Kickstarter set to launch in Japan, where hardware startups are finding it hard | Hacker News Reader

Kickstarter set to launch in Japan, where hardware startups are finding it hard

techinasia.com

46 pointswilliswee17 comments

This is still one of the most fascinating writeups of Japanese business culture I have read, from fellow HNer patio11:

http://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/11/07/doing-business-in-japan/

Thank you for the read, it was informative and a little scary (especially the obligations of the employee to his/her employer).

This is rather tangentially related, but is there any information on how to get a job in Japan as someone from a Western country, either to teach English, or as a programmer? I imagine this is a popular question though answers to it I think are scarce.

Any native english speaker with a Bachelor's degree and a pulse can get a gig as an English language assistant. Many starry eyed young people who go down that route find themselves very frustrated/bitter at their situation after a while; I'd do careful research about it to make sure that's something you're seriously interested in doing. Blogs, YouTube videos, etc. about this are easy to find. Note that this is very, very different from being an actually English teacher, which would require local accreditations etc.

As a programmer, get on LinkedIn, find recruiters for Japanese startups/companies you're interested in, and start sending messages. Speaking conversational Japanese (and being able to prove it, e.g. by having a JLPT certification) and being already in the country (e.g. through a working holiday visa) will improve your odds manyfold. This is also a good resource: https://jobs.gaijinpot.com

Doing a graduate degree in Japan might also be worth it, depending on your circumstances - it gives you a few years to see how you actually like being in Japan, letting you leave easily after completion of your degree with something to show for it; it will make getting a local job dramatically easier if you want to stay in Japan longer; and it will give you a few years to build up your Japanese etc.

Thank you for your advice, it's something I'm entertaining the possibility of doing, I haven't committed to anything yet, so I'll take a look at past experiences of other people. Actually getting in and applying seems to be an issue, because as far as I can tell working holiday visas require a certain amount of money in the first place. Do you know if it is possible to job hunt (apply, not work) and get a visa sponsorship while on a holiday? Or is that disallowed?

And do you know how for example a TEFL might help with the process, if at all, and if there is any path available to increase one's position to become an actual English teacher?

Again, thanks for the advice.

You definitely don't need TEFL to find a teaching job easily in Japan but it would give you more options. I taught in language schools, a junior high, and did corporate classes as well. It's also quite easy to get hired from abroad, and getting a job while on working holiday/travel visa is a bit of a grey area, although I know plenty of people who have done it.

If I can suggest, from experience, skipping the initial 'just teaching English' thing and apply for undergraduate/graduate school here and teach on the side. I made more money from scholarships (very easy to get) and teaching than I'm making now as a salary man.

Thank you. As much as I would like to take your advice about undergraduate/graduate school, I'm not sure how I would fare as I am already an undergraduate, and my knowledge of Japanese isn't that great (it's been on the backburner for a very long time, usually I haven't paid attention to it) and I'm not sure how I'd fare doing a course in Japan; I don't think I would like to be studying the subject I do (ECE) much more beyond graduate level, though I guess I'll see about that. If it's not too much to ask, what are Japanese university fees and ease of entry like?

Do you have any advice or ideas where to look if I want to go into a career teaching English in Japan, if such a thing isn't too laughable? :)

Edit: one of my biggest concerns is whether I can apply from abroad, as getting into Japan in the first place is an issue.

For jobs teaching English (it's not really a career choice unless you end up getting a proper teaching degree or happen into something special) check out www.gaijinpot.com it's, despite the name, one of the most credible sources for English teaching jobs. For universities, public universities in Japan are incredibly cheap when compared to universities in the US. Tuition for the university I went to was less than 5,000usd/yr (a tenth of what I paid in the us/year for undergrad) and there are scholarships a plenty. Check out the MEXT scholarship or JASSO. I ended up getting both which paid for my living expenses as well as school. Like I said, working part time on top of that I was living very comfortably. So, going to school will grant you a very affordable apartment, gym membership, very good intensive Japanese lessons, an education, friends, the chance to work up to 28 hours a week, and if you get a scholarship, spending money, on top of the education of your choice.

Search for the G30 program. There are a bunch of public universities here that participate in G30, which is made for foreign students, in English and it's very well funded.

Getting a job on working holiday visa is not a grey area at all - it is, after all, a working visa.

Quite right. Changing from a working holiday visa/travel visa to a residential visa is the grey area

Some friends have really enjoyed https://jetprogramusa.org/, you pretty much just need a college degree.

I'm not sure in general, but https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14243572 from the last Who's Hiring thread stood out because they don't require language ability.

I love that post as well. I wish these type of articles surfaced more often...

It's that kind of rare blog post written by someone who actually has expert knowledge on the subject.

Fascinating indeed, thanks for sharing it

Ah, now our friends in Japan can be scammed and disappointed by nonexistent fly-by-night vaporware Kickstarters just like we in America have been for some time now.

I have joined many kickstarters. I received all of the rewards promised to me, some with a lot of delay but no kickstarter I joined was ever cancelled.

People approach kickstarter with the wrong mindset. It is not an alibaba/aliexpress/taobao market where you can buy interesting things. When you're joining a campaign, you're investing on makers, helping them develop an idea. You are not buying stuff, ideas might not pan out, you're in essence an investor.

If you approach it like an investor and analyze each campaign with cold eyes, looking if the team behind it can actually deliver the goods, if it is worth the risk of investing and if you actually have a personal investment in the idea as in "I want this product to exist", then you will not be frustrated, even when things don't pan out.

I am somewhat tired of people approaching kickstarter with the idea of "I am buying stuff and they turn out to be vapor". This is not understanding what kickstarter is.

> This is not understanding what kickstarter is.

It's a more universal problem than that. The concept of a stock market was originally supposed to be very similar to Kickstarter, but with dividends rather than rewards. But average Joes were convinced that the stock market itself was a kind of store to buy future products in (with hucksters there to help them toward that conclusion), and tons of people lost their life-savings.

To avoid this, we have divided investors into "accredited" (usually, people whose job is investing) and "unaccredited" (the regular Joes); and companies into "private" (companies that actually need investment to become viable) and "public" (companies that would do just as well without anyone's help); and then we don't let the unaccredited investors invest in the private companies. Which was, y'know, the whole original point: to let people help companies get off the ground, in exchange for potential reward if the company does get off the ground.

> I am somewhat tired of people approaching kickstarter with the idea of "I am buying stuff and they turn out to be vapor". This is not understanding what kickstarter is.

You bet Kickstarter uses that confusion to its advantage.

Unfortunately(or fortunately) there is so much people you can scam out of there money multiple times...

Most people shouldn't even touch these platforms to begin with, we can all agree on that.

In fact they should be heavily regulated, just like any risky financial product. And they will be.

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