how much money could i earn?

[Taro Toporific]

how much money could i make in japan doing architectural drafting? is it a decent paying job? i have an associates degree. and if i had a sposal visa...

You'll need at least three years experience, good references, and some Japanese. Japanese start at 300,000yen a month (net) and up with full abilities with the target firm's CG software. Demand is quite strong for Japanese persons; you would have to work in a joint venture or some firm with a STRONG foreign connection. Oh, and you'll have to work 'blind" in all Japanese software where you can't read the menus.

Rots of ruck
---Taro, son of SOM architect

[Taro Toporific]

wow are you an architect over there? ?

Naaaah, my father was and my step-brother is one now. Sometimes I have to fill in for them during my vacations back in the States---they stick me with grunt work like AutoCad all the duct work and service conduits. I'm just a Class B general contractor license holder who is authorized for stuff less than five stories in height.

i can use AutoCAD. No one will hire me with no experience? Even with a portfolio? How are Japanese supposed to get their first job?

Most start as "trainees" with Asso. Degrees. They make next to nothing (180,000yen per month) for 3 years while undergoing "training." Even young Japanese find these custom systems slow learning. This "training" is a real f$#king pisser since big companies like SHIMIZU and Misawa Homes use a concurrent Engineering system tied to their AutoCad with an ALL Japanese interface. If you cannot read the menus properly, you can't interact with their business processes. Friends have asked me to help out on the weekends but I ended wasting too much of their time helping me navigate their Japanese system to get much actual AutoCad work done.

next question... how much money could I make as an architect with a pre-professional B.Envd?

Zero. A gaijin without a Japanese licence and a four-year degree could not be employed legally as an architect, EXCEPT if you worked as deishi under an established architect who is very understanding and willing to give you a break (like a father-in-law). Japanese are Menkyo baka degree crazy.

[Taro Toporific]

How do I get licensed? Take a test? After that, how much money could i make?

Dude, if you can pass a Japanese architectural license exam in Japanese, you are GOD. Most Japanese fail it the first few times.

Sample question:
"List (in kanji) the 188 standard lumber dimensions."
(Hint: US has fewer than 25 standard lumber dimensions, 1x2, 2x2, 2x4, etc.)

Also, you were telling me not being able to read the japanese autocad is a huge problem. cant i use my own laptop w/ my own copy of autocad?

Yes and no. The AutoCad that you use is always tied directly to engineering, accounting, sales for concurrent design. It's that colaborative work environmment in Japanese that is a major problem. A bigger problem is 2-byte characters get totally hosed by the English version of AutoCad, so J-companies quite rightly demand that you use only the Japanese version.

your dad has a firm? nudge nudge..

Hey Mr. Box-on-your-head! Register a name here on the FG forum and I could send you email. My dad is retired from SOM and my J-friends work for Misawa Homes.