Japan has more and more visitors every year and a growing expat community leading to high demand for English content writers. Or perhaps you are inspired to write your own original work. If you have the motivation, you can make writing a career in Japan.
Table of Contents
- Writing Career in Japan
- Five Famous Writers from Japan
- Various Writing Job Options in Japan
- How to Find Writing Work in Japan
- Visa Requirements for Writers in Japan
- In Conclusion
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Writing Career in Japan
Writing as a steady career in any country is a difficult thing to accomplish. You have to be very self-motivated, as well as have the talent and content to captivate an audience. It can also be difficult to find a writing job with a steady income, especially if you are aiming to publish your own novels.
And in Japan, it depends on what kind of content you intend to work on. But before we get to that, here’s a look at some Japanese writers you should know for inspiration.
Writer's Pick
Five Famous Writers from Japan
Of course, there are countless writers that have left their mark on the Japanese literary world. This includes Murasaki Shikibu, whose work The Tale of Genji is one of if not the first novel in history. A more recent world-renowned author with a Japanese background is Kazuo Ishiguro, whose works have won many prestigious awards.
While it’s not a requirement to have read works by Japanese authors to be a writer in Japan, it’s a good way to connect to writers who came before as well as to see the cultural influence they have left in Japanese society. And for those interested in translation work, it’s also important to look at good examples of translated works as compared to the original.
Here are just 5 famous Japanese writers and authors you should know, whose works have been published and beloved in English as well!
1. Yasunari Kawabata (1924-1972)
Kawabata made his mark as the first Japanese laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968. The works mentioned by the Nobel Committee in the Award ceremony speech include Snow Country, Thousand Cranes and The Old Capital, notable not only for his style of course but also his incorporation of traditional Japanese cultures such as geisha and tea ceremony.
※The Nobel Prize, Award Ceremony Speech
2. Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927)
Another renowned writer in Japan and a household name, Akutagawa is considered the "father of the Japanese short story". The Akutagawa Prize, one of the highest literary honors one can earn in Japan, is named after him. Some of his famous works are Rashomon and Kappa. His works inspired the famed Kurosawa Akira film Rashomon.
3. Natsume Soseki (1867-1916)
Natsume is considered such an influential figure in modern Japanese literature that he was on the 1000 yen bill for a while in the late 90s. Some of his famous works are Botchan, Wagahai wa Nekodearu (I Am a Cat), Kokoro, etc. People often visit Matsuyama in Ehime where Natsume is based and wrote Botchan.
4. Yuko Tsushima (1947-2016)
Tsushima Yuko is the daughter of another famed writer Dazai Osamu. She is known for writing about real-life experiences, especially about family and her work has won many rewards. One of the common descriptions of her work is that there is often no correct interpretation, message or conclusion to her work. They are simply stories about people living their lives.
5. Miyuki Miyabe (1960- Present)
Miyabe is known for her award-winning works in a vast variety of genres. She doesn’t only influence the literary world with her thoughtful and deep looks at life and relationships in Japan, but also for the adaptations of her works in various forms of media. These include Kasha, Riyu, Namonaki Doku, and Solomon no Gisho among others. Her works tackle the intricacies of the problems within Japanese society.
And of course, there are countless others to explore - from Tanizaki to Dazai to Yoshimoto and on. The options are endless.
Various writing job options in Japan
Of course, for most people, an English writing career in Japan does not necessarily mean becoming an author or starting to write and publish novels, although that may become a goal in the future. You can start from or opt for a variety of writing-related tasks. There are various job options in writing as mentioned below.
Content writers
Content writers have become more in need especially with the rise in social media and websites. More and more Japanese companies need engaging content written in English and other languages as they want to target an international audience. This may range from creating original work from your experiences - such as travel articles or posts - or working with material that they already have. You could work directly for one company or you could take on individual projects (more on freelance below). It’s very important for content writers to know exactly who their target audience is. Foreign residents in Japan have very different needs from people coming from abroad.
Some content writing jobs may include creative content writer, digital or web content writer, content development specialist, marketing content writer, etc.
Translators
Another option for writing is doing translation work. Instead of creating original content, you would be translating existing content into English. This could be technical - such as manuals, contracts, legal documents, etc. - or non-technical content like some of the examples listed above under content writing. You might even end up translating great Japanese works from famous Japanese authors like those mentioned above (or up-and-coming ones) as well as other creative works such as manga. As Japan continues to become more international, there’s a need for people to be able to understand exactly what things say in native English and we all know Google Translate can only do so much. This would require a minimum of an N2 level of Japanese, often N1 for the technical translations.
Here’s our dedicated article about translation work:
Working in the field of Japanese-English Translation
Freelance Writers
These writers usually work on a project basis. There are various fields and industries requiring writing work, including content writing and translation. Although video blogs have become more popular, traditional online blogging is also still something one can do. Although pay is not guaranteed unless you become quite popular, combining it with social media posts may also lead to collaborations and future jobs. Blogging topics could be travel or lifestyle or fashion blogging. Other types of writing projects include product reviews, SEO writing, PR articles, social media writing, ghost writing and so on.
Read more about blogging in our article here.
How to find writing work in Japan
Like any other creative job, for writing jobs, you need to have an online portfolio of yourself with the list of previous work done. Writing jobs will often ask for a sample of your work. If you don’t have experience, creating a simple free web page or blog and writing about a few topics (or translating some articles) related to the type of writing job you are applying for may be helpful to show your skills.
Searching for English writing jobs online is the easiest way. You could send your resume and profile to already established English magazines in Japan, or look on English or bilingual job sites for work. You can also search through the classified sections of English news sites or even sites like Craigslist to find freelance projects.
And if you’re going the creative route, it may be hard to find an English publisher in Japan. Therefore self-publishing is a route that many English writers take. Building interest in the book itself is also important, so your social media game has to be strong as well. Like we mentioned at the start, a person has to have very high motivation to become a writer, and definitely so in Japan.
Visa requirements for writers in Japan
Although Japan does not have a separate visa category for writers, here are some of the visas that you could potentially fall under.
If you are applying to be a content writer or translator, you would fall under the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa. As a freelancer, however, it may be difficult to prove that you can make a steady income. If you plan to do writing work on the side, then make sure your current work visa or status of residence allows it.
However, if you are a novelist, for example, then you might qualify for an Artist visa. However, you would already have to have a career in writing when applying and would also have to prove that you can financially support yourself doing the same job in Japan from now on. Thus if you’ve never written a book before but want to start while you’re in Japan, you would already have to have a different visa and status of residence to start. This can then perhaps be switched to an Artist visa once you have a steady income just from publishing work but this may take time.
※i-socia advisors, “Artist”
In Conclusion
If you are a writing enthusiast, you have many opportunities awaiting in Japan. You just have to work hard to find them but also match the content that they’re looking for, as well as to make it a steady position. We have listed various side job options available while you finish writing your novel!
