"I recently have been hired by a messenger company delivering packages in the city of Kyoto. It is a demanding job that requires all of one's energy. The pay is bad and the hours are long but there is a feeling of self-satisfaction that one has at the end of the nine-hour shift. My friends see this job as being a huge accomplishment. Gaijin, or foreigners, have trouble finding work other than teaching English; so to be a part of the Japanese trade economy is rare indeed.
To get a job as a messenger in Japan, one has to be able to speak the language and understand it at a much higher level than the usual few phrase words that gaijin have come to rely on.... "
See also:Bicycle Messengers On The Move in Japan