Freelancing in Tokyo: Getting what's rightfully yours

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.

It takes guts and courage for a "foreign talent" to step forward and let the world know that they are being taken advantage of by "talent agencies" here in Tokyo. They know that if they say anything negative about the agencies that they risk not being paid what is owed them, and that they risk losing future jobs, not only from the agency in question, but other agencies that handle foreign talent. The Japanese do not like urusai (noisy) people. They do not like anyone to rock the boat, make a stink, speak up, complain or demand. And yet, foreign talent sometimes has to do all of the above in order to get paid.

I never worked for the agency in question (IMO), specifically because of the stories I heard through the years. I quote from the article:

"In recent interviews with The Japan Times, 10 people registered with IMO said those who do not ask the agency for money multiple times have no chance of getting paid, and there are many foreigners who have gone home unpaid."

Now, why is that? Why should that be the case? It shouldn't. I was told years ago that I was urusai because I asked when I was going to be paid. I'm sorry; what am I not understanding? I do a job for you based on the agreement that we make at the start. When you don't follow through on your end, I start by politely asking, "When will you pay me for this job?" When you ignore my questions, phone calls or faxes, I have trouble understanding what the problem is. 

I do not mean to use this blog as a personal soapbox to complain about issues in Japan, but when it comes to paying foreign talent, unfortunately, depending on the agency, it can become a real issue. 

On the other hand: I have worked for several agencies here for at least 15 years; they have all paid exactly when they said they were going to and we have never had any problems or issues. That is how it is supposed to be. What happens is that some of these agencies will negotiate the lowest amount of money they can for salaries for foreign talent, and they will take a huge cut of it (I have heard as high as 40%) to cover their operating costs. This is how they stay in business; paying the talent is the last thing on their list. 

In my book I list agencies that I have worked with and who have paid me fairly and on time. I also list other agencies which hire foreign talent and for which I make no comment as I have not worked for them. 

But I will say this: Unless foreign talent steps forward and becomes urusai about agencies that take advantage of them here in Tokyo, this vicious cycle will continue. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. 

In the meantime, go out and get yours!