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"I love the Japanese YEN!" Japan is still one of the best EXPAT destinations for both professionals and ordinary people who want to reap in a high return for their work.  I've been in Japan for 7 years, and worked in 5 different cities and 4 different industries.  Before I get started, let me sum up my advice in just a few words: If you are thinking about coming to Japan, be ready to work- and work hard.  And if you can do that, you will get paid. Work!  Even if you're a student why not make 500 dollars a week on the side while you're here?  This equates to 2 hours a day of teaching English.  But your employment opportunities are in no way limited to English teaching jobs.  Here's a Real Life example:  Take J-san.  A designer by nature (economics degree by qualification) comes to Japan, studies Japanese, enters a multi-media company as a translator, steers the company into e-commerce, becomes their top designer, goes freelance, and now pulls in over $US 30,000 per month- he is certainly getting paid.  Not bad for 6 years work.

Peter Wilson is one of the creators and current site managers of GAIJINPOT.com a job information web site on Japan.  He is also busy as a freelance video director/ editor making commercials and internet videos in Japan.  GAIJINPOT.com a job information web site on Japan.  At http://www.gaijinpot.com/ -  jobseekers can sign up for an industry specific jobs email; search for Japan related jobs; exchange comments on woking and living in Japan and receive tips on working in Japan or for a Japanese company.  Employers can register job vacancies, maintain their customized control panel and check out GAIJIN POT's member demographics. Also coming in October is internet video - comments from expats living in Japan! h t t p : / / w w w . G a i j i n P o t . c o m

Sound too good to be true.  OK, here's the bad news.  The beaches here aren't like the paradise-spots in Thailand, Australia, or the Caribbean.  You'd be better off going to the mountains.  But if you wanted a beach you could go to SE Asia's paradise spots very easily from here.  You come to Japan to work?c and now you need a vacation.  Go abroad! - Hawaii, Saipan, Guam, Indonesia (Bali), Thailand, Australia- all easily accessible from Japan.  One more piece of bad news- one that you've probably heard before:  JAPAN IS EXPENSIVE.  You can generate the cash, but if you want to have a comparable lifestyle in, say, New York or Paris, you're going to have to pay out some serious, serious, yen.  My advice?  Learn to live without a few luxuries.  Life in a small, but comfortable apartment instead of an "American home".  Give up your car.  In a country with the most efficient public transport system in the world, who needs a car?  A car in Japan will run you about $10,000 a year for expenses.  There are a lot of other expenses you can avoid, but you'll find how pretty quickly what these are once you get here.

You might find it very frustrating being a newcomer in a new market (and especially if you don't have any language skills).  In this case I would opt for a major company for a few years to establish a good list of contacts.  And, one more thing, be sure to give lots of presents - especially when you travel, even if it's a day trip to Osaka; make sure you bring your co-workers a box of the local specialty from wherever it was you were visiting.  They'll love you for it!!  Japanese also love chit-chat and long talks.  Prepare a bunch of topics that you can spin at every meeting!  Compliment them like a champion!  It may feel a little conspicuous, but the bigger the compliment the better.  And, ALWAYS play down compliments that they dish out to you.  It may be hard not to go on a victory lap every now and then, but believe me, they respect the humble player, the quiet achiever.

Now, on to what you really need to know: How to make the bucks.  One of the most important things you will to keep in mind is how Japan has changed since the Bubble Economy "good ol' days".  In the past, if you were a foreigner, you could basically just get off the boat and the jobs would come rolling to you on a red carpet.  Now, you have to have one of two things:  1) A good connection (someone who can guarantee you a job upon your arrival) or 2) A job already set up for you BEFORE you arrive (get hired before making your move to Japan).  Also, the English teaching rates have dropped.  But at the same time, the yen has appreciated against the dollar since the Bubble days, so the rates are still pretty good in $US terms, averaging around $30/hour in Tokyo to $40/hour or more in more rural areas.

