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Hello All!

I hope you are doing whatever you can to stay cool in Tokyo's "heat-island" summer.

When I began writing "Freelancing in Tokyo," there were signs that the Japanese economy was "slipping." The bounty of well-paying jobs for native-English speakers in Japan was very slowly becoming a dearth. However, I believed (and still do) that opportunities abound here for freelancers, which is why I decided to finish the book. Even at publication time, the number of foreigners coming to make a go of it in Tokyo was continuing to grow.

Last night we had an excellent Freelancing in Tokyo networking night at Kimono Wine Bar & Grill. Not only was the food great (as always), it was the first time that everyone had their business cards on them; as such, we were able to connect the Japanese way, via meishi koukan (exchanging business cards).

I have posted a picture of these "lucky cats" because all of them have their eyes closed and they look like they are waving goodbye. This is not the usual "lucky" cats you see in Japan, but they seem appropriate for this post.

In the 17 years I have lived in Japan, this is the first time I have seen an article about the poor handling of foreign talent by Tokyo talent agencies. Although I wrote about things of this nature in my book, I do not (yet) have the wide readership of The Japan Times, which ran the article, or, more importantly, Facebook, which is where a FB friend posted the article.

"Go for it!"

That tired old phrase still has some kick, because that's what I've been doing and it's the reason I've not been able to get back to my blog as frequently as I'd like.

What I've discovered (and hopefully what you've discovered too) is that putting yourself out there, staying in touch, making your presence known... this is one way to stay on top of a down economy. 

Hello all!

Although it may seem that I have vanished from the face of the earth, I have been putting all my FIT principles into action and work has been coming in and opportunities have been falling out of the sky. In addition to an unusual rush of voice work, I am now also in the process of preparing to make two films. Although the films are self-produced, the point is that showing up at networking events, staying in touch, working my meishi and making sure I stay in contact with people on my list has enabled me to pursue my dream: keep working freelance and be able to fund my own creative projects. 

Hello All!

I hope you are embracing spring in Tokyo... it's really taken a while for the sun to peek out from behind the clouds, but soon enough it will be here in "full swing" (one of the phrases I constantly encountered during my many FIT proofreading jobs), so, enjoy it while you can.

April 1 is almost upon us and what that means in Japan is: good weather, lighter clothing, companies opening, employees needed. That is a very brief description of how each April has unfolded for me for the last 17 years in Tokyo. In fact for the months of January and February I was again hit by that feeling of: all the jobs have dried up and it's time to pack it all in. 

FIT closed out February 2010 with a wonderful evening at Good Day Books in Ebisu, where yours truly gave a BookNotes talk about FIT to a very appreciative crowd. It was great to meet new people and share my experiences with them. One of the things I covered that night was the power of the meishi, or business card. I encouraged everyone to get a picture on theirs, if they didn't have one already. From the seven brave souls that exchanged cards with me at the end of the evening, no one had their picture on their cards yet. Well, the year's still young and there's plenty of time to get yours printed before April 1, which is the beginning of the fiscal year in Japan and also the time when the weather warms up, cherry trees bloom and people are in the mood for life, love, work and movement. So, get your new meishi and walk into your next networking event armed and ready to connect.