Working for a Japanese company after leaving Japan

[Artful Dodger]

Greetings,

I am new to the forum and just wanted to see if there were any other foreigners (like me) who were working for Japanese companies after leaving Japan. I lived in Japan for about three years (mostly teaching English), returned to the States last year and began working in sales for a big Japanese oil company in the Chicaland area. I just wanted to share some of my stories (both good and bad) and see if anyone has had similar experiences.

Cheers,

Art

[sincity]

Art,

Please regale us with your stories.

[CuriousII]

I don't know about others, but I've heard several stories from people who have worked for Japanese companies outside of Japan. Interestingly enough, some of the same complaints come up as in the eikaiwa industry in Japan. The Japanese employers have a lack of ethics. They treat the employees like machines, etc.

[Artful Dodger]

Curious,

The people that you have spoken with are pretty much right on!! I did the eikaiwa thing for a year in Chiba and then moved into the elemetary and junior high schools in Kanagawa for a couple of years. Once I returned to Chicago, I landed this job in Sales/Management with a very large Japanese oil company. That's when the "fun" began.

I won't bore you with too many details, but the whole senpai/kouhai thing carries right over from the school systems into the business world. My peers can be very condescending at times, but as long as I "handle my business" at work there aren't too many problems. The funniest aspect of daily office life is correcting everyone's letters/e-mails on a daily basis. I just feel like I will ALWAYS be an English teacher as long as I am working here. It is also weird to hear them talk about teaching English in Japan as "joke". I always respond (in Japanese) that the only thing funny is how they have studied English for ten years and STILL can't speak!!

The only thing funnier than some of the e-mails is fine dining with customers. We'll be at a really nice Italian restaurant and my manager starts "slurping" his pasta as if it were ramen!! I love the look on the American customer's faces. Most of our customers seem to like the karaoke thing...in a quirky kind of way. They always lean over the table and ask me if the "snack" girls are for hire. Pretty interesting - the things that have become "normal" for people who have lived in Japan!

Anyone else out there working for a Japanese company in another country??