| COUNTRY |
| Egypt |
| EDUCATION |
| Bachelor’s in Japanese Studies, Cairo University |
| COMPANY |
| One of Japan’s largest regional banks operating over 190 branches |
| SUMMARY |
| What’s next after signing the contract? This Egyptian shares their actual work and life experiences working at a Japanese bank to assess if all the hard work and time he’s put in is worth it. Read his story, the community behind him, and how he sees his company enabling work-life balance. Part 1 of this story: How Japanese Studies Unlocked Career Opportunities in Japan: From Hieroglyphics to Kanji |
I started living and working in Japan just a few months ago. Now, I’m training and working at a Japanese Bank in Shizuoka, one of the largest prefectures in Japan. If you want to read about how I got there, you can read my story, from learning Japanese in Egypt to a Japanese job offer here: How Japanese Studies Unlocked Career Opportunities in Japan: From Hieroglyphics to Kanji. Now, to talk about life since I flew to Japan to work at a Japanese bank.
Talk about a good omen. I took this photo on my third day in Japan: my first time seeing Sakura! I wasn’t even sure it was a Sakura or a similar tree until I heard a kid screaming, “sakura!”
Japanese corporate culture: everyone is doing their best
You can really appreciate how serious everyone is about their work in Japan. If you go anywhere in Japan for a service, you can almost always guarantee satisfaction. It’s more or less the same inside the bank I work for. You can trust your teammates when sharing work, and I feel just as much responsibility to deliver.
Training Under a Japanese Bank as a Foreigner and Humanities Graduate
That dependability also shows within the training. Our supervisors take time from their busy schedules to train us. They always make sure that we fully understand that our bases are covered. During this training period, I’ve mainly handled internal tasks, which protects me from major consequences if I were assigned tasks with external clients.
As a foreigner with no financial background, this Japanese bank that took me in is investing a lot of time and resources in helping me train properly. During this first year, my fellow international friend and I, who also interned at ASIA to JAPAN, focused on getting as many licenses as possible so we could legitimately work on a variety of tasks. We also shifted from one department to the next often so we could understand the company as a whole. It’s an incredibly huge company, and there’s no way for one person to know everything that’s going on at a single time, but a top-to-bottom experience really allows you to gain a deep appreciation of the company, your coworkers, your individual role, and a better perspective on how to be helpful.
The Ups and Downs of Training as a Foreign Humanities Graduate at a Japanese Bank
I sincerely appreciate the training I’m getting and how my supervisors have my back, but honestly, it’s incredibly challenging. I came to Japan with a JLPT N1 certificate, but learning all these complex terms and ideas about Japanese banking, and constantly taking licensure exams to test that knowledge, has been an overwhelming undertaking. Thankfully, the company covers the testing costs and time.
Some locals who applied for this bank I work at actually have finance backgrounds and were onboarded with existing licenses. So they’re allotted a shorter official training period, while my friend and I feel like we’re in a perpetual game of catch-up. I remember a supervisor even telling me that they didn’t expect us to pass the first round because these exams were notoriously hard. (Thankfully I passed!)
I know peers who failed their first try. They had a lower Japanese level because they hired them as IT engineers. Thankfully, the company was fully accommodating and allowed a still-covered retake. The pressure to pass is there—surely—but I also have to be thankful because the bank constantly manages expectations based on reality.
One time, when my supervisor asked how I was, I couldn’t help ranting about being in my nth month and still feeling clueless. He told me, “Oh, don’t worry. I also don’t know what I’m doing.” To be clear, my supervisor is far from incompetent. Rather, even though he’s so far ahead of me, he’s on the same humbling journey as I am, on a never-ending journey of learning about Japan’s finance industry. It was quite comforting to hear. I guess their experience coming up in the company also makes it possible for him to empathize with me.
How Work-Life-Balance is Possible at the Japanese Bank I’m Working At
That deep, experience-based understanding of your coworkers also informs the systems in place that enable work-life balance. Before going to Japan, of course, I also knew of the overworked kaishain stereotype. But now that I’m here, working at Japanese bank myself, while also hearing the labor horror stories from my peers in Egypt, I have a better appreciation of Japan.
