Bringing the word to the people, rain or shine
Archive for August, 2010
Business cards in Japan
01 year ago
by Chris Valdez
in Random
Meishi, or business cards, are very handy to have in Japan. Even if you don't work for a company.
Almost every Japanese adult I’ve met during my time here has 名詞 (めいし, or meishi), the equivalent of business cards. When I went to E3 back in 2007, I made sure to create some of my own to hand out, and it’s a good thing I did. Here in Japan, I’ve been without any my entire time. Until today.
Since arriving in Tokyo, printing up some cards has been a goal of mine. They’re great for various networking events, and to some people can even be impressive. Of course, with myself looking for work, this is a great way to tell people a little about myself. Much handier than carrying a resume with me all the time.
I think almost every single card I’ve received here has been two-sided. Many time, though not always, one side of the card will be composed in English while the other side is in Japanese. Mine follow this format. Some cards though have a logo or name on one side with pertinent job and contact info on the other side, such as the one for YMCK and Slate in the pic at the top of this post. (more…)
Living in Tokyo
21 year ago
A strawberry cake. Don't forget to check out the rest of my photography (click the image).
Back when I was in the U.S. I thought to myself, “Wow, Japan is fun to visit. It’ll be even greater to live there, even if I have to use teaching English as a vehicle to get myself over there.” Well, it turns out teaching English isn’t really what I want to do with life, let alone a year. I wanted to wake up in the morning and yell out, “Yes! I’m a teacher!” But, I never felt that. Not even once.
Five months after coming here to teach English, I quit and moved on up to the Tokyo area. Tokyo is pretty sweet. If you’re bored here in this city, it’s probably your own fault. Or maybe a lack of funds, though you can still have fun on the cheap.
Yamaguchi-ken, where I was teaching, was all right. Rent was cheap! An equivalent apartment to what I had there (roughly $600/mo) would be at least $1,500 here in Tokyo, I think. The prefecture had a lot of nature and countryside things to see and do, but I’ve always been more of a city boy. I grew up in a city. Went to college in a small town of 30,000. Then I moved to Houston. Afterward a “small” town of 150,000 in Japan. Now, I’m in Tokyo, a place with more than 8 million people!
So, I quit my job teaching, right? Just what have I been doing? I’ve been looking for work. Just about any non-teaching job I can find. I must say though, that with my lack of amazing programming skills or strong grasp of the Japanese language, it’s challenging.
I have met some interesting people here in Tokyo though, such as Fabrizio Bortolussi, an Italian who designs creatures and models. Perhaps you’ve seen his work in Avatar or District 9.
The same day I met Fabrizio, I also met Nakamura Tomoyuki, one of the three people behind chiptune band YMCK. Speaking of which, it appears I’ll most likely head out to Blip Festival Tokyo next weekend.
Truly Tokyo has many amazing experiences to offer. I hope I can stay here longer and report on what I find. But first, does anyone want to offer me a job? Writing, PR, publication design? Maybe even photography?