Summary
Message Contents
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Working Abroad
The stage was set. It was September of 1992. I had been a software engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation, which was still heavily feeding off its proprietary VAX/VMS systems. The wife(Theresa) had just finished a Civil Engineering degree, and was in search of employment. But with dark unemployment clouds looming in Boston's construction industry, and with the big boys of the computer industry heeding the calls of Wall Street, we started to talk about options outside of New England. Certainly, employability was not the only beacon calling us. Most likely, we had also been infected with the travel bug, having labored through college at Northeastern for five years. The great Co-op program at Northeastern University gave no break for any extensive travel. We were itching to travel.
Thus, Al Gore's juggernaut, er, I mean "super highway", was my main medium for searching for opportunities that might provide:
- Employment opportunities outside of New England in high growth areas
- Information on degree programs that could provide advanced education.
The goal was to locate something within these categories. Therefore, as you may guess, when a message came across the soc.culture.japan newsgroup containing information about a Japanese Science and Technology Management Program in Pittsburgh PA, my interest was immediately aroused.
Interest in Japan
Japan. Yes, the country of cars, sushi, and a huge trade surplus. Plus, one heck of an economy. Certainly their sheer dominance in electronics was well known and documented. At the time I was investigating this JSTMP program, the Japanese model of developing software in factory-like conditions seemed to have failed. But I was always very impressed with their economic success.
In listing our options on whether or not to enter the program, Theresa and I can remember entering into the "go-for-it" column, an entry of taking the less beaten path. Undoubtedly, I also did not think the experience could hurt my resume. Of the major concerns in the "keep-the-course" column, was the prospect of leaving a well paying job at Digital.
But with all the talk about "the world economy" in the post cold war era, and how countries had started to focus more on the success of ones economy for global power, I really did think that international work experience would be beneficial. But again, the big unknown was whether or not I might find employment in Japan.
Today, in looking back at that decision, I can only say that the decision to attend the JSTMP program was probably one of the luckiest moves I had made.
People That Made This Possible
So what was this Japanese Science and Technology Management program all about at the University of Pittsburgh? Their brochure states that individuals might:
- Learn about Japanese society and culture at one of 13 designated National Resource Centers for East Asian Studies
- Learn Japanese with renowned faculty
- Gain first-hand experience in Japanese industry
- Have access to latest information in Japanese
- Establish long-term relationships with Japanese counterparts
- Gain invaluable insights into Japanese society through living in Japan
Did the University of Pittsburgh over-emphasize their stated goals? Well, I would emphatically say no. All the points stated above are true in every respect and more. Being able to speak Japanese has definitely helped in my recent work experience. The Japanese instructors at this school are top-notch. As for experience in the software industry, I would not have gotten such great job prospects upon my return to the states had I not gained the C++ programming experience in Japan.
But I believe the establishment of long-term relationships reaches further to the heart of the matter. Prior to leaving for Japan, we could never have imagined that we would have met such life-long friends.
Well with that said, lets dive into my actual experiences in Japan. As you may have read from my past timeline messages, my life in that country was more then I could have imagined.
Landing in Japan
My arrival at Narita Airport in Japan occurred on February 4, 1994. After the long flight from Boston to Narita Airport (with too many stopovers to count), my life from that point on had seemed forever changed.
NTT Data Communications Systems Corporation, the company that had sponsored my internship, had ferried out an employee to meet me at the airport. Prior to arriving in Japan, I had learned that NTT Data was Japan's largest software integration firm. NTT Data is one of the spin-off companies that formed from the breakup of NTT several years ago. At that time, NTT seemed quite monopolistic in nature whereas NTT Data appeared to have many competitors within the software systems integration industry.
.The specific group that I was to work in, provided sales, marketing, and entire software localization services for an Object Oriented database system based in Austin Texas. This software firm, UniSQL Inc., gave exclusive rights for marketing and supporting the UniSQL product in Japan to NTT Data, in exchange for venture capital needed to start the company in 1991.
The company itself had many branches throughout Japan, with it's headquarters based in Tokyo. The branch that I was to work at was located in Kawasaki City. It was their R&D center. Upon learning this, I didn't think that I would have to work within a strict salary man's environment. But I knew that it would most likely be quite different from the work environment I was leaving.
Since the group I was to work in provided all the localization needed on the database software, the question in my mind was what exactly would NTT Data have me do? At that time, my software background consisted mostly of C programming coupled with graphical user interface design. Where would I fit in?
