The reality of living in Japan as a foreigner
You need to know the downside of living in Japan
“I can’t wait to move to Japan, and make my long-time wish come true!”. Some people might be thinking that moving to Japan is a dream come true. If you think that everyone is nice and everything in Japan is clean and organized, you are indeed correct. However, depending on how you spend your time in Japan, you may start to see a different side of Japan. A side which you never imagined could be happening in this land of dreams.
In this article, we will explain in detail the things that you should definitely be aware of before moving to Japan. They say that moving to Japan as a resident and coming to Japan as a traveler is ver different. It is definitely different, in both good and bad ways. We will try to explain as much information about how you can prevent going on the wrong path in Japan, on this page.
Financial issues in Japan
The first thing you need to be careful of when living in Japan is your financials. You might have an image that everything in Japan is super expensive. That is not accurate and we explained thoroughly in this article we previously published. (Is Japan expensive? Financial guide for living in Japan). Japan isn’t as expensive as say some parts of the United States or Europe. However, you may end up losing a lot of money if you don’t know how and where to use your money in Japan.
The first thing you need to be careful of is not getting a low-paying job. There is a lot of need for people with international backgrounds because Japanese businesses are trying hard to expand it’s business overseas. These jobs can provide you with great opportunities for career growth. However, Japan is also purely in need of labor because of the nation’s aging population and declining birth rate. Therefore, you may end up getting a job that simply just wants to fill the manpower it needs.
These jobs can be one of the jobs that can be described as 3K. (Kitsui, Kitanai, Kiken or キツイ、汚い、危険) This literally means Tough, Dirty, and Dangerous jobs. A lot of these jobs require only pure manpower, so it isn’t hard to get these jobs. However, it makes your time in japan a nightmare, and we would recommend you not to get these types of jobs if possible.
As a measure of the thumb, according to this rental property website, it would be hard living in the 23 wards of Tokyo, if you don’t make at least ¥200,000. On the other hand, if you are living outside of the 23 wards of Tokyo, ¥200,000 per month would be enough.
Contract issues in Japan
A lot of contract in Japan is written only in Japanese. Therefore, you will need to be extra careful about signing contracts if you don’t understand the language perfectly. Contracts include phone contracts, labor contracts, housing contracts, and so on.
For a labor contract, you will need to see if they withdraw expenses from your salary. (housing fee, equipment cost) In most cases, these aren’t legal in Japan and a major company wouldn’t do such things. However, if you are in a rural area in Japan and working for an unknown company it may happen. Also, you should check for work location, job description, employment type as well.
For housing, you should check for cleaning fee, the penalty for contract breach, key replacement fee, management fee, commission, deposit fee, and so on. Even though the monthly housing price may be reasonable, some real estate agents will ask you for a lot with these extra items.
For utility contacts such as wi-fi, phone, electricity, and gas contacts, you will need to be careful if the pricing is pay-as-you-go or fixed? You might end up paying way more than you originally planned to. Also, the breach of contract fee tends to be very costly in Japan, so you should consider how long you want to keep on using the particular plan.
Statistics of foreigners working in Japan
The bad work environment in Japan
According to the report made by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, in 2017 the number of foreign residents in Japan was 2,771,458. The number of training providers found to be in violation of labor standards-related laws and regulations was 4,226 (70.8%) out of 5,966 workplaces (training providers) for which supervisory guidance was provided. The main violations were (1) working hours (26.2%), (2) safety standards such as measures to be taken for machines used (19.7%), and (3) payment of premium wages (15.8%).
Japan has a notorious image of having a bad work environment, due to suicide or death caused by work. We have previously written articles about the work environment in Japan. If you are interested to learn more about it, have a look at these articles. (Do the Japanese really overwork themselves more than others?, Working at a foreign company in Japan. Reality of working at a Gaishi (外資)).
The work situation largely differs based on what type of job you get and there are definitely jobs that provide a great work environment. You just need to know the right places to look for them. If you have no idea where to get this information, try using these career websites or career agents in Japan.
Career websites: 5 Best website for new grads to find jobs in Japan
Career agents: Best 5 Career Agents to Change Jobs in Japan
Harassment at work environment in Japan
Japanese people are generally kind to strangers, and will not cause much trouble with people they don’t know. However, power harassment and sexual harassment still happens in a lot of work environments in Japan. The graph below was taken from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare and it indicates the cases of the number of consultations on power harassment received at the labor consultation corners. The blue chart indicates the cases of lawsuits regarding power harassment, and the orange chart shows the case that was brought to the labor consultation corners. When you look at the orange chart, it is clear that the cases of power harassment are increasing by the year.
The data are shown above isn’t specific to foreigners, but it still shows the overall work experience in Japan. You should know that there is harassment still happening in Japan and that you should consult with the labor consultation corners when you encounter such a situation.
It is important to know both sides
There are always two sides to anything
In this article, we have covered some of the things you should be careful about when moving to Japan. Especially knowing about the finance, contracts, work environments, and harassment situation in advance, you can avoid getting into a nightmare in Japan. There is always both good and bad side to everything. Japan is definitely a wonderful place for anyone to live and work, but you should keep in mind that there are things that you need to be careful of as well.
