If you love anime and would rather work in a field which involves your hobby rather than working at a job where you are looking at anime related sites during work when your boss is not looking then read on.
In this photo I have with me the boss of Good Smile Company, the boss of anime studio Ufotable and the two top guys at Nitroplus. These are just some of the people I work with. Other anime related companies that I work with are Bushiroad, Kadokawa, Konami, Ascii Media Works, Dentsu, King Records, Nitroplus and Production IG. A longer list on my profile page together with a description of what we do.
My company is expanding and so are my clients who need your help to reach out to markets across the world. I have for immediate hire several roles for the position of "Translator" and "Content Manager" - some part and some fulltime. You will work for me but I need you to liase directly with my clients too.
The requirements for Translator is as follows:-
- Be able to translate Japanese into native English, German, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, French or Korean.
- Or be able to translate English to Korean, French, Traditional Chinese or Simplified Chinese. (no need for English to German at this time)
- Be able to communicate directly with my clients in Japanese through mail. (for the Japanese speakers).
- Be knowledgeable with anime (especially character names), anisong, seiyuu, figures and general anime news. Having knowledge of Japanese games is a plus but not required.
- Loves anime and Japanese pop culture.
- Has worked with social networking tools like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or blog tools like Wordpress, Tumblr. Most of my clients use Mirai Gaia and it will be your main tool. figure.fm runs Mirai Gaia too and if you are applying then it would be a good idea for you to post something and play around with the UI.
- Currently has at least 2-4 hours available everyday day for work. (and occasionally on weekends too).
- Is available long term.
- Is available to video chat over Skype from time to time.
- Has a paypal account.
- Most suitable for students, fansubbers or any folk who can spare the hours.
- Fluent Japanese is a requirement for the Content Manager.
- Can use Photoshop or Fireworks - not looking for a ninja but somebody who can manipulate layers, masks, text and export for web use.
- Again, not looking for a guru but somebody who can use Illustrator to manipulate vector graphics.
- Can write simple CSS and HTML - which also means that you can easily learn more advanced markup from Google Sensei.
Things to note
#My profile lists most of my clients - look for their English sites to get a better idea of the type of work that you will be doing. You will be translating and also scheduling content too.
#A few of my clients are launching sites which initially require some intensive work and thus need your extended availability. Japanese > Chinese Simplified, Japanese > Chinese Traditional, Japanese > German, English > Korean, English > French translations are needed asap.
I'm hiring several of each position so even if you cant commit the time right now then you should still apply if you are interested.
#Compensation will be discussed with the candidates who pass the tests. I'll be paying you directly but in some cases you may be working directly for my clients who will pay you directly.
#You do not have to be of a particular age and dont need any qualifications either - the most important thing is that you can deliver which is in my opinion much more important that qualifications on paper. During my time at Amazon, I've seen managers hire folks with an MBA who performed terribly on the job.
#You do not need to be in Japan for either of these positions but based on your performance and if you wish to live and work in Japan, I or my clients may bring you over and sponsor your Visa. One of my clients has already agreed to hire a reader from overseas. The reader in question loves anime and now gets to work in Japan with an anime related company ^o^
#I'm only showing you the door - it really is up to you to step though it. We need people who are serious and focused on wanting to work in this field. Folks should care about the work they submit and always be on the ball regarding translation accuracy, grammar and punctuation - my grammar and punctuation is terrible which is why i'm getting you to do it ^^;
#I always go on about it but all my computing, programming and graphic skills were picked up from Google sensei - if an idiot like me can do it then so can you! Its never to late to start but it is too late when the chance pops up - you need to make sure that you are prepared for future opportunities. An opportunity like this presented itself to me many moons ago and fortunately I had prepared myself.
I'm using Google Forms to collect the info - application form below.
One more thing
Although Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Hiroshi Mizohata confirmed his plans to invite 10000 foreigners to Japan and pay for their tickets, the budget didn't go through - which means no more free tickets. Fortunately - I have some free tickets because I'll be paying your fare to Japan if I hire you. I'll obviously be sponsoring your visa too. Welfare and health insurance will be taken care of too.
I managed to get a few Ruby part timers but am still looking for full time Ruby developers. I'm looking for folks who have a high level of ruby on rails, html, css, javascript, coffeescript, jquery, rspec, postgresql, github, loves anime, loves Japan and can speak enough Japanese to get about daily life.
Developers will be working to migrate our Mirai Gaia platform to rails and continue to add features which improve usability and increase conversion. All clients are either anime or game related.
Candidates should send mail to [jobs at mirai dot fm] with a link to their GitHub account and links to previous projects that they have worked on.
Same applies to any Content Managers that I hire - I'll pay for your fare over to Japan too and sponsor your visa.
Folks who join me in Japan will be working with all my clients and be working in figure and anime merchandise production together with TV and web production. You will learn the tools required for the job as well as learn the ropes of the anime business in Japan. I dont have any illusions about you working for me forever and I'll mentor and train you as much as I can so that you can make the decisions that you need to make in your career.
If this sounds like your cuppa tea and you have the skills then I'll be waiting to hear from you. But please bear in mind - while this is a hobby, its also a business too and am looking for folks who are serious about pursuing a career in the Japanese anime business.
I believe that arms installation is complete - Good Luck! I'll be answering questions in the comments - you may want to skim for answers before asking the same questions ^^