Company Expectations
In all honesty, I was just glad to know that I would be working for a company whose sole business was related to software. Prior to learning that NTT Data had given me an internship, I had frantically searched for a job myself. Nevertheless, as with many things in Japan, it came down to high level relationships. Specifically a relationship between Carnegie Mellon/UofPitt and NTT Data that actually got me working in Japan. I had hoped that I could actually become useful to the company, instead of just a token favor to someone.
NTT Data, like Digital, had weekly status meetings where individual engineers would give an explanation about work that had been completed the week prior, updates on current work, and the announcement of any potential issues. At the first of these meetings I attended, the question was posed about what I'd like to do. "What I'd like to do?", "Don't they have an idea about what they'd like me to do?", I thought. Well, since I had a basic understanding of the group's charter, I simply stated I'd like to help in any way possible in the localization of the database software for the Japanese market. Nevertheless, as I was to learn later, they were to have me become involved with Quality Assurance.
Clearly, one of the problems they had been facing was the quality of the software that was received from UniSQL in Austin TX. They were constantly discovering problems with the software. What was worse, their customers too were finding show-stopper problems. On several of these occasions, I can remember flurries of EMAIL messages being sent back and forth between Austin and Kawasaki/Toyosu. Many times, even the president of UniSQL would become involved with the resolution of the problems. Thus, my introduction to QA Partner.
They had a need for a way to detect regressions occurring within the software during version upgrades. Obviously, in a transactions based system, a tool that could provide this type of functionality was rare. I had been given the task of building an automated test system that would be used against two graphical Unix tools build under the Motif framework using QA Partner. I very satisfied to have had the chance to work on a project such as this, since it actually did involve coding. (A detailed explanation of the work I performed and completed is provided in timeline message 5). I had worked on this project for approximately three months.
Once this project had been completed, my remaining time at NTT Data was spent solely developing a PC based graphical database schema tool using C++(based on MFC). The work involved in creating this tool, called the VisualEditor for Windows(follow this link to view several graphical images showing various shots), was perhaps the most enjoyable time I have ever had in writing software. NTT Data's desire to have me work on such a project can be attributed to the fact that the suit of products/tools shipped from UniSQL lacked a graphical PC based database tool.
Timeline Event Listing
The following graphic simply shows the time during which I worked on the VisualEdiror for Windows, and the time during which I wrote QA Partner scripts. In addition, this graphic shows the different locations our group worked at. Several months into this internship, our development group moved from the Kawasaki Research center, to the NTT Data headquarters in Toyosu Tokyo, in order to unite the sales, marketing, and development groups for the UniSQL project.
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NTT Data Communications Systems Corporation
This company, founded in 1988, basically evolved from the data communications division of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT). Given that the company is deeply involved in network configuration, and is targeting the internet as a major communications medium, strategically places the company on the road for future success.
A description of NTT Data services, via it's on-line WWW page, is shown
below:
NTT DATA Corporation (NTT DATA) is the premier information systems and computer networking company in Japan. We create value for our clients with total information services, strategic planning, systems planning, systems design and installation, systems maintenance and facility management. NTT DATA does not manufacture hardware; it integrates hardware and software for multivendor computers and information systems, building flexible and creative solutions that precisely meet its clients' needs.
Taking into consideration it's origins, it is no wonder that NTT Data has a very stable relationship with the Japanese bureaucracy. One example of a project involving NTT Data and a government organ, is the Post Office ATM network handling money accounts for most Japanese citizens. It services the largest number of subscribers of any ATM based network.
The support costs associated with the current installed base of custom software written by NTT Data for customers, continues to be a large source of income. But as customers move towards client-server, off the shelf software packages, these revenues will start to leave NTT Data's coffers. This has been a great concern for NTT Data, and is one of the reasons why the company invests large amounts of money in new technologies that haven't yet proven their worth in the marketplace.
A prime example of this can be witnessed right within the group I worked in. The group that worked to translate the object oriented database from UniSQL Inc. NTT Data took quite a chance in 1991, in order to support this US based object oriented batabase company. Object Oriented databases were only in the minds of clever individuals in 1991. Now, with the explosion of the web, and the need to store large amounts of graphical, sound, and complex types of data, most object oriented database companies appear to be on the verge of explosive growth.
Organizational Hierarchy
Upon initial arrival at NTT Data, the NTT Data's UniSQL development group was going through considerable changes. The decision was made to align the development group with the other branches of the project for consolidation purposes. This required a change of divisions from one in the Kawasaki R&D center, to the Network Computing Division. Based on my observations, it seemed to be both an optimal move on the part of the managers, as well as a good political move, bringing the entire project together in one place at the company headquarters. Clearly, the company was placing strategic bets on the future of object oriented databases. In retrospect, I can remember developers not too pleased with the fact that an adjustment would have to be made from the laid-back atmosphere of the R&D center, to the strict formal environment of headquarters.
