Experience of Living and Working in Japan

迷惑（めいわく）をかける。
Causing trouble for others

The first thing Japanese adults are taught when they go out into society to work, and something they always keep in mind, is not to cause trouble for other people. 他人（たにん）に迷惑（めいわく）をかけないこと。

This runs through everything, from daily life to work.
Of course there are occasionally stubborn, arrogant types, and they are always a hot topic on Japanese TV and in the papers.
People who come to Japan to work often say the Japanese are conservative and inflexible. But suppose Vietnam were as developed as Japan and people from countries like Bangladesh or Africa came to work in Vietnam — would they have to follow Vietnamese laws and customs, or would it be fine for them to keep behaving according to their own customs while in Vietnam?!
郷（ごう）に入（い）っては郷（ごう）に従（したが）え When in Rome, do as the Romans do

Japan is an extremely strict country with countless laws, rules and standards. And in fact they have already dropped or simplified a great many of them.
Japan is an island nation, but it is no longer the closed country of long ago with no contact with the outside world. If we take 1945, when Japan lost the war, as the starting point, Japan has now walked alongside America for over 50 years. There is nothing modern, new or expensive anywhere in the world that you cannot find in Japan.

Japan has at times even led world trends, with karaoke, the Sony Walkman, Nintendo games and so on
I say this so you understand that although Japan may look closed off, it really isn't. You can easily check and experience this in Harajuku, Akihabara, Shibuya, Shinjuku and other places where young Japanese people gather.

You may well be stunned by the strangest things you have never seen before.
I say this only to show you that there are many angles from which to see Japan and the Japanese. What matters more than anything is: from which angle are you looking at it? through whose eyes? and where are you placing it?
"When in Rome" here doesn't mean Japan or the Japanese as a whole, but the very place where you are living and working. It might be only about 30 minutes by train from central Tokyo, or it might be a remote corner of Hokkaido such as Abashiri or Kitami.

So is it right to hate Japan and the Japanese?! It doesn't fit and it isn't relevant at all!
Instead of hating (which is also a form of fear, in a way), you should conquer it. Because only by conquering and winning will you find peace, and only then are you really growing up and showing strength of character. (What does hating actually achieve? I've said this many times already. If a Cambodian comes to Vietnam and hates Vietnam, he had best pack up and go back to Cambodia, because sooner or later he will never be at peace)

How do you conquer it?!
You must be good at Japanese. When you aren't good at the language you don't dare speak, you don't communicate, or you say the wrong thing and cause misunderstandings.
It's the same for everyone. At the start you're bad at it and you don't know anything. Study hard, practise, and you'll get good. You just need to persevere, because Japanese is harder than the Japanese themselves; it is vast and rambling rather than neatly defined for each situation.
Most important of all is attitude. Your positive attitude at work and in life.

At work it is often not the work itself but relationships and communication with people. We Vietnamese only like praise; we don't want to be criticised or told off. But some Japanese people criticise constantly. They never seem satisfied with what you do, no matter how hard you have tried.

But as I said, you need to keep a positive attitude and set your feelings aside. Always remember that we go to work in order to make someone satisfied. Just as a company must have a service or product that satisfies customers. Only then can it sell, and only then is there money to pay wages. Customers aren't easy-going these days either. And that's just how Japan is!

Does the image of a Japanese customer shouting furiously while the member of staff apologises over and over, able only to say sorry, seem strange to you?
That is not an image found only in films. It is entirely real and happening somewhere in Japan right now.

So it comes down to endurance. And that is the important part. Doing your daily work goes without saying, but enduring being shouted at while still finishing the job and keeping a positive attitude — that is the first key to winning the Japanese over.

At work, once you are used to the job you can arrange and carry out your own work on your own initiative. However, you should always say a word to your Japanese colleague (whether they are your superior or someone working alongside you)

Always greet people loudly and always say thank you
There are people you greet who won't greet you back or who ignore you… Never mind! What did I tell you above?!
Always keep a positive attitude. You have to be yourself; you're the one winning them over. Why let yourself be deflated so easily by their reaction?! And rest assured, keep greeting them. Sooner or later they'll feel awkward and greet you back.

Once you're working, mistakes are bound to happen. You need to face up to them seriously and put them right, not just admit fault to get it over with. We Vietnamese often have this mindset when we make a mistake. What you need to remember is that some mistakes are acceptable and there are times when mistakes cannot be allowed. So we need to face the problem seriously and fix it
(because you can't repeat the same mistake over and over)

Ah, some of you will surely be annoyed when a Japanese person makes a mistake and blames it on you. Don't worry about that either. Just accept it — even if your superior tells you off as well, take it. You're proving that you have far more strength of character than they do. A Japanese company isn't stupid; it knows what's going on inside it. It's just that…
Remember that if you do make a mistake you need to apologise sincerely. Don't try to hide it or cover it up — they'll dislike you even more.

—
Cut down on the habit of gathering to eat, drink and sing noisily.
Why?! Because it causes trouble for others.
In a foreign land, of course it's fun for friends to get together. But you should also think about other people; often the company doesn't allow overnight gatherings (mine doesn't either). Travelling is difficult and expensive, and your language isn't good.
You can't let the pursuit of fun lead one person to dodge the train fare, another to break company rules, another to break the dormitory rules (drinking noisily). And then after the fun, one gets into this trouble and another into that. People call it bad luck, but there's no luck about it when you yourselves knew it could happen!
So you need to be careful in everything, from small matters to big ones. Because none of you can look after anyone else.

—
No gambling, no wrongdoing, no wicked acts
Having left home to work and earn money to pay off debts, if you get hooked on gambling the only road is destitution and servitude. There's no avoiding it. Gambling never wins. Even if you win today, tomorrow you'll be begging; the more you lose the more you want to win it back, the deeper into debt you go, destroying your own future and your family's hopes.

Don't buy or sell smuggled or counterfeit goods. Schemes offering "sell with no capital" are everywhere — that is exactly what smuggled and counterfeit goods are. You might earn a few extra man of income, but the harm is that smuggled and fake goods destroy people's health and make consumers ill.
This is an immoral act.

—
Always keep an optimistic, positive attitude whatever happens. Remember you have to be yourself. Don't fall down or give up easily. Endure and overcome adversity, keep learning and rising, so that one day you can spread your wings and soar like an eagle in a free sky. That dream isn't easy, but the person capable of making it come true is none other than you.
And don't be lazy. Because laziness becomes a habit. And if you can't break that habit, life in Japan is very hard.

Author: It's Máu Đổ.

See also: Japanese Vocabulary for 16 Specialist Fields