Now, what type of company should you work for?  A big company, or self-employed. In a big city or a small one.  The large corporations used to have a strangle-hold on individual markets, but recently the big companies are beginning to trust smaller companies to produce high quality goods & services.  Why?  Part of the reason is that these smaller companies are run by the ex-employees of the big companies so it's still all really in-house, private and closed. Japanese especially love the "old school connection"; old boys; club member; team player mentality.  Entrepreneurs aren't really welcome at all.  Even Masayoshi Son (Softbank), Japan's richest man, was slammed by the Mass Media until one day his face was featured on the front cover of Forbes magazine.  Ask a Japanese person, "which is more prestigious, being the multi - billionaire Masayoshi Son or a Mitsubishi Engineer getting a mediocre salary, working 60 hour week?"  Surprise, surprise, the answer is the MITSUBISHI guy!  Japanese love the old big company status!  In short, they don't believe in making money "the easy way"; if you're not sweating and toiling for it, you don't deserve it!

If you've just got out of college and just want to make a quick buck to pay back your student loans or travel around the world try IT jobs in Tokyo.  Companies are desperate for programmers & Internet project managers.  You can make a bundle.  Be sure to shop around too!  Scour the web sites and get your name on the list of some major headhunting firms.  Companies are paying big bucks for IT guys these days.  The same goes for you business/finance guys.  Datek and Charles Schwab are looking for you and the demands will only grow in the future as Japan gradually pulls out of it's economic slump.  And, the IT, business/finance jobs are nearly all in Tokyo.  English teaching is the only case where I would not recommend a big city.  Forget Tokyo and forget Osaka.  The market is flushed with teachers, the rates are dropping, and the cost of living will eat up your cash.  You will be much better off financially in a smaller city like Nagoya or Shizuoka.  One warning: It IS easy money but if you're a real teacher you may not feel professionally rewarded.  If you want a "real" teaching job, a private high school or University is the way to go for you.  But these jobs are very difficult to get directly (without a good contact).  Don't go through an agency!   If you do, they will take their commission (up to two-thirds of your income), and you will not be included in decision-making; it will be a very painful professional experience for you!  Many schools still don't quite understand they if teachers are paid more, and paid directly from the school - they will give more!  But many schools don't want to have to deal with you directly, so they go through agencies and pay them to pay you.  It's a worthless step and sad because it has an all-around negative effect on education in this country.  But if you have the right contacts and can get paid directly by the schools, you'll have one of the best teaching experiences possible.

Learning Japanese.  Business Japanese and conversational Japanese are 2 different worlds. You might be able to schmooze the local waiter/ waitress with some cool comments and a cute smile but the hard headed, traditional Japanese SALARYMEN are going to want to hear you speak in a polite and articulate manner using KEIGO (the polite form of Japanese), which is the standard, cordial language that all business is conducted in.  Even if you can speak really well you may also have to face the fact that you are not Japanese and are, by definition, an outsider.  No matter how professional your efforts are, you may still need to be accompanied by a Japanese person for your business ventures.

Whatever industry you're in, you'll probably come across the "no contracts" policy of a lot of Japanese companies.  Believe me!  Insist on a written contract.  If they value you, they will sign for you.  Also, insist on a copy in your native language, drafted by a professional.  Many companies claim that this is the Japanese way not to have contracts- not true!  Just smile and say that having a written contract is the global standard.  Often Japanese give into words like international; global and "In the USA they...." It's amazing how you can justify an idea just because it's what the standard is in the USA!!!  Please just make sure all your business is written in an agreement or official contract signed by both parties - with their name and the job title and name of the company.  Clearly defining the job is also important in this agreement you make with the Japanese company because the Japanese language is inherently ambiguous; make sure you understand exactly what it is you'll be doing before you agree to anything- especially if it's just a "favor".  Many times for me, a little "favor" has turned into a major ordeal that I should have billed several thousand dollars for.  And these were my friends!!  All of my expat friends have a policy: we charge our friends, but at the "friend's rate"- everyone benefits.

Having said this, small gestures and tokens of appreciation are very important in Japan.  Never overlook these small things that are noticed only by their absence.  And very often Japanese will reciprocate in kind.  You'll enjoy the Japanese hospitality, make lots of money and discover the power of the yen as you wield it on some choice retirement property in the Caribbean like my expat friend, B-san!  Establish your business contacts, nurture them, learn Japanese, take an interest in the culture (also appreciated by the Japanese Business community), make your contracts, corner your market and enjoy your Japan experience!