u/DistortionField

First, a disclaimer: I wrote this in my native language and translated into English, so it may look a little weird. Everyone’s background is different, and personal experience is not necessarily replicable. This is just for reference.

I used to work in a foreign company in Shanghai. After being laid off, I moved to Japan and have now joined a large foreign enterprise in Japan as an SRE. Although I’m a contractor rather than a full-time employee, the salary is at a level I’m satisfied with.

My background: I graduated from a low-tier university in China, worked for about 5 years in SRE/DevOps roles at English-speaking foreign companies. TOEIC 925, JLPT N1, but no study or work experience in Japan.

I applied to a lot of jobs using platforms like Green, Workport, and Rirashiku, but didn’t get any meaningful offers. I was often asked “How many years have you been in Japan?” and when I answered “0 years,” the conversation basically ended there.

I once received an offer from a Japanese dispatch company with an annual salary of around 3.8M JPY. Even the recruiter told me I should just accept it. Honestly, even a dog would shake its head at that. Almost all Japanese recruiters told me it’s impossible to get a 6M+ JPY job, and suggested targeting 3–4M instead. I asked them: “Then why would I even come here?” I might as well give up my visa and go back to China to take some random outsourcing job—it would be better than that.

There’s a line from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain that makes sense here—Skull Face’s idea that language is not just a communication tool, but also shapes culture and thinking.

Japanese really isn’t a “neutral” advantage—it genuinely lowers salary expectations. Even in Japan, once Japanese becomes involved, pay tends to drop. This is not a joke.

Even though I speak Japanese, I deleted my Japanese resume entirely and only applied to English-language roles (or roles where Japanese is just a plus). The quality of job listings I saw immediately improved.

For many Japanese-language roles, they require native-level Japanese. Even when I could communicate fine, I was told my pronunciation or honorific usage wasn’t “natural enough” (for example, saying nan desu ka is not professional and you should say nan deshou ka). You’re also expected to constantly bow, wear suits, and behave very formally.

One company even rejected me because I was wearing headphones when entering the office and my greeting when leaving wasn’t “proper” enough. That company’s average salary was around 3M yen. Honestly, it was hilarious—the less they pay, the more rules they have.

On the other hand, I have never seen an English-language job requiring “native English.” For 6M+ JPY roles, there are plenty of opportunities.

In the end, I found my current job on LinkedIn. A recruiter from a large US-based outsourcing company reached out and recommended me for an SRE role at a big foreign enterprise. I passed the interviews and joined last month. The salary is at a satisfying level.

Working here feels very similar to my previous foreign-company experience in Shanghai. The working language is English. Occasionally I need to communicate with Japanese teams, but basic communication is enough—no native-level Japanese required.

No one cares whether you wear a suit, bow excessively, or even whether you’re on your phone or using headphones at work. Office attendance is 3 days per week, but there’s no strict supervision or clock-in system. As long as you get your work done, nobody cares.

The idea of “I don’t mind lower pay if the work is easy” is actually wrong in my experience—the lower the pay, the more rules and nonsense you tend to get.

My personal conclusion: if you have experience working in Western-style foreign companies, you can probably avoid most Japanese domestic companies. Low pay, high workload, and high expectations are very common.

You can basically “pretend you don’t speak Japanese” and focus only on English-speaking roles. I would strongly recommend avoiding Japanese recruiters and Japanese job boards entirely—if you see a Japanese JD, just skip it.

Hope this helps someone with a similar background. Wish everyone good luck finding their ideal job.

Disclaimer: I wrote this post with my native language and translated into English, so it may look a little weird, but definitely not all AI generated.

First of all, I’m extremely grateful for the work of the officers at Asakusa Police Station. They solved the case in an astonishing 48 hours!

I bought a Bianchi C Sport 2 with 90000 JPY last month for commuting. The day before yesterday, I rode it to work and locked it with a combination lock at the bicycle parking area under the shopping mall below my office building. When I got off work, my bicycle was gone. It felt like the sky had fallen! The thief had guessed my combination, thrown the lock aside, and taken the bicycle.

I went to a nearby police box to report it. The officer registered the bicycle’s information, and I also told them there was a security camera at the entrance of the bicycle parking area. They said they were too busy that day and would check it another day, but they couldn’t disclose whether the thief had been captured on camera. I thought they were just brushing me off and would probably forget about it after taking the report. They gave me a piece of paper with the contact information of an officer from the Criminal Investigation Division and said they would contact me proactively.

I figured there was little chance of getting it back, so I went straight to a bicycle shop and bought a new one. This time I also added theft insurance.

Today, I suddenly received a call from the police station. They told me they had found my bicycle and asked me to come identify whether it was mine. I could hardly believe it. When I arrived at the station, I recognized it immediately as my stolen bicycle.

The thief had been stopped and questioned by officers near the Sumida River. He had removed the crime-prevention registration sticker and could not provide a reasonable explanation. The bicycle’s characteristics matched exactly with the one reported stolen from me two days earlier, and he was arrested on the spot.

The thief had actually been using it as if it were his own bicycle. He removed my bike computer and lights, and installed his own bottle cage and lock. I asked the officers to remove the thief’s accessories and return them to him.

After confirming that the serial number matched my stolen bicycle, I signed documents to formally identify it. The suspect, the stolen property, and the evidence were all secured.

Now I have two identical Bianchi bicycles. I really like this model, and I wish it were available in China as well. But buying one specifically to transport back to China would be a bit wasteful, so I’m planning to take this opportunity to ship one back to China.

I asked whether I could seek compensation from the offender for the unnecessary expenses caused by purchasing a new bicycle and for my missing accessories. The officer gave me a positive answer. I asked about the next steps, and he said I only needed to wait for the offender’s lawyer to contact me.

The officers were extremely serious, professional, and responsible. They genuinely treated the case seriously and solved it incredibly quickly. I’m planning to send them a thank-you letter!

This time I bought a four-segment key lock and a tracking device, and I also have theft insurance. Hopefully it won’t be stolen a second time.

Combination locks are vulnerable because thieves can brute-force the code. If you have an expensive bicycle, it’s best not to use one. If you must use a combination lock, don’t be lazy—make sure to scramble all four digits thoroughly instead of leaving them close to the correct code!