The Network Computing Division, consisting of 12 total projects, is shown below. As you may see, the layers are plentiful between the lowest class of workers (1st class employees) and the division manager. To get to the president of the company, you'd probably have to go through in several more layers.
NTT Data and UniSQL
My initial impressions on the relationship between NTT Data's UniSQL group and UniSQL Inc. were very good. The president of UniSQL Inc., Dr Kim, would visit Japan often, and I believe many times on short notice. The manager of our group, Mr. Suzuki, would in turn visit Austin Texas regularly. Additionally, NTT Data would periodically send employees of the project to Austin for long periods of stay. But the opposite of having UniSQL employees work at NTT Data had never occurred.
Was the relationship between companies adversarial, friendly, or competitive? I would definitely say friendly. Mr. Suzuki had performed two years of research at MIT, and had a strong understanding of US business operations. Dr. Kim had visited Japan many times, as well as other Asian countries, and was willing to recognize the uniqueness of Japanese companies.
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Living Arrangements
My living arrangements in Japan were quite acceptable for the most part. But then again, I hadn't exactly lived in the lap of luxury prior to living in the land of the rising sun. The one thing that I did have a hard time dealing with though, was the lack of open space in the Tokyo/Yokohama areas. It had taken a little while for me to adjust to an area teeming with millions of people, and acres upon acres of buildings.
But NTT Data, as with most large Japanese companies, accepts much of the living arrangement responsibilities for it's employees. It provides these services in several ways. In NTT Data's case, it would provide small rooms for employees at company owned apartment buildings. Or, it may help pay much of the cost of rent associated with renting an apartment. In my case, I experienced both of these categories.
Company Dormitory
In addition to the division that broke from NTT to form NTT Data, NTT Data also took along many apartment buildings. One of these buildings, Home Eda, was my first home upon arrival in Japan. The 6 tatami mat room that I was to live in for 4 months, simply had a bed, desk, and a place to hang clothes. But, along with these very small living quarters came a cafeteria serving breakfast and dinner, laundry machines, showers, as well as a place to drop off clothes for the dry cleaner. It wasn't much, but it is the type of living arrangement new employees first experience when starting at NTT Data.
As employee's get married or secure several years of service at the company, their living standards may increase in several ways. One may simply be a change to married housing. Or by simply moving into another company dorm that may provide better accommodations such as a closer proximity to work, its own kitchen, larger living quarters, etc.
In my case, my transition to better living arrangements occurred early, because I had already been married. Since there was some mis-communication prior to my departure to Japan, NTT Data had assumed that I was single.
Married Housing
Other then the fact that our new living quarters were located in Chiba prefecture rather then in Yokohama where we had lived separately for 4 months, we were quite happy with the living accommodations. The building itself was 3 stories tall and had been recently built. The apartment (categorized as a 2DK in Japanese) had a living room, dining area/kitchen and 2 bedrooms. One of the bedrooms had a floor of 6 tatami mats(1 tatami mat has dimensions of 85cm-by-75cm). Additionally, the apartment had a small deck and a combination shower/bath/toilet/laundry area. Had Theresa and I owned a car, I believe parking would have cost us approximately $450 per month(companies typically cover most of this cost). The actual rent expense of the apartment was $1500/month. We were responsible for $123/month.
When I had worked at Digital, I rented a very small second floor abode that was half the size of this apartment. Then in Pittsburgh, Theresa and I lived in a studio. Therefore, it wasn't very difficult to make the adjustment to this type of environment in Japan. One bad aspect of this apartment though, was it's proximity to a Kawasaki Steel Mill. Since Chiba housed so many of Japan's large importing/exporting companies on Tokyo Bay, the pollution was quite bad. This Kawasaki steel plant, less then one kilometer away from our apartment, certainly didn't help keep the air clear.
Other benefits associated with this new residence, was it's location to where I worked, only one hour away. Additionally, via train, Narita airport was now only 45 minutes away. But again on the other hand, via train the distance from this apartment to where Theresa and I had taken Japanese lessons was 2 hours.
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Adjusting to a New Country
In planning to visit and/or live in another country, it is best to go under the pretense that things most likely will be quite different from one's home country. Keeping an open mind, with low expectations, is a good strategy to have. But probably the most important, is the fact that once you arrive in the new country, mistakes will be made. If you are then able to learn from these mistakes, you will certainly get much more out of the experience, and will have people accept you more open-heartedly.
