working and living in Japan

[JM_Skyline]

hajimemashite,

I was just wondering what sort of level of speaking & understanding Japanese would be required to get by working (say in a hotel) in Japan. I have only been learning a short time and have been thinking about trying to find work out there for a year.

arigatou,

mata ne...

James
UK

[AJBryant]

You won't find *any* jobs unless you speak Japanese. Japan isn't the EU.

You're also unlikely to get a visa to work even if you DO speak Japanese unless you can provide a reason that a Japanese person can't do that job.

And, for the record, working in a service industry (like a hotel) would require a higher level of Japanese than other environments, as polite language forms and keigo are required -- and they're not first year subjects.

Tony

[Harisenbon]

I wholeheartedly agree with Tony.
Think about it this way:

Why would a company hire you over a country full of Native Japanese speakers?

When you can give a good answer to that, then you should start looking for a job. Working in a hotel will require almost fluent level Japanese. If you are in a hotel that caters to foreigners, fluent Japanese and near fluent English.

[JM_Skyline]

cheers for the fast answer..

Kinda figured it out anyway...Pipe dream and all that.... Will study for a while (read as years), I enjoy studying japanese anyway...

[Devros]

But with the aging population problem in Japan they won't have any other choice but to accept a lot more immigrant workers because there will soon be a huge shortage in manpower.