Matkaraportin laatija: Jussi Salmio

Osasto, pää- / sivuaineet:
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Työ ja saamani opit:
The working culture in Japan is different from that in Europe for highly educated people. They start working at about eight o’clock in the morning and finish mostly between six and eight, often even later. That makes training very hard for foreigners who have used to shorter periods of work and in the evening they’re often too tired to do anything else than take a Japanese bath, eat or watch the TV.

In the work there are also many things that foreigners may find strange. For example in Ayabe factory we say the company motto aloud together every morning have three five-minute stretching and two cleaning sessions of the same length daily. Also the pace of working is different from the western one: when the Japanese people work they concentrate only to working. The chatting about for example weekend’s comings and goings is done at breaks or after work.

The structure of a Japanese company is very hierarchic and old fashioned. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but for foreigners it’s good to know in advance so it’s easier to understand the behavior. Most Japanese also think that a group is more powerful and productive than several individuals. This can be seen also in many things in daily life.

It’s also good to be prepared for quite simple work assignments, because the company doesn’t know your real skills in advance (despite the amount of paperwork) and sometimes it may be a little difficult to give instructions for the task. This doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be this way, it’s just one thing that may possibly happen.

Palkkaus ja verotus:
My salary for one month was about 80 000 yen, that is about $650. For two months training I earned so little that I didn’t have to pay any taxes to Japan. Instead I have to pay some taxes to Finland. In the case I had to pay taxes also to Japan, the double taxation would be taken into account in Finland. It’s good to contact the tax authorities of the home country to find out if there’s need for some special documents or if it’s possible to obtain reduced tax percentage in either country.

Majoitus:
It seems that trainees very seldom work or live at city or town centers, so you may need to travel for some time to get into one and even then there may be nothing to do (unless you’re not alone or the town is so big that there are ‘easy’ ways to amuse yourself).

Most trainees seem to live in company dormitories which in general are clean and nice places to stay. There are different dormitories for male and female employees and also every dormitory has it’s own rules. In the dormitories there are the basic facilities: bath, toilets, laundry room, lounge and possibly some vending machines for drinks and food.

Some companies pay a specific travel money for trainees to get from the dormitory to the company and back, but in some cases it may be a good idea to discuss about possibility to get a ride with someone’s car.

Renting an own apartment is rather expensive and you may need to pay several months rent in advance and often won’t be able to get it all back. In my opinion it’s something to be avoided if it’s not really necessary and even then it’s wise to use the help of local people.

Matkajärjestelyt:
To enter to Japan for working legally you need a visa and it’s best to start filling the papers early because it takes a lot of time to get the visa. There is also a lot of paperwork and a vast need of photos (I had to give seven photos to different places). When going to get the visa from the embassy it’s best to check what you need there in advance (at least passport, some photos, an application for visa and certificate of eligibility).

The traveling arrangements were easy to do. Some calls to the travel agency and some e-mailing with the Japanese IAESTE Osaka local committee were enough. After landing to Kansai airport I had to take a limousine (airport) bus to the central Osaka (Hankyu Umeda station) and some IAESTE members were there to meet and guide me to the youth hostel. From the hostel I and some other Omron trainees were guided to Omron Training Centre in Kyoto and from there we had to manage ourselves to our training sites (we got instructions and travel tickets from the company, so it wasn’t very difficult).

There is no need for work permit (or at least I don’t know about it; it‘s also possible that the company or IAESTE took care of it).

Vapaa-aika:
The only two IAESTE committees in Japan I got to know are in Tokyo and Osaka. Ayabe is located about 100km northwest from Kyoto, so I participated the events of IAESTE Osaka. There were events for almost every weekend but not during the o-bon (1 week holiday, when the Japanese travel to their families and visit their ancestors’ graves). In addition to the biggest event of the summer, a long weekend in Ise together with IAESTE Tokyo, we had Welcome and Farewell Parties, many possibilities to go sightseeing and visiting restaurants and bars.

Mostly the IAESTE events were very nice and it was easy to make friends with both Japanese and foreign people. The only problem seemed to be the location of Ayabe: by train it took almost two hours to get to Kyoto and to Osaka about two and half hours, so for going to Friday events I had to take some time off the work.

It wasn’t very difficult to find something to do for the free time. The people at the companies are interested in foreigners and want to spend time with them. Many times I went to eat and drink after work with my co-workers, we played tennis and other sports with company’s clubs, we sang karaoke, went sightseeing and did other things. If you would have to manage on your own in this small town, I think it wouldn’t be very much of fun – but in Japan that kind of situation seems to be impossible.