Cultural Adjustments
There certainly are differences. More so then I can document in only several paragraphs. Therefore, I will just briefly talk about some specific differences I noticed during my stay in Japan.
Gift giving is one area that Japanese people appear to do more of. There is even a time during the summer months when people feel obligated to give gifts to those people that have had some influence in their lives. Giving gifts can serve many purposes. It can be done out of obligation, it may be done out of true feelings, or it may even be done because it has become an established routine.
Whenever anyone in our work group had traveled anywhere, whether it be on a business trip or an actual vacation, some type of food/candy was bought at the place traveled to, for the workers back at the office. I was fortunate that I had taken the advise of people in Pittsburgh about buying gifts for people I would meet in Japan. After realizing how much help they had given me simply so that I could get settled in my new dormitory, I was thankful that I had something small to give back.
There are many things that Americans might take for granted prior to going to live in Japan. Certainly the food will be much different. Just be prepared for many more servings of fish. Especially if you live in company housing. During my time in the company dormitory, 70% of the meals cooked contained fish, and about 95% contain rice.
The typical salary man's clothing seems to be forever in style. If your lucky enough to work in a laid-back company, you might not have to worry about this. The surprising aspect of clothing in Japan never occurred to me until I returned to the US after about 10 months in Japan. I wasn't sure if I had been there for too of time long or what, but when first arriving back the states, it had seemed like everyone were dressed as slobs. People would wear torn T-shirts in restaurants, jeans were everywhere, and people just really didn't seem to care. But, lucky, since I've been back in the US for awhile, I've come to my senses and fit back in with the crowd.
Other minor points that stook out in my mind as having a need for adjustment, include the way Japanese people sign many legal documents. A Hanko, or personal stamp is used by many, especially when banking as a personal signature. Japan is also a country were people drive on the opposite side of the road. Finally, if your anywhere other then in theTokyo area, be prepared for the curiosity factor if your are Caucasian. I encountered much of this during my travels to various parts of the country.
Work Related Adjustments
The adjustment to Japan's prioritization of work over the home life is probably one of the most difficult aspects of life in Japan. If only it were true in all cases. While I certainly logged many hours of work, it did not encompass all my time. Nor did it rule other engineer's free time. The rule was set that Saturday's and Sunday's were time-off. Additionally, members of our group were allowed to arrive quite early in the morning, and depart about ten hours later. The catch was, you'd have to be able to stomach the action of walking out of the office in front of the majority of other employees that were still there (but had also arrived to work 2-3 hours later then you did). Typically we'd handle this by walking out together.
But the experiences of other foreigners working in Japan I was told, had differed greatly from mine. Many would arrive to work at the same time as everyone else and depart at the same time. Some would work weekends, others would sometimes work more then Japanese. Each situation differs from the next, with the key variables being, in order of importance:
- Your boss
- The company you for
- The business the company is in.
While the working hours balanced against my home life were quite adequate, the one difficulty I had was communication. Meetings were all in Japanese, telephone calls were in Japanese, etc. Since writing software certainly requires group interaction, my lack of total comprehension of Japanese was definitely a source of frustration. Obviously, in taking Japanese lessons and in speaking as much as possible, the frustration would gradually decrease.
Other major points that needed some type of adjustment, was the open office layout that most Japanese companies adopt, the occasional after-work get-togethers with office mates, and of course the commute. The ten minute commute I was so use to in the states was deeply missed.
Home Related Adjustments
Living in a Japanese apartment complex did not take many adjustments. My wife, Theresa, experienced more of the day-to-day interactions with other neighbors then did I. Of the 21 apartments in the building, about 6 were filled with NTT Data families. Once Theresa and I became firmly established, it became clear that several of these families would quickly try to fold Theresa into their tight group of friends.
While I didn't really give much notice to interaction among neighbors, Theresa felt somewhat suffocated. While her Japanese friends were probably concerned about her loneliness, Theresa was wondering where her privacy went. Days would be spent talking, making bread, watching kids, etc. with her new found friends. But when the day came when Theresa invited our immediate, non-NTT Data next-door neighbor over for coffee, the rest of the NTT Data families then started to exclude her from there group activities. Weird.
Actuality, it really didn't bother Theresa. As she explained it to me, she rather be judged by individual true friends, then by those acting within a group.
