And taking top honors in this week's classified gleenings...

[akujunkan]

...we have this gem:

Secretary to Senior Japanese Lawmaker

The private office of a high-profile Japanese lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Japan is currently seeking a female JET Alumnus, preferably a CIR, for the position of Secretary.

The candidate must be a native English speaker and have a high level of spoken and written Japanese (at least JLPT 2) as well as good all-round communication and interpersonal skills. An interest in Japanese politics would be an advantage but is not essential.

Tasks include reading the foreign press and translating appropriate articles, translating weekly reports from foreign contacts, handling telephone inquiries and contributing to the daily running of the office. The candidate must also assist in coordinating international visits or programs should they occur.

The position would be ideal for a recent JET who is interested in working in a typical Japanese office environment. There are great opportunities for networking and meeting various high-profile Japanese politicians.

A salary of approximately 300,000 yen per month plus accommodation within a 10 minutes walk from the office in Akasaka will be provided.

Oh, Japanese men. Look what centuries of societal catering to your every whim has brought you to.

I am just tickled by the way our guy assumes a college educated professional Western woman would want to be the tea-server, errand-runner, trophy foreign female office mascot, and sexual harrassment punching bag for an aging Japanese buristocrat.

That will be all.

Comments

[dark-waterlily.livejournal.com]

tea-server, errand-runner, trophy foreign female office mascot, and sexual harrassment punching bag for an aging Japanese buristocrat.

*look at my icon*

[hazardblue.livejournal.com]

Huh. I would have fallen for it hook, line, sinker.

[muff-daddy.livejournal.com]

Hurry up and come home already! I think I've roped Mom and Dad into taking us to the King Tut exhibit. : ) I miss you, kitty!

[hazardblue.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't recommend the King Tut exhibit; I thought it was a complete waste of money. The ticket's expensive; a lot of the stuff's a "reproduction" of what *might* have been in use in ancient Egypt; and there are too many of the wrong kind of people--as in alive, not dead. What's a King Tut exhibit without mummies?

[theosakakoneko.livejournal.com]

Hmm... I guess I don't see where it says ochakumi except the "typical Japanese office environment" line? Is that where you''re getting it? I mean, the job description seems to fit someone of exactly the qualifications they mentioned.. It doesn't seem like too icky of a job. Perhaps secretary isn't the job most college grads with 1-3 years work experience and a high level of Japanese ability are looking for, but at the same time, a secretary position that involves daily translation work as well as international relations work does..it just still happens to have the title of secretary. I'm not sure where it says "must be willing to serve as typical stereotype OL as well"... If one assumes that every Japanese office position will be that bad, perhaps Japan is not the place to try to make a living?

I was thinking the same as hazardblue...looks like an awesome job! And thinking...hmm, maybe I ought to glance around at jobs in Japan before going home after next year..

In other options, my former coworker has a sweet ass job at the Australian consulate, and before that worked for a few months doing extremely high-level/high class (every day Chanel suits and wine tastings, and she got scolded for not wearing enough lipstick.. ><) business management type stuff for foreign companies' Japan division (like Coca-cola)...but that was originally supposed to be a job for a Japanese person, she just applied anyway not caring and got the job.

But perhaps I would be lost in the real world, because I'm not sure how to see the difference in job descriptions between what would likely be on those three examples to show which are awesome jobs and which are ochakumi...

I suppose it's that he is asking for a female for the job that it's suspicious, but I guess for that type of position in Japan having a male would be weird...it doesn't necessarily speak that there would be further sexual harassment or descrimination in the workplace beyond the job description itself! haha

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

I like your icon:)

(Chronically behind on comments...)

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

My suspicions were aroused by the fact that it asked for a woman and in conjunction with a foreigner for a J->E translation position. Having spent the last two years searching 必死に for translation work in Japan, I have found Japanese empolyers to be incredibly chauvanistic about who they'll hire for J<->E translation: namely, Japanese people. (If you don't believe me, check out gaijinpot or any of the recruitment sites, really. Japanese employers specify Japanese Only for translation-related positions in either direction almost 100% of the time.)

but I guess for that type of position in Japan having a male would be weird
And that hits the nail on the head. It would be weird having a guy do ochakumi/copying/receptionist duties/etc. Take my city hall, which specifically hires one woman for each section. Doesn't matter if she's more qualified than the guys, she still has to do the tea and wash all the dishes used by the department three times a day. Takes out the trash too. My department's woman is on maternity leave. Guess who has to do that stuff now? Guess what the other CIR who was hired with me has to do in her office? If this is happening under the auspices of the JET Programme, I can imagine that it would happen in a high-level government office where the foreign, female employee doesn't have CLAIR or PAs to turn to for backup.

If you're willing to overlook the gender discrimination, it probably would be a sweet job, and I'm not denying that there would be networking possibilities galore. A smart person would use it as a temporary jumping-off point, but I don't think I could put up with it, even temporarily. I'm just not good enough at letting stuff like that roll of my shoulders. Maybe the guy's actually really liberal, and that's why he's requesting a foreign woman, but nevertheless, my warning bells went off.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

D000D. I didn't know you were still on lj! Did you get your job?

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

Ah, but we're still hurting from missing the Pompeii exhibit. (Had tix but the rents didn't want to bum around for 3 hours until our scheduled time). Also, we have museum memberships, which makes it less expensive, and a trip to the museum is a trip into CIVILIZATION, which is an important mitigating factor!

[demeter918.livejournal.com]

sexual harrassment punching bag

I think it might be fun to punch their bags.

[akujunkan.livejournal.com]

LOL. I <3 you.

[demeter918.livejournal.com]

I less than three you too!