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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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 Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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| BobbyBan wrote: |
| Glenski wrote: |
| seklarwia wrote: |
| 2) Tattoos on display, period! (Due to the yakuza link) |
Please! Foreigners are not members of the yakuza. Yes, hide your tattoos (if possible), but not because they will think you are Japanese mafia. |
No, but the "No Tattoos" thing is widespread in Japan, not just in the workplace but in gyms, onsen and swimming pools and the reason for the policy is indeed as a way of preventing yakuza using the facilities without having to put up a "No Yakuza!" sign. |
The yakuza remark still applies only to Japanese, not foreigners.
And, I agree that one should hide one's tattoos, no matter who you are.
| Quote: |
seklarwia wrote:
2) Tattoos on display, period! (Due to the yakuza link)
Glenski responded: Please! Foreigners are not members of the yakuza. Yes, hide your tattoos (if possible), but not because they will think you are Japanese mafia.
seklarwia again:
I think you jumped the gun a bit here, because I never said they would think that at all. It's just if you are give tattoos as example of a faux pas, you should know why they are frowned upon in Japan whilst perfectly acceptable (to a certain extent) in most of our home countries. |
Then, just what did you mean by the yakuza remark above? It really looks to me like you mean that tattoos are only linked to yakuza.
Overall, yes, they are frowned upon here, but your parenthetical statement above deserved my "jumped gun". |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 1:22 pm Post subject: |
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| gwynnie86 wrote: |
| It's silly, I've read up a LOT on Japanese culture, values, etiquette and all that, and yet when I try to think of how to answer a question about it I go blank. Same with the positive/negative thing... what kind of negative things can you say about Japan without risking offending them?? |
Anything negative will offend people.
If you have that much trouble with freezing up, then you should really have people grill you in mock interviews. Plural. Try being the interviewer in some of them, too, and have another person answer in your stead. See how it looks. |
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BobbyBan
Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 201
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| Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 1:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Glenski wrote: |
| BobbyBan wrote: |
| Glenski wrote: |
| seklarwia wrote: |
| 2) Tattoos on display, period! (Due to the yakuza link) |
Please! Foreigners are not members of the yakuza. Yes, hide your tattoos (if possible), but not because they will think you are Japanese mafia. |
No, but the "No Tattoos" thing is widespread in Japan, not just in the workplace but in gyms, onsen and swimming pools and the reason for the policy is indeed as a way of preventing yakuza using the facilities without having to put up a "No Yakuza!" sign. |
The yakuza remark still applies only to Japanese, not foreigners. |
Two things:
1. Some foreigners look Japanese and could well be mistaken for yakuza if they sport tattoos.
2. Some ethnic foreigners are yakuza. They may come from Korean or Brazillian backgrounds but they are still yakuza and sport the tattoos as well. |
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seklarwia
Joined: 20 Jan 2009
Posts: 1546
Location: Monkey onsen, Nagano
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| Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Glenski wrote: |
Then, just what did you mean by the yakuza remark above? It really looks to me like you mean that tattoos are only linked to yakuza.
Overall, yes, they are frowned upon here, but your parenthetical statement above deserved my "jumped gun". |
First, off if you would kindly stop with the additions to what I wrote like "only" or the "they will think...", etc. You made your interpretation of what I wrote and I told you that you were mistaken. But I guess I should give a more indepth explanation of what I meant in case people other than yourself manage to make same misinterpretation.
In Japan there is a link between yakuza and tattoos. Yakuza are seen as highly dangerous people. So the connotations associated with tattoos are pretty negative. When the Japanese see someone openly displaying one they may respond negatively to that person even if they know that not all tattoo wearers are maffia. I come from the UK, where we don't have a link between tattoos and criminal organisations, so we are unlikely to have the same response as a Japanese person.
It would be same if a young person from Holland got off a plane in the UK wearing a T-shirt with cannabis leaf printed across the middle. Since it is a picture of an illegal substance in the UK, in our minds we automatically link it to illegal drug use. Eventhough we know that that person may not even be a drug user and probably just liked the shirt design, most normal UK people will still respond negatively. Just because of a T-shirt pattern, that person will get grilled at customs, will have people ignore them and skirt away to avoid any association with them and if a kid points and tells their mum they want the same shirt, that kid is going to get a clip around the ears. |
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tillymd
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Posts: 114
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| Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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Gwynnie,
Just relax and be yourself, you will do great! Do not worry about tattoos or saying something negative. I am sure you will get the job. Talk about how excited you are to teach English and learn about Japanese culture, you cannot go wrong.
Good Luck! |
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gwynnie86
Joined: 27 Apr 2009
Posts: 159
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| Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 12:25 am Post subject: |
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Thank you tillymd. My friend who is on JET has just sent me a document with 200+ questions they might ask you at an interview!! I shall most on here if you'd all like  ....
Some examples are:
How will you present Britain to the Japanese?
Will you still accept the position if you get placed in Okinawa or Kagoshima etc? How would you feel living in a rural area?
What interests you about the Japanese culture?
If you were to teach a song to a bunch of middle schoolers, how would you go about doing so?
Describe a situation where you had to play the role as a teacher. What did you do? What did you learn from the experience?
Well, I did a 20 hour TEFL this weekend (with www.tefl.co.uk) which was AWESOME. We taught 5 or 10 minute lessons to a group, but she asked us to do it in another language if we were fluent in one, because obviously it won't have the same effect in English when everyone in the room is fluent. So I taught in Welsh. It was great!!
Guys, please don't turn this thread into an argument over yakuza and tattoos. It would be good if it became a comprehensive thread of interview tips if anything!!  |
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mintxleaf
Joined: 11 May 2009
Posts: 47
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| Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 4:44 am Post subject: |
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For my seminar/interview the interviewer went over basic information about being an alt and living in japan (this is the seminar part), then we did the grammar test, then demo tape, then personality test, then the personal interview part. No need to sweat and panic for the personal interview part, especially for Interac, because it's very relaxed and the seminar is with only a small group (around 4-8 people) so by then the interviewer will have already gotten to know everyone. Seems like this phase of the application is just to make sure you're who they imagined after seeing your online application & in-person interview.
So just relax, and good luck! =) |
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