Maan tapa:
If possible, study at least a little of the Japanese manners and culture in advance, so you don’t get confused so easily with the everyday things and have a possibility to experience more. There are a lot of differences to western countries and sometimes even wandering in a department store can be quite amusing.

A big difference is the way of eating and the food. The Japanese use chop sticks for eating most foods, but sometimes even they have to use spoon, knife or fork. Making a slurping sound while eating isn’t considered unpolite, but just the opposite: it shows that you like the food. Also the soup is often drunk from the cup and the pieces of meat or vegetables picked up by the chop sticks.

The food is quite diversified. The basic food, rice is in principle used to fill your stomach and the other dishes give the taste. A lot of fish and other seafood, meat and chicken is eaten. In addition lots of different vegetables and grasses are included in the dishes. People often eat breakfast, lunch and dinner during the day. Breakfast may be the biggest surprise, because the Japanese one normally includes rice and some small fish, some kind of simple soup and something else. Despite the differences, most of the food is very good and of course western and Chinese dishes are also available.

It’s good to know in advance how to behave in the Japanese bath, because it’s also quite different. People sit on small stools or chairs in front of hand showers and wash themselves with small, soapy towels. Before entering the warm bath they rinse the soap and dirt off the body so everyone in the house can use the same water.

A major difference is also the way to wear shoes. When you enter a house, you almost always should change your outdoor shoes for the inside shoes (this applies for homes as well as companies). Shops are an exception to this rule, in them you mostly can walk in outdoor shoes. And when you enter a room the floor of which is tatami mats, you mustn’t wear any shoes, even the inside shoes.

The Japanese society thinks very much of other people around. People are polite and help each other in many ways, they wait for the trains in a queue and mostly keep places tidy. This is also the way for foreigners to act, trying to be distinguished from the Japanese on purpose may lead to some minor difficulties.

Muuta:
Despite the fact that there may be more negative than positive things said in this text, Japan is definitely a very interesting and nice place to go for someone who wants to see a culture very different from the western one. There are a lot more positive things than mentioned here, but unfortunately the negative aspects are much easier to recognize.

Don’t trust to get money from the banks or ATMs with your VISA card in Japan. In most cases only Japanese VISA cards are accepted even if there’s the VISA sign on the door or the window. Change at least a couple of ten thousand yens in advance in your country. In general the most expensive things in Japan are traveling, lodging and using services.

The most programs on the TV are in Japanese, but some programs (especially on satellite channels) are bilingual and it’s possible to turn on the other language somehow (ask for help!). Also there are several English newspapers which are not very expensive (even subscribing them isn’t awfully expensive).

Make a lot of name cards in advance. They’re a very convenient way to exchange contact information and the Japanese people use them a lot.

The Japanese people are very nice and friendly for foreigners. They’re sometimes very shy, so you should think of making the initiative. One reason for the shyness is the culture, another is the lack of English skills (it may surprise you, that the Japanese people in general don’t speak very good English). Even despite a common language you get along well if you just want to, some possible ways are drawing and writing, body language and dictionaries.

Sometimes the Japanese make a change in the plans, but don’t remember to tell you about it. This seems to apply for the Japanese in general. It’s sometimes very annoying and I don’t know is it because of cultural differences, language problems or what...

Be also prepared to understand, that things are not necessarily done from western point of view in the easiest or the most reasonable way, but in a way which I call the Japanese way. It may take several papers and stamps or talking with many people to make a decision which may sound like a very simple one. It’s especially advisable to begin making arrangements in a company as early as possible (for example on extra holidays).

For traveling on JR (Japan Railways) lines the trainees should consider of buying a Seishun 18 (juu-hachi) kippu. This ticket costs \11,500 and with that one person is allowed to five days ‘for free’ on JR local trains (in express trains it’s cheaper to travel with this, in bullet trains it has no effect). Every day is marked ‘used’ by a stamp at the ticker gate by the JR personnel, so five people can travel one day with it or one can travel for five optional days. When buying the ticket check the last day it’s valid and remember to use the ticket before that...

One important aspect of the Japanese culture are small gifts. People tend to give small presents to other persons quite often, for example when visiting someone’s home (which is quite rare in Japan). It’s advisable to buy (several small?) gifts from your home country to be given to different people. When giving gifts avoid amounts of four or fourteen (and so on) pieces of anything. The numeral four is pronounced like the word for death and it is not very friendly to wish death for anybody (this numeral magic is also the reason for omitting these numbers for example in numbering of building floors or karaoke boxes).

Before arriving to Japan it’s also advisable to get some material (books, brochures, photos etc.) of your home country, because the Japanese are very interested in different countries. The reason for that is that many of them never (have the possibility to) travel abroad. Also some photos of the family and relatives or friends may be a nice thing to show...

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