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Work Experience
For a software engineer looking to gain usable, market driven skills that could be leveraged as a springboard into greater opportunities, the work at NTT Data was exceptional. After the initial QA testing scripts had been written, the chance to design and implement a visual database schema editor under C++ was very exciting. But while the work was exciting, the work environment itself was hard to deal with on a daily basis. With the struggles of communication, the different relationships expected between older vs. newer employees, and general adjustment to Japanese culture, it was no piece of cake.
But while my individual technical experience was important, so too was the opportunity to experience working in a Japanese software company, and the chance to work other Japanese software engineers.
Daily Schedule
After the move from the Kawasaki R&D Center to the Toyosu Center Building in Tokyo, my daily activities became very routine. The goal was simply to complete a Windows based UniSQL schema tool. Alone.
A typical day would start with the alarm sounding at 5:30am. At exactly 6am, every single weekday, I would board the semi-express train from Chiba to Tokyo. In my year plus usage of this train, I cannot remember even one day when the train would leave late. The next commuting hour would typically be spent half-asleep. The attempt was made to read, study, and/or listen to music. But after awhile it because apparent that at such an early time in the morning, my body told me to veg.
Most of the time, I would be the first to arrive at work. In a very boring way, the rest of the day seemed to fit into a mold designed for daily usage. I would read usenet groups, read and reply to email messages, schedule coding tasks for the day, and then execute those tasks. Commercialism aside, tools that were invaluable to me in my development efforts were the Microsoft Developers CD, an MFC developer book, and my most valuable resource, the internet.
Since there we no other developers writing totally new code as I had been doing, my biggest fallback resource were usenet groups on topics directly related to my coding efforts. I had learned many tricks, tips, pointers to useful resources, and the ability to post and receive answers to technical questions. Had there been anyone there to answer my questions, I probably would not have been able to translate the long technical parts into Japanese.
The departure time each day would differ. Tuesdays were constant, since Theresa and I would always meet our Japanese mother in Kawasaki for a 1.5 hour Japanese lesson (A very wonderful person we befriended while living in Yokohama. Our second lesson was held on Saturdays) Tuesday's departure from work would occur at around 4:45pm. On these nights, Theresa and I would arrive home at about midnight, with our heads finally hitting the pillow at around 1am. As I've mentioned before, traveling time between Kawasaki and Chiba is lengthy.
Other days were much better sleep-wise. Depending upon the workload of the day, my average departure-time from work would be 6:30pm-ish. Some days I would leave at 4:45pm, others days I might leave at 9:30pm. It all seemed quite normal, since most of my co-workers had always seemed to be putting in the same, if not more, hours.
It was a very nice development environment since I was never pulled into other tasks that would take me away from development time. I was given freedom to develop, yet held accountable to deadlines.
Work Accomplished
The work I had performed while at NTT Data has been mentioned in this message, as well as in previous timeline messages. The QA Partner scripting code and the UniSQL schema editor allowed me to gain valuable skills while giving the UniSQL group a database tool for their customers.
Group Interaction
My arrival into the NTT Data UniSQL Group in early 1994 most likely would have been a paradigm shift for normal Japanese work groups. But, with the ex-US high school student in one Shinji Umeki, and the occasional travel to UniSQL Inc. by several engineers in our group, I was not that much of an adjustment. As such, I was looked at more in terms of Shinji Umeki, who was sometimes even stranger then your average American, then a gaijin American.
My work was very individualized. I would go in, sit down, and code. In trying to break this cycle, I had asked several of the engineers if my code could be reviewed. Quite a normal software engineering activity. My real intentions though, were to try to merge the coding efforts of myself and the only other software engineer in the group that had been writing windows code. Unfortunately, my requests went in one ear and out the other.
As I had mentioned in a previous time line message (message 4), the psychological adjustments associated with working in this environment took some getting use to. Being able laugh at your, having the knowledge that your stay in Japan is short term, and trying to have low expectations helped greatly in adjusting to such a different environment.
Training Available
I had attended only one training seminar during my tenure at NTT Data. A 3-day course, in Japanese, for a tool called Galaxy. This tool is a cross-platform, integrated development environment toolkit used to develop graphical user interfaces This was all that was offered to me, although I probably wouldn't have had time for anything else given my very busy schedule.
Unions
As is typical in many large companies in Japan, unions permeate the corporate structure. NTT Data is no exception. Even though it is a strict high-tech company, the union institution is one that was inherited from the NTT behemoth back in 1988. I never inquired about the exact politics involved, but as with many bureaucracies in Japan, they refuse to go away.
Full time employees holding non-managerial positions are periodically required to attend seminars far away from the company. These typically last a day or two. Did the software engineers in my group mind attending these seminars, or even their union membership? Well, as least several in my group that I had talked to about this certainly didn't like the idea a union period. They could see no need for it in a high-tech firm.
