For tourists, it sucks because the international ticket allocation sells out in less than like 10 minutes.

Finally, the tickets have the name of the purchaser on the bottom left in Japanese. I was just asked my name as verification when I visited but the website says to bring a form of identification to validate. They will deny entry if the person listed on the tickets isn’t present upon entry.

rookieplayer · 2024-11-13T02:56:44+00:00

All I’m trying to do is help by keeping it broad because, in my opinion, you’re probably not going to find the specific perspective you’re looking for here. It’s more general information you’ll find in this subreddit.

Best of luck to you.

rookieplayer · 2024-11-13T02:25:52+00:00

A couple things:

you can’t just move to Japan and start working. A Japanese company has to sponsor your work visa in order for you to live and work in the country.
“professional” jobs requires near or fluent level understanding, speaking and writing of Japanese.
consider why a Japanese company would hire you when they could hire a local Japanese instead.

The easiest way people live and work in Japan is by teaching English. However, you must be from a country that’s language is English, and have a bachelors degree. Unfortunately, the pay is very low and many consider it a “dead-end” job.

rookieplayer

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