e-Jan! Work Style

Following the trend of last two posts about speaking English/Japanese more proactively in the workplace, I would like to offer a third perspective on learning a foreign language, specifically on learning a language that is not emphasised as much as English/Japanese.

As a foreigner, living in Japan has its difficulties and challenges: notably, working for a local company. Understanding the lifestyle, customs, and culture, including learning the local language, (which comes above all else) are just a few things to keep in mind in trying to fit in.

このWorking Japanブログで初めての日本語投稿になります。
これからは、日本語でもe-Janネットワークスの個性的なカルチャーと日本で働く外国人たちの日常をお伝えしますので、よろしくお願いします。
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今回は、職場で使われている言語についてお話します。

As the weather gets warmer, a buzzword that crops up in the professional sector of Japan is ‘Cool Biz’.

Every year, e-Jan Networks presents a booth at Japan’s largest event for information security, Japan IT Week’s Information Security Expo.

[This post is an essay submission by a guest writer in the company, ‘E.']

The author talked about her experience of doing job-hunting in Japan.
It was definitely not easy for a foreign student to getting an job offer here in Japan; it became even harder when she wanted to have a good work-life balance, rather than simply working for survival.
The author also mentioned how she got to know some small and middle scaled IT enterprises in Japan, and talked about her feelings on her first month working here at e-Jan, and about the culture shock that she received before and after joining a Japanese company.
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April is the beginning of the new work year, and therefore a time when many young people enter the workforce. In Japan, many medium to large companies hire college graduates from many different majors and fields of study, and most new employees within the company receive the same basic training. Japan is a country with many social traditions, and since these skills are no longer common knowledge to many young people, these new employees typically undergo training to learn basic social and/or business skills.

Today's post comes from guest writer 'M.A.', a new employee, on his impressions of Japanese working hours and the stereotypes surrounding them.
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[This post is an essay submission by a guest writer in the company, ‘Z.A.']

I had a get-away trip with my high school friends (who are now living in Japan) to Nikko, among them are some who have educational backgrounds or working experiences in Europe or the United States.
It was the very first time for most of us to have the chance to have a decent talk with each other since we graduated. As a person who has been staying in Japan for over 6 years, and has no working experience anywhere other than Japan, I am curious about how different the Western corporation culture can be, and how the Japanese one is observed or thought by people outside Japan.

Japan is known for its seniority culture, where levels of respect are dependent on seniority (age, experience, etc.), and this appears in the language of workplace culture as well.

An obvious question posed by non-Japanese-speakers when thinking about a job in Japan: what about speaking the language? No matter what kind of job you are looking for, Japanese will become necessary at some point in your career.