Outside Activities
Picture a Japanese language student, watching drunken salarymen singing incomprehensibly, to incomprehensible music, as part of some type of special Japanish worker bonding crew. Would I have to go through that? Luckily, our group did not really participate in any of these weekly bonding exercises. But there certainly were group get-togethers apart from work.
Upon first arrival in Japan, actually the very first night, there was a welcome dinner thrown on my behalf. I soon came to realize that whenever anything major happened in regards to employees leaving the group, coming back from a long overseas assignment, or a promotion, we would all get together for dinner. This is quite different from a lunch celebration at an American firm that would cover these situations.
After the move to Toyosu, these dinners picked up in frequency. Soon, the reason for having these dinner get-togethers were division related. Since we were now at company headquarters, these events started to have a strong political smell to them. Less software engineering types would attend and more managerial types wearing 3-piece suits would be in attendance. Certainly, in a highly prestigious firm like NTT Data, one would have to make all the right moves in order to advance. Attending these types of get-togethers was essential.
All the things I had done after work were not food related though. Basketball was one. Playing with scores of other office mates that would occasionally rent a basketball court in several gyms located around Tokyo. The second activity was a triathlon team. I had trained with them on and off for several months, and had even attended their summer camp. But my return to the states kept me from really getting involved with that dedicated group.
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Comparisons
Differences were abundant in contrast to the life we had left in Boston. From food prices to living conditions to even the different career ambitions Japanese workers aspired to. But, as was documented in timeline message #9, in regards worker expectations there clearly existed many similarities.
At home, we certainly felt more inquisition from our neighbors. Not only did we feel this interest from the neighbors in our building, but the neighbors that were more permanent residents of our immediate area had much more interest. I would have long conversations with the family that owned the liquor store across the street, the lady that dry cleaned my dress shirts, and even the owner of the flower shop we occasionally visited. While being under seemingly special scrutiny, it was comfortable knowing that many people seemed to go out of their way to be sincerely nice to us. 4
American vs. Japanese Work Groups
I had heard of the company dormitories, the team driven approach towards work, and the lifelong dedication employees have to one company. Upon arrival, I was set up in company subsidized housing, given a train pass to commute to and from work, and was basically asked what type of software engineering work I'd like to do. After two months of working hard and showing dedication, I was surprisingly offered the opportunity to sign a three year contract without really performing any brilliant software engineering feats. After straightening out my marital status and given the opportunity to move into married housing, I started to really settle down comfortably in my role at NTT Data.
The point that I am trying to make is, NTT Data seemed to promote a paternal environment. As an American, as an individual, it would be a difficult environment to live in for years upon end. I did not know all the cultural differences or all the expectations. Plus, living standards and pure career potential prompted me to make my Japan experience a two year deal. But for Japanese people, having been exposed to those types of surroundings throughout their lives, of course it only seems natural.
The immediate contrasts between American vs. Japanese company's again point to well know themes. Japanese companies appear more long-term oriented, more team focused. In the American firms I've worked in, I've mainly been hired on the pretense that I'd "hit the ground running", be able to help out right away. Additionally, American engineers appear motivated more by monetary and/or skill/work environmental factors then do Japanese engineers that work for the company's well being.
American vs. Japanese Career Goals
In comparing career objectives between Japanese and American high-tech workers, topics discussed in timeline message #8 detailed many of the differences I felt existed. In summarizing parts of that message, I would say that working for US companies seem to carry higher stress levels. With the demands of Wall Street and the bottom line, workers are more then ever concerned about maintaining the latest skill and educational levels. In contrast, workers in Japan rely more on their company for training, then on individual efforts.
This was certainly one of my motivating factors in making the jump to Japan. I certainly wasn't going on any nirvana quest. The world economy is vitally important in today's business environment. What better way to learn about this environment then to work within the two largest economies in the world.
Sterotypes
While I've seemed to have continuously harped on prevailing themes about Japan, there are many instances where these themes depart from the norm. I have met several Japanese freelance professionals, similar to freelance contractors here in the states, that provide the latest technological services to companies. Many of these people are young, self-motivated, and have become successful because they were not content to become just another worker in a large Japanese company.
In other aspects of Japanese life too, I have seen stereotypes being broken. At the company where Theresa worked as a Civil Engineer, for example, several career oriented female Civil Engineers were employed. Breaking the mind-set that engineering is strictly a male dominated field. Further, many people might not know about Tokyo's homeless problem, or that crime actually does exist in Japan, albeit on a small scale.
