Photo Limbo: Japan Jobs
While my attempt at gainful employment in Japan via the JET Program didn’t pan out, I did spend some time browsing some other openings. One of the practically universal requirements is for you to already live in Japan, which requires a work visa, which requires you to already have a job before coming over, which is a Catch-22 so perfect that Joseph Heller filed a posthumous injunction.
That did not stop me from dreaming though:
I sometimes forget that Mongolia is still a real place.
I obviously picked the wrong career path. And, presumably, gender.
Finally, I was legitimately saddened by this last one:
I’d still do it.
See you Monday.
Posted on May 18, 2012, in Miscellany and tagged Japan, JET, Photo Limbo. Bookmark the permalink. 11 Comments.
In An Age 
I think the waitress job is probably a hostess job..
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You can get a tourist visa for 3 months.
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I’m pretty sure though it’s practically impossible to get change the visa from tourist to work.
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Your employer will apply you for a work visa. You used to have to leave the country and come back, which usually meant a day in Seoul, but I think they have changed that.
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Hmm. I suppose I may be operating on out-dated information, but I had been under the impression that to get an apartment (etc) you’d need a work visa – or they’d charge you like 6 months rent just for the key. And without an apartment, there is no way that the job postings above would consider me “residing in Japan.”
But… hmm. Perhaps it is not as Catch-22’d as I think.
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Hm, if they changed that, then that news to me (it’s been some time since I’ve been there, though). My information was still the “get out of the country for a day”, and with the speed of Japanese bureaucratic innovation, I expected that to not change in my lifetime. ;)
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My favourite part is where they call the Fukushima job a “challenging environment.”
As for the money being offered, it doesn’t seem that impressive from what I hear is the cost of living in Japan from friends I have who currently live there. Check it out carefully. I’ve lived and worked on 4 different continents and met many people who didn’t do the sums properly in their desperation to get a job.
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I was saddened by the Fukushima position precisely because a fully furnished room + 3 meals/day were being provided for $253/month (with utilities being whatever). Quite literally, a bargain at twice the price.
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how can i apply?
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I don’t think the radiation level at that location in Japan would be anything to worry yourself about. Or even the level considerably closer to the accident site. There’s a lot of overwrought radiophobia around that really isn’t justified by even conservative assumptions about the effects of radiation.
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I wasn’t joking when I captioned the photo with “I’d still do it.” ;)
I’d do a lot of things for $215/month rent, company cars, and 3 catered meals a day.
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