graphic design jobs

[red]

Hello everyone,
I'd like to relocate to Tokyo from the U.S., but not without figuring out a way to find some work. Could anyone offer suggestions on inroads to an art direction/design position? Many thanks in advance.
-Reds
(native english, conversational japanese, 7yrs. design exp., 2yrs. art direction)

[red]

Hi all,
Maybe I worded that last post incorrectly. I was hoping to see whether or not someone could post a bit about their Japan graphic design jobsearch, or about experiences working in a Japanese design office. Thank you again for your help.
-Reds

[Anonymous]

hi,
i'm a javanesse man from indonesian.i need to create my own idea in your dream team as graphic designer or photographer.i want in.but i didn't find a place to blow my idea out of my head.you must be more crazy than me if you take me in.thank's.

[Anonymous]

hi,
i'm a javanesse man from indonesian.i need to create my own idea in your dream team as graphic designer or photographer.i want in.but i didn't find a place to blow my idea out of my head.you must be more crazy than me if you take me in.thank's.

[Anonymous]

good evening!

i am a 28 year old austrian who would like to move his stuff (and, uhm, himself as well) to tokyo to work here as a graphic designer. offering 5 years of experience as well as working fluidly with ai, fh, psd, qxd, png and fla i speak a little bit of conversational japanese and i securely fastened my seat-belts in english and italian. my strengths include preparing wonderful coffee/tea, being incredible nice to my collagues and i am reliable like Rocky Balboa.

i will return to austria may 9th. from that day i am able to send my print/animation portfolio to anywhere desired.

thank you very much.

mr:vector aka armin

[pixelsmudge]

To be completely honest you won't get a job in a Japanese creative studio without at least Japanese speaking ability, let alone being able to typeset Japanese. There's LOTS of graphic designers here and being native English speaker is only an advantage if you want to teach English.
You should try to find American or European advertising or creative companies with Tokyo offices and send your resume and sample porfolio to them via email or post. Always follow-up with a call as they will be getting many from foreign designers in Japan already.
You need to make contacts to get into this kind of business in Japan so try asking around and let people know you're interested in living in Japan.
I'd try to sort something out before you come here as it's not easy finding a graphic design job here unless you know people.

Check out DigitalEve Japan:
http://www.digitalevejapan.org

(it's for women but very useful to a guy too)

[Anonymous]

Finding a job here as a Graphic Designer/Art Director is difficult. Learning to typeset Japanese, though, is not something I would concentrate on. Then you be competing with Japanese designer, and frankly, there's a lot more of them that are better at typesetting japanese, are cheaper than you, and are easier to deal with for employers.

What you should try to sell, if you find somebody to sell it to, is "international" design. If you try to be a Japanese designer, you will end up competing in an area that is already overfull, especially in the current economic climate. One of the first things to go in a sinking economy is advertising budgets.

It used to be easier several years ago, when the Japanese designers still hadn't quite caught on to using computers for GD. Then you could make some quick in-roads to businesses with that knowledge. Now, you need contacts, and lots of them.

Paul Hansen

[Anonymous]

こんいちわ,

i am an american who maybe has gotten in over his head a bit here. i am looking to work as an artist here, i should say i am a digital artist, illustrator and graphic designer. i have my interactive cd-rom (resume) that i brought with me from the states to distribute to employers, also. i am currently tokyo and am staying with friends in shibuya. i need to find out if anyone knows the names or a directory or list of companies here in japan, mainly tokyo, because i haven't been able to find any yet. i only have 85 days left before i'm kicked out of the country and i can't have that happen. also too, maybe someone can help me out with some information to obtaining my work visa. i seem to be getting the runaround from the american embassy and also japanese immigration. if somebody can set me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated. my email is misfitfilms@yahoo.com. thanks very much to anyone who replies.

よろしくおねがいします。

Carmelo Spatazza

[trip_hop]

No job = no work visa - it's just that simple.
US Embassy does not issue them so they do not care.
If you get a potential employer then you can go to try for a work visa from Immigration, but there is enough info on other threads here.

Company list? What sort of companies? Try phone directory, or the on-line version; http://english.itp.ne.jp. Your "friends" should know that or even have one.

Pixelsmudge and akihabarajin above have summarised the situation well, and also the necessary language skills.

TH