Japanese Companies

Thanks for always sharing your tips and good stuff with all of us :) must to learn from the Choo :P

I think reading this post, I view blogging in a different light. Not only a blog is for just sharing information about your life but there are opportunities to get jobs from them too!!!
I should act more professional at times...
I think I should work towards working in Japan and somehow find a way to stay and continue to work there...
I also feel that some parents feel that having a university degree is a good thing and you get farther in life. I feel that people who can get the job done is more important then having a degree from a university. I've seen people get good jobs with a college or even a high school degree. If they know how to get the job done, they're hired.
I don't know how other people feel about that...just my point of view...

I always like reading your posts about working in Japan. And I'm always grateful that you have the time to pass on your knowledge to so many others.

Hmm... I'm still re-writing my resume for an application in the next few days.
A government program here is offering +300 jobs for tech support positions in public schools... Well at any rate, any job is a good job in this current eco weather.

Looks like i'll be busy making another blog (My blog turned into rant space again ^^") and a few stacks of meishi very soon.

Thanks for the tips again Danny.
ps: Wait, I'm a bit confuzzled. Is Chris the 'new guy' you've been looking for? or has the 'new guy' not been found yet?

Just before I read this I was deleted old posts on my blog ranting about shows I didn't like because I was afraid other people would read them and think lesser of me. I really like your articles like this Danny. I read every bit of it and everytime I feel like I've learned something not only about you but about myself.

Many moons ago, I used to use a blog as a venting tool, which landed me in a lot of trouble. From then on, I was really wary about what to post about publicly, which ultimately led me to having a personal, protected blog for a few years. Now that I opened up a public blog, I'm very selective as to what I share with others.

Also, this post reminds me that I need to work on my online portfolio ^^; I have the design and what not in the works! I just need to get around and compile everything :x

Just recently, I've been expanding my networks in hopes of gaining more connections. In that time, I've created a twitter, a blog, updated my deviant art and so forth. Though I still have a long way to go, I hope this is a good start.

The good news is that my blog has become a decent platform for my opinions and getting some modicum of recognition has been really awesome. I'm not content to rest on my laurels though since my goal is to drive up recognition of the music side and I hope my side projects will help me reach that endeavor.

For the time being, I'll just be happy with the feedback I'm getting. Most people really seem to like what I do and I hope to be able to deliver a high-quality product consistently.

This helps me a lot and shows me what I need to do. ^^; As I see I still have a long way to go but I still have plenty of time so that's good. I find DC a great place to gain knowledge and learn tips to succeed. :D

Congratulations Mr. Gaunt! Your working for the best company EVAR.

Props to Mr. Garcia for his excellent work too.

Finally, thank you Mr. Choo for the sound advice about establishing a positive presence on the intertubes.

- Gabe

Yup, I guess rants ain't good for no blogs..

I remember something about email addresses too. When one's future employer sees one's email address with 1337 in it, they'll most prolly develop a negative image on one.

>Its not about whether they are going to hire you or not, its also about whether you want to work for them. I'll keep that in mind. I never thought of it that way!

Most importantly, congratulations Danny and Chris Gaunt! Danny for finding your own clone, and Chris Gaunt for his new awesome job. Maybe not so new. ^^;

In your last Tokyo Photo Walk post you already let the cat out of the bag by the caption under Chris's picture Danny ^^; image ID#26888

Interesting read as always Danny!

Thanks for some great tips Danny. I see the real reason one should set up a blog now. May consider doing it in the future when I have something interesting to talk about. XD

I also 100% agree about the portfolio. A company needs examples of your work to determine if you're the best candidate. The closest thing I have to a portfolio is my deviantArt but I also keep hard copies of all my work on me the vast majority of the time. It helps to spread your name and you may even get some offers to do some work for people as a result.

I never realize how useful a blog can be, perhaps its time to start one...

Congrats again to Chris and everyone at Mirai Inc.!
And thanks for the nice info and microdisclosures, Danny.

Thanks to Mr.DC for sharing all the information..
i want to see Mr. Gaunt in trooper outfit or Vader outfit..

Congratulations Chris!
Looks like I should get serious about that blog I wanted to start too...

If only all bosses were like you. Too bad I don't dabble in online-related work, or my blog could be helpful in finding potential employment.

