The National Diet Library, The Prime Minister's residence

On Friday, I went to the National Diet Library to do some research. The Diet is the legislative body of Japan's government. More about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_of_Japan.

I had to do some research for work. This area, accessible by Nagatocho or Kokkaigijidou Mae train stations, lacks restaurants. We were able to find a McDonalds and some Japanese restaurants. Even the policemen couldn't give us suggestions. The reason is that there are a concentration of government structures here. We ate at a traditional Japanese restaurant that served the best stewed pork 豚の角煮! I was going to snap a photo, but the grumpy looking owner behind the counter would probably have disapproved.

JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) has cleaner facilities, and air conditioning... The National Diet Library either has their a/c turned off, or on a sauna setting. It was hot! The photo above is the back of the Prime Minister's residence. I took it on the way to have a cup of coffee.

Notice the house is surrounded by bamboo trees, and has some kind of water feature flowing out from beneath the house! I guess this is where Japan's taxpayer money goes...

Real estate in Japan

I've had some experience in the real estate industry. I worked at a company run by Japanese people. Many of you are saying, "Do they know anything about how a foreigner feels in Japan?" I don't think they did. Me not being there anymore shows how much I agreed with the management style. But that's another posting.

Read closely, as my article will probably be better than most sources on the web. For those of you who haven't rented an apartment or house in Japan will be shocked at how crazy the system is compared to most western real estate systems. Let's take a look at the different payments required up front before moving in. The first month's rent prepayed (yachin maebarai, 家賃前払い), deposit (shikikin, 敷金), key money (reikin, 礼金), lock change fee (kagi kokukan dai, 鍵交換代), guarantor service fee (hoshouryou, 保障料). The mentioned fees, add a few more special perks, can run a bill of almost 6 months worth of rent. Keep in mind that you still need to go through the ridiculous application process. Let's talk more on the next post.

Hanko 判子

I just started writing this blog with the intention of keeping my grammar as native as possible. Working in a Japanese company and sometimes speaking only 20% English all day can take its toll on your written English. It starts to sound like Engrish. Really.

I really don't know how many non-Japanese are working in relatively large Japanese companies, but there are things that take getting used to.

I know many of the non-Japanese that move here frown at having to make a Hanko, or seal. In Taiwan, it's called a chop, and it replaces the "signature," in western cultures. If you attend university in Japan, they require you to make a Hanko, and you will probably need one for most official transactions for daily life. Some banks may allow you to use a written signature when opening a bank account.

There are a few different levels of hanko for levels of importance in daily life or business. The one you see above is commonly known between the Japanese as a "Shachihata." It's actually the name of the most famous hanko manufacturer in Japan. Like how Americans call tissues, "Kleenex." Yes, Shachihata is the company who manufacturers the famous X Stamper, for those who are in to office supplies. The one above is actually made by Brother (the printer folks). These are used for stamping less official documents like courier receipts when you receive a package. My company provides me one at work.

Whenever we need to order sales samples, extraordinary office supplies, go on business trips, scratch myself, pee, a purchase request must be drafted in detail (scratch the last two, of course). The requester must affix his hanko on it, plus get approval from ALL managers in his division, and depending upon cost, the big man himself. No, not God or Buddha. The president (to some, a dictator). The Shachihata is used for most day to day business functions.

The 実印, jitsuin, is probably the most official. These are usually not self stamping, and registered. The jitsuin is used for banking paperwork, government documents, and contracts. Usually most people will require both to function in life. My two personal references had to affix their jitsuin before I was officially hired to the company. I guess it adds more, "weight."

Exporting

The company I work for exports products manufactured in Japan. Now, I'm not going to share with you the kinds of products they manufacture because it's obviously going to reveal the company I work for. What I can tell you that the company runs a very slim operation. The company manufacturers only when we get orders. A sort of warped version of Toyota's supply chain model (no, it's not cars). That's why our customers wait extended periods of time for their orders, because we don't stock inventory. If you overstock inventory, they vaporize you and you don't get your summer bonus.

I must admit, we keep profit levels high. That provides difficulties when you need to acquire new business overseas, because the phrase, "I'm sorry, please wait x months for your first order" oftentimes rewards you with the response, "How long?" I think the next challenge is speedy service. It's sometimes frustrating when everything else in Japan moves in a timely manner, and your company hobbles on manufacturing.

Japanese Potato Chips

I know my posts have been more about daily life. I'm trying to get used to this blogging thing and balance my posts between business and more casual subjects. Today it's potato chips. I stopped by the local 7 Eleven and came across new products from Calbee (snack foods producer in Japan, pronounced Karubee). You'll notice from the photos, both are shrimp based, one is Ebi Shio (light, salted shrimp) and the other is Ebi-chili (based on a popular Chinese ketchup based shrimp dish). The Ebi Shio is very light, and the other one pretty much tasted like the actual Chinese shrimp dish. I prefer the lighter Ebi Shio, or even the cheap, 7 Eleven brand - thick, ridged and salted. Simple.

