I've recently been looking into alternative work in Japan?

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I will be planning to try to teach English in Japan once I get my degree, but one of my friends who taught there told me that the competition to get a teaching job there is crazy now. I was thinking about just studying abroad there for a year, but just today another friend of mine was telling me he wants to live in Japan too. I never knew until today that he was so interested in Japan like me. He currently works in the Navy and he mentioned that we both could look into the following: Navy jobs (boat or office), Navy civilian jobs (since I'm not in the Navy), shipyard work, oiler, supply ship civilians and possibly DOD (Department of Defense) jobs. I have been doing research on all these jobs and it seems that a lot of the Navy jobs are constantly hiring, but it says nowhere on there sites what the qualifications for such jobs are. I am hoping that some of them are entry level. I am assuming they all require a college degree, which I will have in a few years. I just hope that none of them require years of experience or special skills that I don't have. My Japanese speaking level is intermediate and I can have decent conversations in Japanese, but something tells me this and a college degree will not be enough to score any jobs like this over there. I will try emailing a few people in charge of hiring people for these positions and see if they get back to me. I just thought I would ask on here since there are so many people using this site. Is anyone on here in the Navy or has been in the Navy, done Navy civilian work, shipyard work, etc. that knows about what I would need to get a job in Japan doing any of these positions?

http://www.usajobs.gov/JobSearch/Search ... tion=Japan

I found this...but most of the jobs seem to be specialist jobs that require a lot that I don't have.

Hi, I am also interested in what jobs I can get in Japan, for example in Accounting. My brother went to Japan and taught English on the JET program

Hello Mitsuki. Yeah I will most likely apply to the JET program and work for them at first. I have a friend who is working for them right now. That would be crazy if your brother was my friend haha! I will just talk with my friend about how to apply and successfully be accepted when I have my college degree. I found out about these schools called DODEA (Department of Defense Education Activities). I was looking into working for a DODEA school, teaching the children of the military people there, but I heard its difficult to land a job like this and I will most likely be doing ESL jobs for a while. I will slowly try to work my way into modeling. I have done some modeling stuff when I was in China. Nothing big, but just contact info to help get my foot in the door. I know that if you marry a Japanese citizen...many more doors open in regarding employment opportunities. I am sure most of these jobs would still only hire you if your Japanese is at least at a conversational level. I will be taking another Japanese course this spring, so I will improve my speaking abilities. I wish living in Japan were easier haha.

Hmm, I met a guy from France who works as a civilian engineer for the US Navy.
Honestly though, I don't think you should have too much trouble finding a job teaching English if you keep looking, maybe come over on a tourist visa and apply to a few places in person.

One thing you`ll find about Japan on the internet, alot of hearsay is "there are no teaching jobs" or whatever BS.
Some foriegners seem to make a mission out of deterring others to come to Japan.

It is well for some they can model! Lol, if I was in Japan I'd love to give voice acting a go

Good luck getting on to JET!! !

Now that is a job that I would enjoy much more than teaching English. I would totally be willing to do a program to become an engineer, but did this guy get sent over to Japan like from the company he works for in France OR did he fly to Japan on his own and apply for the job on his own? If it is possible to do the latter...then I will seriously look into a job like this. Another would be something like shipyard jobs...but those are probably not as good. I would appreciate if you could let me know what his story was. Thanks for the post.

Thanks a lot. Yeah good luck with landing a few voice acting gigs! I thought about doing that. I might. I am not super charismatic BUT I do love anime (to a degree haha) and if I'm hopped up on all those Boss coffees they got available over there then I can give it a go! We should keep in touch since we both want to find a way to live in Japan. =)

He got sent over I believe. He didn't actively choose to come to Japan. I don't know too much about how it works but I don't see why you couldn't request placement in Japan in a job like that.
Thing is he works for the US Navy (or Army, don't know which) and isn't American, I found that interesting.
Are you American?
Lots of foreigners do IT here as well.

Apparently its way easyer to get a teaching job in south korea or taiwan.