Mirai FTW

working visa is only for those between 18-30. if i could turn back time by 5-6 years...
seems like the only way i can visit japan is to be a visitor and then go back after a few days. also seems my dream of staying and working in japan plan is getting a big wall in any direction i turn to. just feel like giving up now.

Congrats on Mirai Inc's newest acquisition. Now stop goofin around and get to work... haha XD

Congratz on the new employee, Danny! Congratz on the new job, Chris! It was the free figures, right? LOL XD

I've had that thought in the back of my mind every time when you first mention putting "resume" on the profile. I don't think Blogger.com have a good way to do that in the profile, so I've been putting it off til I find something better. For now I'm just making one article per week and even that takes up a chunk of my time. Hopefully I'll be more efficient in the future. Thanks for the tips!

Congratulations Danny!

It's great to see that your workforce is expanding. Any more new recruits to your troop and you'll need a new office. Any plans for that?

Always good to see someone be able to live that dream, even if the costs of doing business in Japan can be high at times. Looks like they're starting to get the right idea that to break out of their recession, they need to innovate, and that means encouraging young companies like yours to grow.

congrats Chris!

so thats how peeps find a job in Japan, correct me if I'm wrong and congrats to your new employee. ^_^/

XD weee thanks danny san for the infos ~Ill STUDY MY NIHONGO MORE INTENSELY woot

Whoa, great piece... While this is not exactly a photo article, I think it deserved better place than "just" normal News...^^

My take is... I have not envisioned my blog as a source for opportunity, yet... My field of preference initially is more conventional anyway... I just want a job in engineering environment at first... Sure, having online portfolio might work... but I don't think it's feasible in the short run...^^ Well, main problem is that my blog is still looking like a dump... XC

Still, My take on blog is, a place where we can express ourselves, a place where we can be ourselves and share it with others... While I do despise people who attack others online, be it at their blog or elsewhere... I think acting "too professional" will also make yourself looks fake, will be unlikely to impress your prospective employer, and ultimately estranged yourself from your readers....

I do think that, Danny as a blogger... has strike a relatively perfect balance of being a professional while being friendly and being himself...^^ Especially considering the sheer number of readers in this site...

I've been planing on getting my business license here in California. I've been building custom computers and performing computer related repairs and maintenance since high school. Although it wasn't a lot of money it was nice not having to rely on my paychecks from my actual job. Now I have more clients and the money is starting to get to the point where the government is gonna want their cut in the form of taxes. The cool thing about getting a small business started here is that it costs almost nothing to fill out the paper work and get your business license, its something like 15 US dollars. You don't need an office or anything special, just pay the right taxes on time and your good to go. I'm just glad I didn't fall asleep in my business classes at State.

Interesting read, thanks for the great advice. I will take some of it to heart on my blog. The Sole Proprietorship stuff was very interesting as well I'll have to keep it in mind if I choose to start doing some freelance work again while I am overseas.

Also a big welcome to Chris, though I have been reading his blog for a while too. It will be interesting to see what you guys some up with together.

Enlightening, this site indeed is.

i can't help it but notice and ask... why does Danny always seems so well built in his pictures?

congrats on getting a new pair of hands. ^^;

a very important question to chris, who is moer? mio or ranka? ('~')

A very inspiring post, reminds me to stop daydreaming and do the things I keep leaving on my desk.
Holiday soon, then I will dedicate myself fully with those words in the back of my head.

Glad to hear about your new employee.
I agree about the online profile, an important part of getting new opportunities and offers.

Danny,wait for me,for one day i shall be one of your employees.

>Ultimately it depends on what you want to do in life but I recommend using the Internets as a tool to reach out and profile yourself online.

Is it safe to make a profile of yourself online because I'm afraid that people could just try tricking me into getting a job .

Though , I'm very glad that Danny has a new employee which means Mirai Gaia is going to be a suscessfull company .

I like The Ultraman pose in the picture

YOOO! So i guess aside from building up ones skill is to have a floating proof of it on the net and as a sample blogs or a personal webpage.

Another nice read here. Thanks!

One of these days, I'll make me an internet profile ;]

Danny!

