ThatDamnGood
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The process of assimilating the more dynamic (and leet) elements of Japanese society well underway.
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asahi.com????????Japanese rushing to Shanghai for better jobs - English
SHANGHAI--The peculiarities and rigidity of Japan Inc. had been tolerated by employees when companies were raking in money and the economy was steaming ahead.
But now, with the economy struggling to emerge from stagnation, Japanese workers are flocking to the thriving city of Shanghai, where they can work free of the obstacles that had limited their potential at home.
A few months ago, Minako Kanezaki, 29, was put in charge of advertising at a publishing company in Shanghai targeting Japanese seeking local information. She had joined the company only a year ago, but now, five of the six Japanese employees working under Kanezaki are men older than her.
"I am somewhat shocked at these circumstances that would be unimaginable in Japan," Kanezaki said.
Before coming to Shanghai in 2008, Kanezaki worked for about five years as a ground crew member manning passenger counters of a Japan Airlines Corp. subsidiary.
She began thinking about changing jobs after she thought in frustration, "Will I only be repeating this kind of work from now on?"
However, all the companies she looked into required prospective employees to be graduates of four-year colleges. Having graduated from a two-year junior college, Kanezaki was surprised that companies still set such conditions.
Kanezaki had previously visited Shanghai after being invited by a former colleague.
Deciding that Shanghai offered more in the way of work satisfaction, she quit her job and flew to the Chinese city.
She now discusses business deals with company executives whom she would never have encountered previously. Her salary also doubled. However, if her output should fall, her salary will be cut.
"My effort and achievements are evaluated," she said. "My work is so interesting that I look forward to coming to work every day."
Natsuki Matsuda, 37, moved to China and became a producer of TV programs.
Eleven years ago, she quit her job at a company in Japan and went to Beijing where she studied filmmaking. In 2002, she found an ad on the Internet seeking workers for the Shanghai office of a Japanese production company.
For one year, she sent videos made in Shanghai to Japan. She established a company with a Chinese colleague and began submitting proposals to TV stations in Shanghai. Four proposals were turned into programs, and one that introduced Japanese animation and manga was aired in prime time. She became a freelance producer this spring.
At a Shanghai production company, anyone can become a full-fledged producer after working for one year. In Japan, greater emphasis is placed on experience, so young people have to play a subordinate role for many years.
"For people who have something they want to do, but don't have the experience, I believe Shanghai is a place where they can thrive because many opportunities are available," Matsuda said.
A gathering of foreign business people was held at a Shanghai restaurant in late August. One participant was Akihisa Hirano, 28, who works at a British synthetic fabrics manufacturer.
He first began working for a Japanese apparel company in April 2004, but he was only given unsatisfying work as a subordinate.
When he turned 24, he requested work managing sales with clients. His superior's reply was, "That's impossible until you turn 30."
Hirano said he could not bear to wait for six more years.
Three months later, he switched jobs and moved to the Japanese office of an American advertising company, where he was involved in creating an original TV commercial with a major automaker.
However, he was pessimistic about the future of the Japanese economy, so he quit the advertising job and moved to China.
"If I only looked at the Japanese market, I think I would also become a failure," he said.
He first studied in Shanghai and was then hired locally by a Japanese advertising company. In August, he moved to the British company, and his salary doubled.
The popularity of Shanghai as a prospective place to work among Japanese is reflected in a website operated by Sola Kamome Co., which helps people looking for work in China.
About 2,000 people visit the site every day, including about 70 percent from Japan. Women in their 30s account for the largest number of users.
The company's office is on one floor packed with startups in a Shanghai skyscraper. The website is operated by five Japanese employees.
The company's office receives about 5,000 job offerings every year from companies in China and elsewhere in Asia.
One job offer said, "Planning and sales for interior design of stores in Shanghai. Up to around 30 years in age. Monthly salary of 10,000 to 13,000 yuan."
Until now, about 2,500 companies have placed job offerings, with 80 percent from Japanese companies and the remaining 20 percent from Chinese and foreign companies. It is much easier to obtain a work visa in China if the prospective employer is already settled.
"There has been an increase in jobs along with the move of more Japanese companies to set up bases in China," said Hiroshi Ota, the 36-year-old president of Sola Kamome. "We want to pass along the opportunity to work overseas to people living in Japan."
Ota himself moved to Shanghai after quitting a job with a foreign company in Japan in 2003. He said he wanted to work in "the hottest business market in the world."
After he began posting topics about seeking work in Shanghai on his blog, he received a huge increase in views, so he created an Internet bulletin board that provided job information. That led to an entrepreneurial opportunity for Ota.
While the job offerings can be placed free of charge, Ota's company makes a profit through advertisements and publicity planning.
"As a means of keeping personnel expenses down, there are more Japanese companies that are hiring Japanese locally rather than dispatching an employee from within Japan," Vice President Takatoshi Iijima, 37, said.
A recent trend is that Japanese companies are hiring more employees regardless of nationality. Some are seeking Chinese nationals who live in Japan because of greater expectations of increasing sales in China.
"Companies can now seek employees from any nation, and employees also can work anywhere they want to. In other words, the opportunity to find jobs is shrinking for those Japanese who do not want to work abroad," Iijima said.