Swine Flu and handwashing

Japan recently confirmed its first three swine flu victims. I'm not going to comment too much about this, but it's all over Japanese news. Many Japanese people wear masks during the winter season to contain one's cold or protect oneself from catching a cold. During the hay fever season, you will see people in the train wearing masks. However, people in Japan don't wash their hands thoroughly. Especially men (not that I've been in the women's toilet). Japanese men don't use soap, and make a few passes through the water flowing out of the faucet. Just wetting the fingers used in the urination process. Gross, huh. I wonder how this habit will affect the spread of the swine flu in Japan.

Personal Reference 身元保証人 mimoto hoshounin

In Japan, asking someone to be your 保証人　hoshounin or guarantor, can be fatal to your friendship. I believe many Japanese people:

1) have been brought up to refuse requests to become a guarantor - sometimes referred to as co-signer

2) have a general fear of hoshounin because they heard about friends co-signing for a loan, and the actual debtor disappearing, thus leaving the hoshounin to foot the entire bill

Even if you work for a large corporation like Microsoft, Dell, or Google, and makes heaps of money, many real estate companies require you to have either a guarantor or enroll in a guarantor service. In a guarantor service, you end up paying half one month's rent, plus 10,000 yen annually to insure yourself. If for some reason you are unable to pay for the rent on time, the guarantor service will step and cover the rent. If the delinquent amount of rent is too high, you will be evicted, and the locks changed though. I'll come back to the rest of the ridiculous fees you need to pay when renting a place in another post.

To avoid the hefty fees when moving in, the unknowing foreigner will approach his Japanese buddy and ask him to be a hoshounin. The foreigner, not understanding the weight behind the question, will casually ask, "Duhhh...Toshi-san, can you be my hoshounin?" Like he was asking for a light. Unless you both make a lot of money, your Japanese buddy will may:

a) feel very uncomfortable and you will never hear from him again

b) gladly take the hoshounin application home to fill out and get a tongue lashing from his wife for putting the household finances at risk for the sake of some gaijin he barely knows

c) happily oblige, but may not make enough to insure your rent

d) happily oblige, and make enough money to insure your rent

Now the information above is for loans and apartment rentals, but I experienced something different. When applying for the Japanese company I am working for, I required 身元保証人 mimoto hoshounin. There's that word. Guarantor. The words in Japanese sounds more like, "I personally guarantee this person as a human being." In English, it's closer to a personal reference. I needed to find two people before actually being cleared for employment. I asked one buddy who is filthy rich but the panty-ass turned me down. I'm being a baby and deciding whether I should speak to him again. Two other of my buddies gladly accepted.

Many of my Japanese friends told me that it was ridiculous that I had to have the names, addresses, and hanko (official seals) of my personal references. The personal references must be renewed after three years, and the company can demand new references at any time. This was kinda discouraging. I'll talk more about the apartment rental application process later. It's Friday tomorrow. Maybe I'll go out and get drunk like everyone else working in Tokyo!

I'll try to post up some photos more often. I don't usually have a digital camera with me, so most of my photos will be via my cell phone camera...

Tokyo Foreigner Employment Support Center

The HR department of the company I work for called me in suddenly out of the blue a few days ago. I thought perhaps my papers weren't in order, as I am the first ever foreigner to work at this Japanese manufacturer. However, the HR manager had a website up on his browser, and asked me if I knew anything about it. The title of the website was, "Tokyo Foreigner Employment Support Center." Now, I didn't know if this was to support me, the employee with the foreign citizenship, or the employer of the employee with the foreign citizenship. Confusing.

Anyways, the website had a long list of ridiculous documents that required submission to this support center. The HR manager had foreign in-laws, and felt bad for mentioning it to me (he shouldn't have mentioned it to me in the first place). I clearly had the look of, "Great, I feel like a second-rate employee." After seeing the obvious expression of disappointment on my face, we both decided that contacting experts in the field of foreigner employment would be a more logical move. I called my buddy who works at a global recruitment firm because we come from similar backgrounds. He said that it was ridiculous that my employer was asking for me to register with the support center. I was already registered with immigrations and the local ward government. I couldn't be any more legal than becoming a Japanese citizen. After hanging up the phone, I ran upstairs to HR and reported my findings. The merciful HR manager said that I shouldn't be put through this painful process. The entire ordeal was painful enough, and I had already wasted a half hour clearing things up. Hooray! The first gaijin.

Gold's gym

I know it's pretty off-subject to start a blog titled American in a Japanese Company with the first post about signing up at the gym. I am starting the blog during Japan's 5 day Golden Week holiday, and will post something work-related as the work week starts up. I will try to keep the blog fun and educational with a good mix of posts.

Since I'm staying home for most of Golden Week, I decided to sign up at Gold's Gym. I'm not anywhere close to Arnold, but working out was an important part of life at home, so I needed a gym with good facilities and equipment. I was at Wow'd in Shibuya, but after moving, I joined up at Tipness. Tipness was a joke. If you're not accustomed to gyms in Japan, it can be frustrating. Some people stay on one machine/rack for a long time, and don't offer to let you on. I actually saw a guy squat for over an hour on the same rack. What I can say though, is that gyms in Japan are really clean. Don't worry, you won't see oily butt-necked photos of me here.