| COUNTRY |
| Egypt |
| EDUCATION |
| Bachelor’s in Japanese Studies, Cairo University |
| COMPANY |
| One of Japan’s largest regional banks operating over 190 branches |
| SUMMARY |
| Seeing the Intensive Care Unit during the pandemic disillusioned him of his hopes of becoming a nurse one day. Making a big pivot to Japanese Studies to follow his passion for foreign languages was a big gamble that paid off in unexpected ways. With FAST OFFER International and a JLPT N1 certificate, he found his dream job at a Japanese bank. By following his passion, he’s gotten job security and a way to help people through a path so fun it didn’t feel like work. Part 2 of this story: What It’s Like Working and Training at a Japanese Bank as an Egyptian |
How My Sister, Naruto and “Love” Pushed Me to Learn Japanese
Eleven years ago, my sister and I got into a low-stakes debate over anime when I was young. I thought it was—like most cartoons—something for children. But she told me about how Naruto fit right into my interests in sports and martial arts. I gave in and started watching Naruto. Hate to say it, she was right. It was dark, complex, captivating, and still funny. At that time, I thought it was the only existing anime in the world (ha-ha). But something else happened that I didn’t expect. There was something about the sound of the language that tickled my ears!
It was so different from the English and Arabic that I already spoke. Out of curiosity, I started naturally picking up the language. I spotted the kanji on the brooding Gaara and manually copied it with a pen and paper. Imagine my surprise when I learned it meant love. The seemingly hateful, expressionless Gaara has love plastered on his forehead in bright red? It was an exhilarating puzzle that led to another puzzle. It was the first kanji I learned. Every summer I learned more and devoured episodes of Japanese Society on YouTube. I picked up Genki—the famous Japanese textbook. Step by step, I learned to form a sentence and bolstered my vocabulary with anime.
Science + Helping People Led Me to Pursue Nursing.
In college, with my academics to worry about, I dropped learning Kanji. Learning Japanese became just a fun little hobby. I used that time to focus on my path to becoming a nurse. I had a penchant for biology and helping people—two things that met for this career path. Plus, nursing offered—in the context of Egypt and global opportunities—job stability. It seemed perfect. Determined, my friends and I would study together all the time in the campus gardens. Going all in helped me rank 9th in a batch of 400 students.
However, when the pandemic hit and we transitioned to online classes, my grades suffered. In those crazy times, immersing in Japanese content and learning the language became a comforting refuge. To remind myself of my purpose, I visited the ICU, where I saw my seniors dealing with the blood and vomit of such a horrible time. I felt my predilection to be squeamish spike up. When I saw someone die in front of me for the first time, amidst the noisy barrage of machines, my heart shattered, my head pounded, and it felt heavier than I’d imagined being a nurse would be like. Every day would be a version of this. It was a wake-up call. I had to shift out.
Back in 2019 when I was in the college of nursing in a lab coat! Doing that pose Hououin Kyouma from Steins gate.
From My Past, A Path to My Future: Pursuing My Love for Languages
Needing an escape plan, I needed a new plan for my future. Mulling over this actually led to thinking about my past. I was reminded of my childhood obsession with languages—real and imaginary. I learned to read and write ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics for fun when I was a kid. You’ll also find a whole made-up alphabet in my childhood diaries to put my secrets into code. Wanting to follow this interest, I chose Japanese Studies as my new course. For some people, it sounded like a downgrade. Nursing offered such a stable career, while this new course I was considering was a risky, more expensive course under the Fine Arts department.
To my surprise, my parents were incredibly supportive. My mom, for the first time, even told me that she never really saw me as a nurse given how squeamish I inherently was. But on top of that, they also knew I was sensitive and sentimental—something detrimental to someone who would be dealing with death often.
Learning Japanese: I Flourished
When I finally started learning Japanese as my college course, I felt so at home. Not a day felt like work. It still felt like playtime for me. It felt almost unbelievable to have so much fun studying. My background in hieroglyphs helped me learn Kanji. I already had techniques for expanding a vocabulary of pictographs—giving each unique characters it own identity, sound, story. Filling up my notebooks with Japanese characters was a joy. I easily passed JLPT N4, passed JLPT N3 with perfect marks, and JLPT N1 on my first try.
