- Student - If you're currently going to college, enjoy that shit while you can. There is no better time to travel abroad and no better time to experience culture than when you're living life while your parents are footing the bill. My first time going to Japan was when I was in college and no matter how many times I go back, it will never be the same as that. The University that I attended had a sister-university in Hiroshima so I was able to study there for a summer, let financial aid pay for $2000 of booze, and have one of the most memorable times of my life. If you have one of these types of programs at your school, you're in luck. Also, even if you don't have this type of program at your school, many other universities will allow you to join their program for a semester. Don't worry if your Japanese isn't that great because they don't do ANY homework in college. Surprising, right? You hear so much about how lousy the American educational system is and then you find out that colleges in Japan don't even assign homework. (Ok, ok, they do have some homework, but I didn't work on it more than 60 minutes in any given week. I hear Florida State is similar.... but I digress).
- English Teacher - I've never been an English teacher in Japan, but one of my old roommates and best friends is a teacher in Japan. If there is one serious question to ask yourself before moving to Japan to become an English teacher, it is "Can I lower my standard of living and survive?" If you're going to be an English teacher in Japan, you are probably just graduating college or you've been out of college for a year, working a half-ass job, and you want to hang out in Japan for a while. You may think that you lived like a hobo in a railcar during college, but in Japan, you'll probably live like a blind hobo in a straw hut. Another thing, don't get a teaching job in Tokyo. There's nothing like having one of the lowest paying jobs in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Teach in a cheaper town ( even Osaka is much cheaper ) and go to Tokyo every few months to see all the sheep.
- Finance Worker - This is how I went to live in Japan. There are a lot of positives and negatives of being a salaryman. First, the positives: This is an incredibly sexy job. If you're in Tokyo and meet a woman, tell her you work for one of the big investment banks and watch her eyes light up. Another great thing is the pay. Any decent job (e.g. non-teaching job) will give you a housing allowance that will allow you to use your pre-tax dollars to pay your rent. Another positive is that working in the finance industry can be sort of interesting, for a while. Now with a few of the negatives: Working for a Japanese finance company (don't let it fool you, even if the company is an American company and it is in Japan, it is a Japanese company) can be ridiculous. Some of the idiocy that you will experience is people competing to see who can get to the office earliest. Oh, and another important thing to remember, "being at work" and "doing work" are two totally different things. Another point of stupidity is people staying at the office just to leave after their superiors, regardless of having any work to finish. There are a million other things, but I'll save that for another post...
- Other - If you are fluent in Japanese you may be able to fit into this category. Especially if you are some type of skilled labor. This seems like it would be a pretty sweet job in Japan because you'll spend more time with the people. Also, if it's possible, be a traffic cop. You'll have absolutely no job satisfaction but you'll be able to show up drunk and nobody would ever know.
I'd like to hear if anybody else has worked in any other industries in Japan. Post a comment if you wanna share.
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