My friend taught in South Korea for like 6 years and he told me the government there is really strict. All foreigners looking to teach English there have to submit to a 10 year criminal background check, that focuses on misdemeanors not just felonies. They also require this every time you work for a new company, which could be a hassle if say you are already in South Korea. I guess you would have to contact them over the phone or via email and have the background check results resent to you. They won't accept the old results (even if it was like just last year!) How unreasonable and distrusting! If your record is clean one year...they assume the following year your going to come up as a wanted felon? They also require unopened official transcripts from the college you graduated from EVERY YEAR! That is even if you are working for the same company! It sounds like too much of a hassle. Japan has a lot of paperwork, but nothing this tedious. My friend who taught in Taiwan (we met teaching in Shanghai) told me that after teaching in Taiwan for 3 years, he really enjoyed it there, but he mentioned that the competition is also really high like Japan and most of the jobs offered are their infamous cram schools. I will stick with Japan for now, but if that doesn't pan out, I will most likely be back in mainland China or possibly Taiwan...if I can find any decent teaching jobs.

One warning about Japan: both methylphenidate (including Concerta) and amphetamines (including Adderall) are illegal for adults, including foreigners. The only stim med you could legally take (as an adult living in Japan, as opposed to visiting for less than 30 days) is Cylert. KIDS can (apparently) now get Concerta in Japan, but the moment you turn 18, you officially don't have ADD anymore and can't buy it.

I've taken Cylert. It's the most horrific stim med that's ever existed. If you've ever accidentally combined methylphenidate and amphetamines, you already have a pretty good idea what it feels like. It's not pleasant. It leaves you feeling "wired, but tired", especially after you've been on it for a few weeks and averaging ~3 hours of total sleep per night (it causes terrible insomnia that leaves you physically exhausted and mentally fried, but too wired to actually fall (or stay) asleep.)

Last edited by dr01dguy on 18 Feb 2012, 12:39 am, edited 2 times in total.

Yeah.. Korea and Taiwan are not Japan.
I personally love Japan, but have no interest in Korea or Taiwan.

Wow that stuff sounds terrible! I will stay away from it. I will also stay away from everything else. Japan is slowly opening up to the modern medicines of the western world. I am pretty sure adults will be allowed to use amphetamines legally only if they have ADD or something. Then again, who knows.

I want to teach and live in Japan, because I am more interested in Japan. I have been to South Korea and it was interesting, but I like Japan more. I have not been to Taiwan yet, but I saw a lot of China. China was really interesting, but Japan is still my favorite Asian country (that I have been to).

If you take amphetamines or methylphenidate, I urge you in the strongest possible terms to contact the Japanese embassy before going too far in your plans, because as far as I know, amphetamines (including Adderall) are banned outright for residents (both children and adults), Concerta is the only legal form of methylphenidate, and Concerta can't legally be prescribed to anyone over 18 unless you're officially diagnosed (by a Japanese doctor, by Japanese criteria) with narcolepsy. As far as the government regulators of Japan's medical establishment are concerned, ADHD magically goes away the day you turn 18... and Japanese doctors aren't particularly eager to officially diagnose it in anyone UNDER 18 (least of all foreign kids). I believe that visiting foreigners staying less than a month can bring (with abundant documentation) a single month's supply, but that's the extent of it.

Don't wait until the last minute to get a legally-binding answer about this. If you depend upon amphetamines or methylphenidate to function (or even be non-misearable), and you can't legally get them in Japan, your plans are effectively nuked. It's better to find out NOW (before you've invested a lot of time and effort into making it happen) than to find out later (when it's too late).

DO NOT think you can just sneak enough to last you for the duration of your stay into the country. Legally, if you were caught, it would be no different than getting caught with a bag of crack or heroin while going through Customs at Miami International Airport, LAX, or JFK. Remember, unless you're a State Department employee working for the American Embassy, you do NOT have diplomatic immunity. You'd be arrested, and would probably end up going to jail in a foreign country. Under the best possible circumstances, you'd be arrested, then immediately deported back to the US -- forfeiting deposits, and probably any possessions you had in your apartment (because they wouldn't allow you to go pack them up, and they'd end up getting thrown in the trash by the apartment's cleaning company unless you had a cooperative roommate to pack them up for you who wasn't pissed about getting left on the hook for double the rent he was planning to pay).