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Preparations for Japan
The adjustment to life in Japan was really like a dream for the first three months. Things really seemed just that bizarre and strange. I don't see how I might have prepared for that except for maybe 50 straight episodes of Monty Python. I did eventually adjust to the environment. Su much so that upon return, I had to adjust back to American life.
The University of Pittsburgh had done as best they could given our one year timeframe. The most ideal situation would have given me Japanese language preparation throughout my middle and high school years. But the one semester prerequisite that is typically required for US high schoolers doesn't seem to cut it. Without even considering the average US school's tendency to be eurocentric.
Japanese Language
Thus, the more Japanese one knows prior to living in Japan, the easier it is to adjust. The speech used between fellow engineers in the first month or so, certainly didn't seem like Japanese. I had been warned of this, and indeed trying to understand the quick direct speech of fellow engineers, as well as that of older men was very difficult. The weekly group meetings also proved arduous. It quickly became apparent that Japanese to English translations in ones head just don't work with numerous people speaking at the same time, as was typical in these meetings.
The most helpful aspects of my language training came in the repeated speech drills that were required. Upon hearing these similar patterns used in speech, the meaning is quickly understood before any translation or guessing needs to be done. Additionally, I found it very beneficial to have had taken lessons throughout the time I had lived in Japan. Even though Japanese was spoken everywhere, having a formal language learning setting helped understand points I would have not picked up otherwise.
Cultural Knowledge
Yes means No and No means Yes? What does that body language mean? Indeed, knowing the mannerisms of the host country is important. I would even rank knowledge of Japan's customs right up there with language proficiency. While I certainly wasn't a model of cultural etiquette, my efforts revealed that I certainly made attempts at fitting in smoothly. So much so that upon my return to the US, upon bumping into strangers I was bowing.
While I realized that I would never "be like a Japanese", I did think that I could conduct myself in a way that would not be uncomfortable for my co-workers. The most important of these, in my opinion, was to never question those in positions above mine. Additionally, I always tied to make a conscious effort to never complain about my work or my co-workers. There definitely were situations where certain co-workers made my work environment difficult. But as far as my supervisor was concerned, everything appeared to be sailing smoothly. To me, Japan was a temporary assignment. Allowing me to look beyond tomorrow to overcome difficulties.
One small example of a situation that may fall in this category occurred during my most busiest development time. Unlike high-tech companies in the US, non-contracting engineers get compensated for over-time hours. During this period, I was working 40-50 hours of overtime per month. Not unlike other large Japanese companies, and unknown by me, the finance department frowned upon workers working over 20 hours per month. When my supervisor explained this policy, I simply agreed and said I would comply. No big deal. I enjoyed the work I was doing, and my supervisor was simply explaining the difficult situation he faced.
Demographic Adjustments
Being so far away from one's family and friends is difficult. But being away, experiencing new places and meeting new people, allowed us to compare and in so doing, appreciate our hometown of Boston. Unfortunately, adjusting to this environment was no easy task.
But levels of adjustment unquestionably differ along gender lines. In my role as a software engineer, in a more male dominated country, was much easier then Theresa's role as a female civil engineer/ domestic partner. These differences have greatly changed over the last several years, but certainly do not match the level of equality as is seen in the United States.
But there are far too many differences between Japan and the US. From gender differences, religious outlooks, to Japan's political system. The best advice to follow is to expect differences, expect similarities, and to understand what they are prior to living in this country.
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Advise
In retrospect, as I've mentioned often, the best piece of advice I took to Japan was to have no expectations. At the least, I tried to look at my future life in Japan as a language learning experience. Yes, I had stated many times that the motivating factors that drove me to learn Japanese, and to work in Japan, was more then just language learning. But language preparations and cultural preparations might not always be the end-all for readiness. Being able to cope mentally in such a different environment is just as important. Having low expectations is a start.
But in most cases, one will take away much more then just some language capability. If that's all there is, then so be it.
Language
During my entire time in Japan, I never felt comfortable with my language capability. So much so that after having returned to the US, I continued taking Japanese lessons. But each person learns foreign languages at both different speeds and different levels. In overcoming such obstacles, in my experience, I tried the constant daily approach to learning the Japanese language. I would listen to Japanese music, TV, and even people talking on the train. I would also study kanji's by reading comics to practicing software on our Macintosh. Additionally, the review of the Japanese grammar textbooks that were taught at the University of Pittsburgh was extremely helpful.