For my final year project, with a 10-person team, we translated this hidden gem, Mustafa Lutfi al-Manfaluti’s emotional, eloquent, and complex 8-short story anthology titled The Tears (1915) from deep Arabic to modern Japanese. Translations of this nature weren’t one-to-one—it required us to have a deep understanding of both cultures to find experiential equivalents. Like the Arabic phrase “inshallah,” meaning “if God wills” makes sense in Egypt’s deeply religious culture but not in Japan. The “God” referred to in the sacred Arabic phrase is so far removed from the “kami-sama” the Japanese use, which is interchangeable with human rulers. For an accurate translation, we had to analyze each time the phrase was uttered to truly understand what it meant in that context. We had to colloquialize and contextualize “inshallah” into different variations each time it would resonate with Japanese readers.
Tips From Someone Who Passed the JLPT N1 in One Go
To be perfectly honest, the following tips are just things I found fun doing. I didn’t really think of it as studying. I didn’t count the hours I spent learning Japanese. Hopefully, you can find a way to do something similar to what I did that you sincerely enjoy.
Cultural immersion is key!
Immerse yourself in Japanese Media to train your ear. Watching about 300 anime for fun, and tons of YouTube vlogs and podcasts made listening exercises in Japanese exams extremely easy. This also gave me the instinct for what’s good grammar.
Read a lot! If you enjoy reading, you can learn Japanese faster. Reading stories and casual topics in Japanese allowed me to go at my own pace and enjoy the process. It was also a nice, calm way to end a day before I slept.
Test-taking is a skill in itself!
Practice test-taking. Using textbook drills and mock exams like the Mokushiken. This will make getting certified later on much easier. Getting used to the pressure of exams and understanding the instructions well makes you more efficient.
Go the extra mile
Manually translate Japanese material you genuinely enjoy. Translating Japanese materials forces you to read the script very carefully and slowly. By going word for word and seeing it in context, you expand your vocabulary in a way that makes a strong impression in your mind. I wound up translating short stories and around six Japanese video games that you can find on my blog, and each time I had fun and learned a lot. I also saw it as an opportunity to build a portfolio! It also connected me to other Japanese-learning Arabic speakers who appreciated my passion projects.
Learn to appreciate Kanji. Kanji is the heart of the Japanese language. It is usually seen as the hardest part of learning Japanese, but it can also be a great way to memorize new words and make sure they stick. With Kanji, every word has its own weight and identity. It also helps you read faster, especially as there are plenty of homonyms in Japanese. Learning the radicals in Kanji will also make learning new kanji easier. Once you’re in Japan, you’ll also see how important it is and how it’s used in the most important public signage.
The Opportunities That Open When Majoring in Foreign Languages
Being in the department also allowed me to talk to a Chinese Language alum about the possibilities of a Foreign Language track. She told me how she worked as a tour guide and a translator for businesses. She told me there were tons of job opportunities that would open up for me beyond translating manga.
For a seventeen-year-old, the decision felt like such a big gamble against the usual prescription—choosing a stable career that won’t necessarily fit your personality. When I bravely followed my heart and went against that expectation, though, and was rewarded with joy, financial compensation felt like the least important thing in my mind. On the side, just for fun, I even translated games. And yet, compensation came. Through my studies, I landed part-time work in customer service, bridging communication gaps. I got paid for things I enjoyed doing. I’m really grateful my parents supported this wild pivot.
Seeing the Beauty of Japan In Person with Japan Foundation Kansai Office
I even got to fly to Japan for two weeks for a Japan Foundation-sponsored training program for being a top performer in my course. I visited Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Nara and met friends from Colombia, Sri Lanka, and Costa Rica. Everything was free: the visa, flight, accommodations—everything. I just needed a little cash for souvenirs and trinkets. It was astonishing to experience wholehearted hospitality—or as the Japanese call it, Omotenashi (おもてなし).
I have a vivid memory of the lush greenery of the temple in the mountain we visited. Coming from Egypt’s mostly desert terrain, the contrasting liveliness of Japan was a beautiful feast for my senses. Everywhere we visited, I felt like I was stepping into paintings.
