Jane is a fantastic Aussie client of Brad's, who has been living in Tokyo for 3 years. She and her diplomat husband are expats, living on the Australian embassy compound in Tokyo for a 4 year stint. Jane had just recently acquired her journalist position when I interviewed her so she was a great source of information on obtaining the job! It has been Jane's dream to follow in her mothers footsteps and write for a newspaper, and she is now doing that, for the world's largest newspaper, the Daily Yomiuri (DY). The Daily Yomiuri is the English language edition of The Yomiuri Shimbun, the world's largest circulation newspaper. (The Daily Yomiuri on the other hand has a much smaller circulation - the YS is 10 million a day, the DY 60,000).

Jane has a Masters in Journalism and a long background in writing, including being a press secretary for politicians in Australia and various media / government relations jobs. The job with the Daily Yomiuri wasn't advertised. She simply kept contacting the various papers in Tokyo for an internship until she got a positive answer, and on her first call to the DY, she got exactly that.

Jane says: "A lesson for a lot of expats is that most jobs are not advertised, (in this industry) especially in Japan, so to get them you really have to get yourself on the inside." Jane did a journalism internship as part of her degree which started her at lower levels of the company as a 'work experience kid', but she let them know from the start that she was interested in working there, and her hard work has paid off.

Unfortunately, unless you speak fluent Japanese, you'll be restricted as to how much free range you have with your writing.. "You have to kind of accept that if you are an experienced journalist and you want to come here, you either have to freelance for foreign publications or if you want to work in the Japanese press, then you're going to have to do to sub-editing and rewriting", basically the rewriting of literal translations of the YS. "If you want to be a purist and you are going to get offended by being asked to make someone else's work sound good, then it's not for you, but if you are young and looking for good place to start, then it's interesting and in one of the most exciting cities in the world".

Jane loves several things about working for a newspaper in Japan. The fact that the printing part of the business is in the same building, means that in a lot cases, they can have the paper in their hands 30 minutes after the paper is completed. You never really work overtime either, as you always have to meet deadlines before the paper goes out. She absolutely loves living in Tokyo as well.

Basically this job suits anyone who is a news junkie, inquisitive, 'a little bit cynical' and for someone who obviously loves to write. With regards to living in Japan, Jane says, "...you have to be the sort of person that can take anything as it comes and not fall apart the first time things don't go your way. You have to also be able to deal with a different culture and Japanese bureaucracy.. and be open to new experiences, otherwise there is no point coming to Japan".

Jane has one year left to make the most of her new position and I'm sure she will do just that!