(This article was written by Hiroki Mukai and Kentaro Koyama.）
***
asahi.com????????Japanese rushing to Shanghai for better jobs - English
SHANGHAI--The peculiarities and rigidity of Japan Inc. had been tolerated by employees when companies were raking in money and the economy was steaming ahead.
But now, with the economy struggling to emerge from stagnation, Japanese workers are flocking to the thriving city of Shanghai, where they can work free of the obstacles that had limited their potential at home.
A few months ago, Minako Kanezaki, 29, was put in charge of advertising at a publishing company in Shanghai targeting Japanese seeking local information. She had joined the company only a year ago, but now, five of the six Japanese employees working under Kanezaki are men older than her.
"I am somewhat shocked at these circumstances that would be unimaginable in Japan," Kanezaki said.
Before coming to Shanghai in 2008, Kanezaki worked for about five years as a ground crew member manning passenger counters of a Japan Airlines Corp. subsidiary.
She began thinking about changing jobs after she thought in frustration, "Will I only be repeating this kind of work from now on?"
However, all the companies she looked into required prospective employees to be graduates of four-year colleges. Having graduated from a two-year junior college, Kanezaki was surprised that companies still set such conditions.
Kanezaki had previously visited Shanghai after being invited by a former colleague.
Deciding that Shanghai offered more in the way of work satisfaction, she quit her job and flew to the Chinese city.
She now discusses business deals with company executives whom she would never have encountered previously. Her salary also doubled. However, if her output should fall, her salary will be cut.
"My effort and achievements are evaluated," she said. "My work is so interesting that I look forward to coming to work every day."
Natsuki Matsuda, 37, moved to China and became a producer of TV programs.
Eleven years ago, she quit her job at a company in Japan and went to Beijing where she studied filmmaking. In 2002, she found an ad on the Internet seeking workers for the Shanghai office of a Japanese production company.
For one year, she sent videos made in Shanghai to Japan. She established a company with a Chinese colleague and began submitting proposals to TV stations in Shanghai. Four proposals were turned into programs, and one that introduced Japanese animation and manga was aired in prime time. She became a freelance producer this spring.
At a Shanghai production company, anyone can become a full-fledged producer after working for one year. In Japan, greater emphasis is placed on experience, so young people have to play a subordinate role for many years.
"For people who have something they want to do, but don't have the experience, I believe Shanghai is a place where they can thrive because many opportunities are available," Matsuda said.
A gathering of foreign business people was held at a Shanghai restaurant in late August. One participant was Akihisa Hirano, 28, who works at a British synthetic fabrics manufacturer.
He first began working for a Japanese apparel company in April 2004, but he was only given unsatisfying work as a subordinate.
When he turned 24, he requested work managing sales with clients. His superior's reply was, "That's impossible until you turn 30."
Hirano said he could not bear to wait for six more years.
Three months later, he switched jobs and moved to the Japanese office of an American advertising company, where he was involved in creating an original TV commercial with a major automaker.
However, he was pessimistic about the future of the Japanese economy, so he quit the advertising job and moved to China.
"If I only looked at the Japanese market, I think I would also become a failure," he said.
He first studied in Shanghai and was then hired locally by a Japanese advertising company. In August, he moved to the British company, and his salary doubled.
The popularity of Shanghai as a prospective place to work among Japanese is reflected in a website operated by Sola Kamome Co., which helps people looking for work in China.
About 2,000 people visit the site every day, including about 70 percent from Japan. Women in their 30s account for the largest number of users.
The company's office is on one floor packed with startups in a Shanghai skyscraper. The website is operated by five Japanese employees.
The company's office receives about 5,000 job offerings every year from companies in China and elsewhere in Asia.
One job offer said, "Planning and sales for interior design of stores in Shanghai. Up to around 30 years in age. Monthly salary of 10,000 to 13,000 yuan."
Until now, about 2,500 companies have placed job offerings, with 80 percent from Japanese companies and the remaining 20 percent from Chinese and foreign companies. It is much easier to obtain a work visa in China if the prospective employer is already settled.
"There has been an increase in jobs along with the move of more Japanese companies to set up bases in China," said Hiroshi Ota, the 36-year-old president of Sola Kamome. "We want to pass along the opportunity to work overseas to people living in Japan."
Ota himself moved to Shanghai after quitting a job with a foreign company in Japan in 2003. He said he wanted to work in "the hottest business market in the world."
After he began posting topics about seeking work in Shanghai on his blog, he received a huge increase in views, so he created an Internet bulletin board that provided job information. That led to an entrepreneurial opportunity for Ota.
While the job offerings can be placed free of charge, Ota's company makes a profit through advertisements and publicity planning.
"As a means of keeping personnel expenses down, there are more Japanese companies that are hiring Japanese locally rather than dispatching an employee from within Japan," Vice President Takatoshi Iijima, 37, said.
A recent trend is that Japanese companies are hiring more employees regardless of nationality. Some are seeking Chinese nationals who live in Japan because of greater expectations of increasing sales in China.
"Companies can now seek employees from any nation, and employees also can work anywhere they want to. In other words, the opportunity to find jobs is shrinking for those Japanese who do not want to work abroad," Iijima said.
(This article was written by Hiroki Mukai and Kentaro Koyama.）
