I want to move to japan, but...............

[wodstlk]

I want to move to Japan and work there but I have been a automotive mechanic for about 10 years so that is all I know. does anyone work in the auto repair field in Japan who is from America. if so, could you give me some information about the steps taken to move your tools, get a work visa, how much Japanese you need to know to find a job. really, any information would be greatly appreciated. if it is too difficult to be an auto mechanic in Japan, how hard is it to be an English teacher. how many years of college do I need.
also, I am a strange looking dude which may be a problem. I have 3, 1/2 inch ear piercings and I am overweight by about 40 lbs (although I plan on loosing it before I move, don't we all though). any fat freaks out there? my girlfriend tells me it is going to cause problems for me but I would like to hear about what kind of problems other non stereotypical looking Americans have had.
thank you

[gomichild]

I think it wuld be difficult to work in the auto field if you didn't speak Japanese. Also unless you have some specialty in the field it would be difficult to get a work visa, unless you contacted a company that would hire you. Customization of cars and bikes especially is huge here - if you have a portfolio or talent for that you would have a better chance.

I don't think your weight would matter so much, but your piercings would - most English schools here are VERY conservative. I think you usually need a college degree for most of them to (because of the visa requirements).

Grr I always sound so defeatist when I give advice about this! Sorry. Many people come here and start with teching until they work out how to get into the field they want. You've got to be prepared to really get out there and work for it though!

[GomiGirl]

There are a heap of companies here involved in export of second hand cars and parts to places like the UK and Australia.. the companies are all owned by FG and I am sure that if you market yourself right, you can get work with only minimal Japanese.. Alot of places just buy cars for the parts.. these parts have to be collected and it is important to know which ones are suitable for the models that are available in the target destinations.. eg a Honda is not just a Honda

Just do a quick google search and you should find some companies that you can call up.

Perhaps you can put your piercings away until you get yourself established and then you can express your true self.. gomichild is right in that most places are fairly conservative in the English teaching world.

Just as a thought.. where do all the Harajuku cosupurei kids work?

If you don't want to work as a teacher, bars are always an option. BTW no FG is average looking on account of being FG in the first place.. who wants to be average anyway???

[Taro Toporific]

Customization of cars and bikes especially is huge here - if you have a portfolio or talent for that you would have a better chance...You've got to be prepared to really get out there and work for it though!

That's sound advice both for customising as GomiChild says, and the "export angle that GomiGirl mentions. BUT you got come here and really press the flesh and met people. It would be better to come here with some other purpose, let's say language study and then hook up with fellow motorheads. I would figure it would take at least 3 months to find your first auto-related job. Oh, and that job here won't be easy--most repair shops are unheated carports that are as CRAMPED, poisonous and twisted as rattlesnake's asshole.

Not to be too negative, there are some...
If you were Benz-certified, Mr. Goodwrench, etc you could get a job tomorrow at ANY gaisha dealer here in Tokyo. The main Benz dealer, Yanase is always hiring. If you know the AutoLine Parts System you could work in systems engineering here. Hell, IF you're good at working "old school" lead sleds, you'll be cruising like me in my '62 Coupe de VILE...

[wodstlk]

I am a BMW certified technician and by the time I would want to move I will be a BMW diagnostic technician. does anyone know if I need to pass a test to be a mechanic in Japan.
and to AZNpentrzn, I love the us too but my girlfriend is Japanese and will be returning to Japan in 2004. I like Japanese culture and I want to experience a new place. sounds like it will be difficult but I'm up for the challenge. my only problem is getting a job.

[Taro Toporific]

I am a BMW certified technician and by the time I would want to move I will be a BMW diagnostic technician. does anyone know if I need to pass a test to be a mechanic in Japan.

Ok, I'm nuthin' but a shade-tree mechanic, however I've consulted on Integrated Dealer Systems and have learned the management gossip among the gaisha/foreign dealships.

Plenty of the diagnostic equipment here is in English (or can be flipped into the English/German/French mode). You'll find Japanese mechanics can speak Katakana English and they are great guys to work with for the most part. I sure as hell enjoy working with them a lot more than butthead Japanese management.

I haven't a clue about the Japanese "mechanics test" but I'm damn sure that one exists because Japanese are menkyo crazy for such things...<rant on>. think of it as the Japanese hatred of Ability over their love of Elitism<rant off>.
See "Those who wish to be a mechanic must take a ... "
And "Those who wish tobe a mechanics must take a written test and practical test for qualification..."

As for working for BWM dealership...here's a list ogEnglish-speaking dealers in Japan.

BMW Japan las t month was advertising for mechanics, just type in BMW to find current job listings. Note that the damn bastards limit employment to ages 20-30 for "participation in management to motor race and import sale for of professional motor sports. Duty station eitherthe Tama Kawamoto or Yokohama Kohoku branch N ational 2nd or 3rd class automobile mechanic qualification, chaufuers license."

Here's you "homework":
Survey for Foreign Affiliates Machinery/Equipment/Automobiles BMW Japan Corp. ... and other JAPANESE employee benefits starting salaries and other employment terms...

"German incursion" --interview with Ludwig Willisch President, BMW Japan Corp, November 1, 2002

and to AZNpentrzn, I love the us too but my girlfriend is Japanese --- my only problem is getting a job.

That GF of yours may solve some of issues of rental and visa guarantees, but it sure <smirk> ain't gonna be your "only problem." :rofl:

[Big Booger]

I am telling you, don't move to Japan. That girlfriend of yours will have you over a barrel. Right now, you are on home turf, playing home rulez.. When you move to the land of the rising retards.. she is the chief.. she runs the show.. she will be your only source of help and assistance...
You won't be able to piss without her telling you which bathroom to go to..
The only reason you should come to Japan is IF you REALLY want to.. not because she tells you to. Trust me pal, I made that same damn mistake.. it is not as great as it seems.. There is hell to pay for a decision of that magnitude.. and if you can't get a job, which I might add, is a real probable, then you are really skirooed! As in up the butt with a Japanese Sushi roll..

