September 12, 2008

Tell Me How to do People Stuff

In this post I turn to you, the readers, because you have common sense and I don't.--case in point: Today I finally decided figure out how to pay the rent in this country. That's right, for three years, stuff just happened for me and I didn't really know how, because I had kind keepers. I guess I've done 振込みs before, but this was the first time to pay rent by them for me. End digression with double hyphen in 3, 2,...-- So, my question for you, gentle reader, is:

How do I realize my dream to work in the Japanese book industry and design book covers and layouts? Should I break down and go to grad school some where? Should I just teach Eikaiwa after I finish at this little language school, and hope an opportunity comes to me somehow? Should I get a job in the mail room at a Japanese publisher and work my way up? Should I dust off my old graphic design portfolio and hope no one asks why the only thing I've designed in the last 4 years is a blogspot layout (yes this one). I'm not sure.

Seeing the principal advising all the students here each day, who are much younger than me on average and just looking to begin their college careers in earnest, has me thinking about my future. I am, though poorish, debt free at this point in my life, and I didn't like academia the first time around. Don't get me wrong, learning and studying are some of my favorite things, but I draw to much attention to myself in a classroom environment, and that can cause teachers to polarize towards or against me. And then these very human people control my fate and wrack me with stress and emphasize things they care about over what I want to learn. Messy. But I guess that's part of life, eh? Dealing with people and their highs and lows. It can be beautiful, but...

This post reads like I am autistic, doesn't it.
--
Then I have the other dreams to do something involving the Japanese movie industry too. And even a dream to just work in a rice field somewhere, like this guy. Or own a bookstore. There are tons of things I want to do in Japan. I have a friend thinking about coming back to Japan and marrying his girlfriend, then owning a restaurant. That would be awesome.

8 comments:

  1. Answer: 専門学校. If you want to get into design and layout, you've got to attend 2 years at a senmon gakkou, and it's not going to be cheap. (Expect to pay about 200万円 in the end) All you need to do is pass the 1-kyu, or pass the 2-kyu with a near perfect score in listening.

    On the side, study desktop publishing (or if you can, supplement your design classes with DTP).

    Don't go to work on a farm unless you know how to market your crops and sell them for a premium. (Which that Australian guy is obviously not so savvy with...) You'd also need to do some serious research on soil types to be able to produce fluffy rice. And you can't be afraid to invest in farm equipment to save yourself time, which gives you room to work on a larger field area, therefore producing more rice.

    The movie industry in Japan will not be as fulfilling as you'd like, because it's in serious decline and not open to/willing to invest in the indie-spirit.

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  2. If you go for the graduate school thing, this might be a good option-

    http://www.kmd.keio.ac.jp/en/index.html

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  3. It's hard, you have to weigh up income to get you through. I love making art, but it's hard to do that and work, but I need to work to support my art habit. My only advice is to balance work, study, and design, somehow to keep the dream alive.

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  4. Hmm... I guess I'm lucky because my dream is very specific and I have a good idea of how to accomplish it. I think you should definitely try to fulfill your dreams/goals in life rather than just taking whatever comes. At least for me, having a purpose and a drive in life keeps me focused and makes me feel a greater sense of accomplishment.

    I think your problem is you don’t really know what you want to do in life, you seem to have many goals you’d like to pursue but don’t know what to focus on. I have secondary goals as well such as learning Japanese and further improving my physical capabilities (exercising, martial arts, gymnastics, etc.). But I have only one primary goal which I put most of my focus on. Once you decide on your primary goal in life then you can worry about how to get there, such as deciding what degree you should pursue, what companies you want to work for, etc.

    Unfortunately our time is limited; there’s just not enough time in one lifetime to pursue a few distinct careers or master many different realms of knowledge. Working in the Japanese movie industry, doing graphic design, owning a bookstore, and working in a rice field are four very distinct careers. However, if you really did want to do all four at some point in your life I think you could because none of them require a very large amount of specific knowledge to get into (i.e. you don’t have to go to 4 years of college for each). However, doing all four would require a large amount of planning and dedication. If you picked one and focused on that for the rest of your life you would have an easier time getting into that career and planning your progression.

    I think what is most important though, is picking a primary goal or goals that you can realistically accomplish. If you aren’t sure what you want to do and keep changing your goal you’ll just be wasting your time (this is similar to not being able to decide on a major in college). Take your time and figure out what you REALLY want to do and try your best to stick to it. Once you’ve done that then you can tackle the “how to get there” part more effectively and feel confident about what you’re doing.

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  5. Hellow, I'm a Japanese woman past middle age. I was a graphic designer for a long time.If you want to work in the book industry,you should look for a small design company with your graphic portfolio.But biggest problems in Japan are Job interview(Japanese),an academic background(GAKUREKI in Japanese) and economy(Jobs are tight even Japanese people economicaly.) The first step in your dream, you should look for an english magazine company,for example "metropolis".It's easy to communicate colleague and client.
    I wish you much success.
    Cheer up!!!!

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  6. I agree with what previous posters said.
    When I lived in Tokyo, a Gaijin said to me that only three jobs Gaijins can do in Japan, a English teacher, a model or a hostess(of 水商売).
    In New York, only three jobs Japanese can do, a waiter at Japanese restaurant, a tour guide for Japanese tourists or doing a very boring work for Japanese companies.
    These are true and not true at the same time because there are a few but some people became successful outside of those industries.

    However, you need a good determination.
    Sorry to say this but judging from what you wrote, at this point, most of them seems to be just unrealistic fantasies of yours, which is nothing wrong with.
    But one of my freind said this to me a long time ago, and I think it is so ture, "some people spend their entire lives for just dreaming and people who work for their dreams have started them already."
    The thing is that you have not done much for your goal for last four years, which tells the lack of your determinationa and motivation as you already know.

    Graduate school and 専門学校 may help but do not guarantee anything just like not all people go to art schools will turn out to be professional artists/designers/film makers.

    Write down whatever you think you can do or you have to do now and start to do them.
    And it is lucky for you to have English teaching job as an option. You can support yourself by that until you get what you really want.

    First of all, it takes time to learn languge, so in a mean time, you can teach English and re-build your portfolio.
    Or if your parents have a money and are willing to loan that to you, why don't you open up any kind of store or restaurant you like?

    Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

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  7. I wouldn't say I haven't done anything towards my goal; I've been studying Japanese with this sort of stuff in mind. The book thing has been the main goal.
    Thanks for taking the time to drop thoughts, everyone.

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  8. @_@
    Keep in mind my comment has a lot less chance of being seen if I don't use a real account. You don't like this "anonymous" fella.

    anonymous fella Ramon Sosa says:
    Thats funny man I'm in the same situation myself and the last thing you just said was so hillarious cause my Japanese girlfriend that is studying here in New Mexico at UNM wants us to start a restaurant too.. We want to marry each other... She is from Oyabe, Toyama and I live in Phoenix, AZ.. originally from Riverside, CA... I wish I was one of those people that knows how to make things happen... but come on man you're already there making it happen.. You made it to Japan it feels like you're not moving anywhere but you are... I'm still stuck here 21 years old and going no where.. my dreams are in Japan...

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