Question:
I know I have posted about this a few times each being different from the next but I keep getting new questions in my head.
I am turning 21 and will be completing my 3rd out of 4 years of college this school year. I am a Business Major with a focus in Management. I am greatly inspired by Japan and all that it has to offer and have been doing a lot of research pertaining to living there without getting citizenship ( As much as I love Japan I like my American citizenship and you can't have both due to Japan's laws).
I know I will need at least a BA which I will be finishing prior to job scouting in Japan. The biggest problem for me is the language barrier. Many people in the US can take classes in school or join groups or clubs where they can learn and practice Japanese and become fairly fluent in a good amount of time, however; I live in Caribou Maine and have access to 0 opportunities up here. I come from the city but my parents hated it in DC so we moved up here near family unfortunately it cut off many many opportunities to help me grow educationally. I am currently attempting to do a year exchange to California State University at Northridge or LA as to apply for an internship at Sony Entertainment and open up myself to new possibilities. I figured that the easiest way to go about getting into Japan would be through a company like Sony seeing as their main branches are in Japan.
I am a huge Anime/Manga/Cosplay lover however living in America is severely puts a damper on that love due to the way many Americans look at such topics. I want to be a producer for a gaming company or for an anime company as I am a huge gamer as well.
So my big questions are:
#1. Was my assumption correct that going through a company in America is the easiest way in?
#2. Should I keep pursuing this or just live in America or even the UK where Sony is also stationed.
#3. Any good advice for me at all. ranging from jobs to just general advice.
Anything is greatly appreciated.
-Rob M
Answer:
Robert, I don't know if I already answered your question, but here goes:
"Many people in the US can take classes in school or join groups or clubs where they can learn and practice Japanese and become fairly fluent in a good amount of time..."
My friend, that NEVER happens. If a person takes language classes, he/she only becomes fluent AFTER being in the country (for a long time) where the language is spoken, and after recovering from the shock of discovering how what they "learned" in classes is utterly USELESS for in-real world usage. Rob, if you have the Internet, you have ALL the learning opportunities you need; you only have to type and download Japanese stuff like crazy! :D
Also, what other people think about your passions is completely irrelevant. What's important is that YOU love what you love. If other people give you funny looks because they see you watching anime or cosplaying at conventions... well, "haters gonna hate".
Rob, use your passions to MASTER the Japanese language! You like anime? Watch raw anime in full Japanese (NO English subs). You like manga? Get some raw manga and skim it. You play lots of videogames? Play only videogames in full Japanese (like J-RPGs). Listen to Japanese music and podcasts, watch videos in Japanese at Nico Nico Douga and Youtube. Get books in Japanese if you can... in short, turn your life Japanese, and the language will become second nature to you. Oh, and learn to use chopsticks if you haven't :D
Here, I suggest you check out this resource: http://www.squidoo.com/learn-japanese-la…
Now, if you want to get in the videogame industry, getting an internship might be a very good option in my opinion, but I really can't tell how difficult it would be to be accepted as an intern. I suggest you watch this video series, they will give you some pretty good insight on the topic of videogame development and the industry: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/v…
I hope this information is of help. I with you great success in your Japanese journey! :D
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