Consider this, you will need to study Japanese from now until 2004 just to get by..

She is a legal resident, you are a foreign guest.. she is Japanese, you are gaijin...

Just some words of wisdom. If I had it to do over again, I would have waited until I got my Master's before coming here and I would have studied Japanese more than the three years that I did...

Being in Japan is fine, if it is short term, but in the long term, you are messing with disaster.. emotionally, physically, and psychologically.

If you must come, make sure to have the job lined up if possible. Also make sure you got some savings in the bank, and make sure you are well versed in Japanese.

But things are looking better the longer I stay. So if you must come, be prepared... I wasn't.
BB

[wodstlk]

I thank you all of you for your advice. just to give you all some background, we have been together for 5 years. I have followed her from California to North Carolina. I am definitely taking this move lightly, I completely understand that this is the biggest step that I have ever taken. your advice has given me a lot of perspective and I believe it will be better if she goes back to Japan and settles in and if it works out later, I will move in 2006 or so. the language is what kills me. I have not learned enough in 5 years to be comfortable. I have a really hard time remembering Japanese. I thought if I just totally immersed myself in Japan, I would have to learn? did everyone here find that once you had to speak Japanese, you learned quickly?

[Taro Toporific]

I thought if I just totally immersed myself in Japan, I would have to learn? did everyone here find that once you had to speak Japanese, you learned quickly?

DISCLAIMER:This disclaimer is not valid in Borneo, Outer Mongolia, Tibet, and some parts of NC. ... Your actual mileage may differ. Accessories sold separately. ...

Sa...
Typically, the average North American does NOT just "pick up" Japanese is a couple months hanging out in bars unlike Spanish or French. Hell there's plenty of FG never learn Japanese well after years and years.

On the OTHER hand, I know dozens of Africans, Asians and 3rd Worlders who have learned Japanese in one or two years. It all a question of attitude and MOTIVATION. That fact is that a move to Japan is a big step down for a middle-class North American--- learning to humble yourself to learn Japanese is often too much of an attitude shift.

Look at it this way, a BMW mechanic in Japan has HALF of what you have in NC working for BMW: half the house, half the leisure, half the quality med care (double the meds), and hell, half the fun. It's a big step down and it's hard for a North American to WANT to learn Japanese well enough to stay here in the Land-o-Concrete.

Like I said, ""Your mileage may differ..." but I think you're getting the hint.

[Taro Toporific]

I want to move to Japan and work there but I have been a automotive mechanic

In the news with will increase, maybe double, the need for mechanics...

Used-car emission checks in the cards
The Asahi Shimbun / 10 Feb 03
In a drastic bid to curb air pollution, the government is likely to expand automobile exhaust controls to vehicles already on the road.
Automobile emission restrictions currently cover new vehicles only

[Taro Toporific]

[GomiGirl]

Do BMW offer an English Roadside assistance program?

[Taro Toporific]

Do BMW offer an English Roadside assistance program?

Nope, nothing in English but they do have a 24hr Japanese hotline
http://www.bmw.co.jp/Services/Emergency/
They have "Service Advisers" for each owner to provide service at the BMW dealers. http://www.bmw.co.jp/Services/Emergency/. Just send a resume to all the English-speaking dealers and ask if they need help...See English-speaking dealers in Japan.

[wodstlk]

wodstlk-what kind of bimmer do u have, if any?

I used to own a e30 323i M but I sold it. I have a 91 Honda Integra gs-r now. I have trying to import a rhd xsi Integra but it is just too expensive.

[ramchop]

She must be an exceptional woman if you have followed her from California to North Carolina and now to Japan. Or at least I hope she is - for your sake.

For the record, I have not met very many J-girls that have the leadership skills to take charge of a mans life and "wear the pants" so to speak. I'm courious if some of the guy's married to Japanese women would trust there wife a big decision like this?

You're not married are you?

Meeting a woman, and knowing a woman are two very different things. I'm sure this is a universal thing, not just associated with J-girls.

Can't think of a really "big decision" that has been made unilaterally in my marriage.

[Big Booger]

not unilateral.. I just agreed to move here... because she wanted to and I wanted a change... but it was strange, my wife is more like a gaijin than I am, sometimes..
HEHEHE
BB

[wodstlk]

She must be an exceptional woman if you have followed her from California to North Carolina and now to Japan. Or at least I hope she is - for your sake.

For the record, I have not met very many J-girls that have the leadership skills to take charge of a mans life and "wear the pants" so to speak. I'm courious if some of the guy's married to Japanese women would trust there wife a big decision like this? Then again "they" are married and she is just woodstocks girlfriend. hmmm...

Honestly unless you just "ain't got nothin'" going for yourself, I'm scared for you sir!

Best Wishes,


she is great! we have been together for 5 years and I know her really well. she is completely in control of me, I would be a total mess without her. before I met her I was living with my mom and had a 15k a year part time job and no intention of ever moving out or trying to get a real job. she kind of came into my life and put me on the right path. I have quit smoking pot, cigarettes, drinking, soda and now I am learning how to cook. I make 60 to 80k a year and have a good career going and the potential to make 100k a year in the near future. I feel that she has put so much time and effort into me I need to reciprocate. she is the first j girl I have went out with and she is not stereotypical submissive Japanese that everyone hears about here in America.

GomiGuy...

F Fr GG?