“Japanese society operates on implicit understanding; those outside the language remain outside the system.” - Ruth Benedict (paraphrased from her book The Chrysanthemum and the Sword) Real Gaijin recently hosted @bijupaul, a successful entrepreneur who immigrated to Tokyo from India more than 31 years ago. He held various management positions at foreign-affiliated companies in Japan’s investment banking sector before founding his own company, TopTech Informatics. Today, TopTech provides IT and network support services to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan, and it currently has offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and India. In this short clip, Biju admits that software engineers can easily find a job in Japan as long as they have strong, demonstrable IT skills, even if they don't know any Japanese. However, he stresses that, in order to achieve long-term career growth and become comfortable living and working in the country, a working knowledge of the Japanese language is ultimately a "must have." Please listen to the entire hour-long discussion for more details. realgaijin.substack.com/p/am… #BijuPaul #TopTechInformatics #WorkingInJapanAsAForeigner #ビジュポール #トップテック #トップテックインフォマーティックス #RealGaijin #リアル外人

“In times of adversity and change, we really discover who we are and what we’re made of.” - Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks Coffee Company Real Gaijin recently hosted @bijupaul, a successful entrepreneur who immigrated to Tokyo from India more than 31 years ago. He held various management positions at foreign-affiliated companies in Japan’s investment banking sector before founding his own company, TopTech Informatics. Today, TopTech provides IT and network support services to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan, and it currently has offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and India. In this short clip, Biju shares how getting laid off led to a series of events that ultimately inspired him to start his own company. Like many entrepreneurs, he found the courage to start his own business by overcoming adversity. Please listen to the entire hour-long discussion for more details. realgaijin.substack.com/p/am… #BijuPaul #TopTechInformatics #WorkingInJapanAsAForeigner #ビジュポール #トップテック #トップテックインフォマーティックス #RealGaijin #リアル外人