Hey everyone,
To start off, I'd like to thank anyone who takes the time to read this and formulate a response.
I am writing to ask all of you about your experiences job hunting in the Japanese job market as a foreigner and if you have any piece of advice on my specific situation.
I am a graduate (Sept. 2025) of a western European Hotel Management School [four-year B.A./BBA] that is set to conduct a paid internship at the Ritz-Carlton Osaka from February 2025 to September 2025.
Previously, from Q1 to Q3 2023 I already conducted a paid internship at the Four Seasons Tokyo at Otemachi, which I would say was pretty successful. I got along with everyone, did not have significant problems with the cultural and linguistic particularities and long working hours. I'm saying this to underline that, whilst aware of the disadvantages jobs in Japan might bring, this previous experience has gotten my eyes set on working and living in Japan.
Both these internships I did not get through school, instead having to painstakingly cold-call and cold-mail between 200 and 300 hotels & related companies. I know how hard job hunting in Japan can be, and this was just for a minimum wage internship.
Now, after my internship and subsequent graduation in 2025 I would love to stay in Japan. However, in the not unlikely scenario that the Ritz-Carlton chooses to not employ me post-internship, I'm looking to find other perspectives.
I have plenty of experience in line-level hospitality jobs, a bachelors degree in hospitality management with a specialisation in marketing & sales, two years experience as a recruiter (BeNeLux / DACH region) and those aforementioned two internships. However, I am only JLPT N5/low conversational fluency and won't be able to take japanese classes on the side due to hospitality usually having very irregular working hours, so if I'm honest with myself the best I'll do by then is N4.
Except English teaching (I would make a horrible teacher), are there other opportunities in other fields that I am sufficiently qualified for and in which employers could consider me a reasonable fit? I'm not bound necessarily to Osaka, and I am not bound to the hospitality or recruitment industry, to me the dream of building a life in Japan is worth sacrificing an early stable career for.
Again, thank you so much for reading all this, and I wish you a pleasant new year.
by imkozume