The inevitability of overtime in any industry or country
Overtime is universal, but systems that protect you from overwork don’t exist everywhere. That’s certainly not always the case in Egypt, where I hear about underpaid peers working crazy, uncompensated hours. That’s where Japan generally has an edge: a legal infrastructure to protect labor that translates into company policies in practice.
Here are a few practices at the Japanese bank I work for that protect my labor:
- You have to ask your supervisor for permission to work overtime. You need to justify why you can’t just push it back for the next day.
- There is a cap on the number of work hours.
- My weekends are mine to enjoy.
- Laws protect local and foreign workers from overwork. In these cases, our HR department really tries to look out for us.
- Overtime is always compensated properly. This is easy because of the basic documentation requirement.
- At my company, new hires aren’t allowed to work overtime until their 6th month.
- Our systems anticipate our workflow.
- At thAt the end of every month, when work volume spikes as deadlines approach, our company anticipates it. Most workers go to work early, end hours a bit later, but still give ourselves time to rest. Supervisor approval for overtime is easier to acquire at this time, too. But we also know this isn’t our regular day-to-day.
How working in a big company can help with work-life balance.
I can only speak about my own experience. Still, based on what I’m seeing and what my peers are experiencing, work-life balance isn’t a Japan issue; it’s a per-company issue. In general, I see that big companies enable work-life balance much better. Perhaps their growth has already allowed them to find a sustainable balance for everyone. At my company, there are enough people to distribute work without severe imbalances. This supports my theory that bigger companies can better accommodate varying work paces.
Meanwhile, small companies tend to place a disproportionate amount of responsibility on individuals given their smaller margins. So, if I could give you advice, if you’re looking for work-life balance, choosing a bigger company might help. On the other hand, I do get that poignant feeling at times that I contribute so little to my company when I look at the bigger picture. So, perhaps, if you’re looking to make a bigger contribution, have more ownership, and frenetic learning curves—you might get that at a smaller company or start-up that will require more work hours.
The Community That’s Helping Me Adjust to Life in Japan as an Egyptian
My first time living alone
Outside of work, life also had its own challenges. In Egypt, you only move out to get married. So, this was my first time living on my own. At first, I didn’t even know how to cook. Thankfully, my mom’s sleep schedule is out of whack, so she’s more than happy to take on my troubleshooting calls. Because I have to be honest with you—Japanese food isn’t really for me. I’m not quite used to the seafood, and I have my own preferences. It’s pushed me to learn to cook for myself.
Find a community in Japan
On that note, I do miss my family at times because I’m really close with them. As an expat, you’re not just away from your family, but also a whole culture you’re used to. As much as I love Japanese culture, I’m still Egyptian. Thankfully, Japan hosts many other foreign talents like me. Hence, I’ve made plenty of friends here from different countries who can relate to me.
I’ve mentioned her before, but I’m lucky to be on the same training schedule as my friend who also interned at ASIA to JAPAN from Thailand. We’ve been through so much together. I have friends to cycle with me. A fellow Egyptian friend hand-sewed me a yukata. When I traveled to Yokohama during Golden Week, I got to crash at a friend’s-who actually also succeeded through FAST OFFER International.
I’ve also made a few Japanese friends who crossed cultural barriers to befriend me. I even got to watch a movie with a Japanese friend’s whole family. So, even though expat life can be isolating at times, it’s also given me a warm, welcoming network to experience Japan with.
To the many Japanese festivals ahead of me
In Japan, these beautiful and meaningful festivals mark the passage of time and the changing seasons. I look forward to seeing more of them. Now that I’ve experienced the rigors of Japanese work culture and found my international community here, I can truthfully say all the hard work has been worth it. It’s an experience like no other and came with its own obstacles, but I have no regrets. I’m glad I put in the effort, and I feel empowered, thanks to the supportive infrastructure and people around me, to continue working on this evolving dream before me.
Now that it’s been a few months since I started working in a Japanese bank and living here as a foreigner, I think I can safely say all the work I put in to get here was worth it. The benefits of living here and the bright future ahead outweigh the challenges.
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