Comment by Ayumi Saito on "Tech Scene in Japan" | Hashnode

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Ayumi Saito

Oct 12, 2017

Hello Marco! Thank you so much for asking a question. Unfortunately I have never worked for Japanese companies as Web developer as I'm based in Europe. I cannot answer the working environment in Tech companies in Japan, I'm sorry.

One thing I can say is that you need to know decentJapanese if you want to work for a Japanese company in Japan even though you are Web developer. I want this situation to be improved. Even though the person is a skilled worker, if that person does not know Japanese, the normal company will hesitate to hire that person over other Japanese people. I met several talented people from other countries who does not want to work for Japanese companies due to this situation.

I hope other Japanese developers can answer your question with more insight!

Marco Alka

Software Engineer, Technical Consultant & Mentor

Oct 12, 2017

Thank you! Even though you are not working in Japan, your answer is very interesting :)

It's always sad to see good people not landing a job because of bias or cultural problems, however I also can understand that it is vital for a company to be able to easily exchange information with all employees. Not everyone can speak English or is good enough for business or technical conversations, so that might be a priority there. Well, seems I have to work on my Japanese for the time being :D

To add my 2 cents on that matter, I am french, and it happens I do work in Japan as a web dev for 3 years now.

Yes, we need Japanese to work here, especially that I am not in a big city like Tokyo.

Regarding the cultural aspect, yes, it's totally different. But my boss told me that my way of interacting with other, because different, is important for the company as it helps people think in a different way.

Kanjis are a thing in its own and I am learning on the spot (trying to remember what I read in documentation or emails). It takes ages, but it's enough for now. Of course, I write reports every day in Japanese and have to read emails from customers etc... It just takes me a LOT of time to understand what is going on.

Thankfully, I compensate with speed when coding because that's the thing I am good at.

Regarding the dedication image I had regarding tech people here, I was a bit disappointed. People around me do not love code as much as I do, and it's a little bit a shame.

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