It was a quick trip, but it really affected our long-term plans. Aside from me, about four or more of us are already in Japan one way or another—pursuing their master’s, working full-time, or interning.
My Passion Paying Off
Back in Egypt, a friend of mine landed an internship with ASIA to JAPAN and needed an extra hand as the CEO, Sanpei-san, was visiting Egypt. Through the visit, other Egyptians would learn more about how FAST OFFER International can help global talents find Japanese job opportunities. One of my long-time friends also worked as a career advisor for them, so I was placed under her for my own job hunting.
My Tips for Looking for a Job in Japan as a Humanities Graduate in Japan
- The better your Japanese, the easier the job hunt. For those with Non-STEM or Non-Engineering degrees in Japan, like me, you would fall under the “Humanities” job bucket in Japan. Unlike the engineering and STEM-type jobs, they’re not as in demand, and a lot of people, both local and international talent, vie for these openings. Which is not to say that it’s impossible, but the requirement is at least JLPT N2 level Japanese. Luckily, I already had N1, so I like to think I didn’t give my career advisor friend too much of a hard time. In my two months of job hunting, all three companies praised my Japanese.
- The job opportunities will most likely have a customer service or sales aspect. This is another reason why your Japanese really matters, because communication will be central to the opportunity. The other languages you speak might also come in handy. I expected to get a position at a luxury hotel where I would encounter tourists.
- Your sociability counts for a lot! Luckily for me, at my core, I love helping people. I love taking time to understand their problems to help them through it. It’s why I initially pursued nursing, and why I enjoyed my part-time customer service job after college. Your interviewer will gauge this during the interview through your personality, your values, experiences, and interests. For me, the interview was very casual, without a hint of technicality.
- Highlight your strengths, and don’t volunteer your weaknesses. Job interviews are a way to promote yourself. Though it’s important to have an objective acknowledgment of your shortcomings, don’t bring it up before they do. Also, prepare an answer that justifies how you can make up for a weakness. In one of my interviews, I had brought up a weakness before my interviewer, and that was a minus point for me.
- More than your skill set, your potential matters more. The third company I interviewed for was a bank. I was so puzzled about why they were interested in me that I point-blank asked them why, given I had no finance background. They told me not to worry about it because all their new hires will be learning together. It’s the potential that matters. That’s one of the biggest advantages of entering the new graduate recruitment system; there’s more flexibility in terms of required existing skill sets.
- Your “Values Connection” with a company is paramount. That potential was based on the company and I’d common ground: a drive to help people. The bank was especially into giving small loans to small businesses in the prefecture to drive economic growth. I, too, believe that it’s the development of these small businesses that could make the city bigger. My ability to express my genuine interest in what they were doing and how that aligned with my personal goals as a human being was what struck them best.
Finding Out I Got the Job Offer
After the final interview, truthfully, due to my own trust issues, I had no expectations. That night, I couldn’t sleep, anxious for the results. My friend/career advisor consoled me, informally telling me I got the job offer, but I didn’t believe them. As proof, they told me to look at my account: a triangle would mean they’re considering me, a cross would be a rejection, while a circle meant I passed. However, there was nothing on my website. Turns out there was a temporary glitch. So, I really didn’t believe my career advisor. She then sent me the job offer through my e-mail; I quickly signed it, and still didn’t believe her.
I’m just as confused as you are. Today, even with the company-issued Certificate of Eligibility in hand for the visa, I’m not quite sure I believe her. I’m still a little worried about other visa requirements and not arriving on time. A fellow ASIA to JAPAN intern from Thailand I’ve become friends with has actually started working for the same company, and yet I’m still in disbelief. Is this imposter syndrome? I don’t feel like I “worked” for this because I enjoyed every step. Learning Japanese still feels like a fun little hobby! I can’t believe learning Japanese instead paved a future for me that’ll still give me everything I wished for when I first pursued nursing: job stability and a chance to help people.
Turns out there’s another path towards my goals, one less bloody and a lot more enjoyable, away from the desert and deep into the lush scenery of Japan, with a vision of Mt. Fuji and a shower of sakura blossoms.
Happy to Report: I’ve Joined The Company
It’s been a few months since I first told my story. I’m now in my 5th month at the bank! Click here to read about my insights and experience in Japan so far.
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