Many times I felt that months upon end would pass without any improvement. But then suddenly, there would be this realization that indeed, I had learned quite a bit. During this time, Japanese people talking to me for the first time would always compliment my Japanese. This became bothersome to me, until I realized that it was just a set phrase Japanese people would use.
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The Road Ahead
During and after my working experiences in Japan, I been asked many times about my motivations for going, and how I thought I could benefit. In each of my replies, many times the thought that came instantly to mind was how different my perspectives on life would be based on these experiences. For example, never again would I take for granted the American lifestyle. The inexpensive standard of living, the wide open spaces, the individual freedoms. From Japan I took an understanding of the importance of relationships, the long-term goal-oriented way of thinking, and even a sense of closeness Japan feels for the US along with an underlying competitiveness.
It was a perspective I felt fortunate to have received, for my life had become ever richer.
Career Paths
Upon our return to the states, I was not strictly seeking employment utilizing my Japan experience. But in targeting the software industry, most companies that I had interviewed at sold their products/services to a global market. While most companies look for skills that can immediately be used, having international experience places potential employees a step above those that do not. Also, having this type of experience on one's resume for future promotions and/or career changes increases one marketability substantially.
But in regards to future business opportunities, the relationships one maintains is probably more important then what is written on ones resume. In Japan where trust and loyalty are sought after attributes, not many foreigners meet these criteria given their individual goals. I was certainly not able to fill the loyalty category, having left Japan after nineteen months out of family considerations. But being able to maintain personal relationships can be both personally satisfying, as well as a medium of contact for future opportunities.
People
People, more then demographic, cultural, and work experiences, were the part of our overall Japan experience that we hold most valuable. From our Japanese language instructor, to our neighbors, to all the friends we met through work, made our stay both rewarding and enjoyable.
From my first week in Japan when my boss(Suzuki-san) had helped to get me get settled into NTT Data company housing, to last October ('95), when he attended my wedding in Boston, he has been both friend and mentor. His family too played a large part in making us feel comfortable. Since Suzuki-san, his wife, and their two children had spent two years in Boston, they were well aware of the problems associated with living in a different culture. Several times, my wife Theresa would visit the Suzuki family during the work week. They were always concerned about our adjustment to living in Japan, and made every effort to help make our stay enjoyable.
Another wonderful person that we were extremely lucky to have met, was our Japanese language teacher Hagiwara-san. This chance meeting came about after we had heard of some very inexpensive Japanese language classes that were being held in Yokohama. She was one of the teachers. After attending these courses for several months, and after my wife had returned home to the US for the summer, I had asked her if she might possibly consider teaching private lessons. She graciously offered to teach.
For the next year and three months, she had been both friend, mother, and teacher. Words cannot describe the kindness and warmth she showed us, as if we were her own children. She held two hours classes on both Tuesday's and Saturday's for us. We were always served a snack on Tuesday, and on most Saturday's we were served lunch. But apart from the Japanese language instruction, she had also taught us very much about Japanese culture. For her husband, as well as herself, were both Shinto priests. Their house in Kawasaki sat next to a Shinto shrine that had been in the family for over 500 years. It was hard to imagine that the history of their shrine, and of their family, could be tracked back to before the United States became a country.
We had participated in many of the ceremonies that were held in their neighborhood. Several times I had even helped her husband set up their shrine for these occasions. My wife was also like a daughter to her. Several times during the week they would get together to go out and do various stuff. While my writing may give the impression that we feel great obligation towards this wonderful women, we also feel great love.
While much as been said about the difficulty foreigners have in belonging to an inner Japanese group, this wonder woman had accepted us into her house, community, and family.
We had also become close to several of Theresa's friends from her internship at Chiyoda Corporation. Michi and Hitoshi Ito were closest to us as a couple. We had shared many of the same interests and basically just enjoyed being around each other.
Another close friend of ours was and is the Amada family. Theresa and Mrs Amada had a very friendly relationship. They would do many things together from shopping, to going out to eat, to visiting each others house. Their family, as well as the Hagiwara's, were always their to help us.
To just about all of these people we had met, we will feel forever grateful.
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Summary
Would I do it all over again? Most certainly. Would I do things differently? Yes, I would possibly do several minor things differently, but nothing major. It was all a wonderful learning experience trying to adjust to a new culture, and in turn learning to appreciate American culture and way of life.
In regards to my future career, my long term goals are to have some type of connection with that economy through work. If that never materializes, then the current friendships we have would more then equal any work related objectives. But being able to live and work in Japan, for a Japanese company, provided rare work experience. The type of experience that is needed to operate in a global market.
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