I want to set up a blog about me that is completely unlike what you normally see on pages like LiveJournal (i.e. ranting, mostly text etc.) And seeing what you blog about is really inspiring, but i've found it really difficult to actually come up with a concept (i.e. otaku related stuff) to build my blog around. I have loads of dreams, loads of ambitions and loads of ideas but right now at this point in my life I can't see myself actually dealing with all those things in a serious and sensible manner, especially since my interests are as divergent as radioactive particles emanating from a fission reaction inside a nuclear explosive device of mass destruction.

I have looked at books about blogging but would they be any good at all? Where did you learn to blog? I can imagine it's something you could learn by just doing it. But then, you do need opportunity to be doing it. And I also feel that it's somehow a major disadvantage that I know so little about HTML scripting and the like. And I also feel that one must invest more into a blog than just time, a decent camera for instance if one wants to make regular picture entries (and I do realize this does not have to be expensive, but it is something to consider).

I actually have a blog already (at LiveJournal) but I've actually stopped posting any serious stuff because I was really annoyed by the way my entries looked. It was cool at first with those large pieces of text but eventually it felt like my blog was boring to myself, and that can't be right.

Anyway, I hope you can give me some pointers on starting up a blog. Something like a check-list or a step-plan or something. At least something to start working on.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

With kind regards,

'Whatever nickname I have on this website it's probably Intricate but I'm not sure right now'

P.S.: Ken Lee is wearing a shirt with Dutch writing on it! "Don't forget, eat Frico"

Honestly, I do need to start blogging more about my project on my studio's MySpace page. Currently, I have been neglecting that for the last 1-2 years due to numerous reasons. I also found out how hard it is to convince people that you are a professional writer, as I personally ended up not getting through to Beckett about either idea for a third article with them.

Heck, to be honest, not even Kyle Hebert remembers my first article... Which ironically was about a character he did VA work on (in the past). Chris Patton himself said he started working around the time I written it. Which tells me that unless I can get a good camera and start taking photos, I need either luck or to get the ball rolling on my project if I am going to have that skill be recognized. (And it does not help me knowing that I cannot get help from my cousin, who currently has a major role in Harmonix, and so on.)

But despite that... Thanks for the reminder, Danny. Now I just need to find the time to blog. XP

Mmm, one day I'll make a profile. But not yet! ^^;

Ah, thanks for the tips Danny! So blogging can promote one's talent over the web ^^; Hope to do more posts on such stuff soon.

Another good post Danny thank you!
In my case I don't have any special skills in computer, and now having some trouble to create content for my blog. Now I'm concentrating in learn japanese.

Hope that mirai inc will exist forever !!

Thanks for sharing ^^. It is certainly refreshing to see such practical tips. Don't forget the otaku stuff though!

It's awesome seeing how far you have gotten Danny. How you created your company and are expanding its boundaries farther and farther, an ipod app? amazing! can't wait to see it ^^.

Congratulations to your new employee, Danny! ^^; Good Luck Mirai Inc.!

... and Thanks for the sharing your tips.

Learned a lot. Bookmarked. Thanks.

What about shifting interests? Your hobby focus has progressed from Star Wars to gunpla to figures to dollfie in the last several years. Though I realize you have not left any previous hobby behind, your time priorities must have shifted somewhat and I imagine your degree of interest as well. Consequently, do you think that your direction for your company will change in a similar manner?

Hmmm Thats was quite enjoyable to read. Chris Gaunt have fun working at Mirai Inc.

I've been deleting my old rant posts on my blogs too ^^;

The bussiness articles are really cool and helpful actually

well, i don't think you oughta remove those older posts. in my opinion, they serve to remind potential clients how much you have matured over the years, and if anything, it still makes for a good read, not to mention nostalgia.

oh btw, congrats to chris!

Great tips Danny, would definitely bring some of those to my blog. :D

Thanks for reminding me that I need to get a resume up on my new site. I just reopened it a month or so ago and it still needs work.

I have a blog on it but I only post positive things and stuff relating to my work/art. I'm using my site to showcase my artistic talents for future employment and hope to sell work on it in the future as well.

I do have venting blog, but it's separate and anonymous blog. I do worry that it could possibly be found and linked back to me, but I seriously doubt that. Anyway if I do start getting more known I may just delete it.

Congrats on expanding the team Danny~! And all the best to Chris~

Thanks for the recommendation to set up a Sole Proprietorship if you are earning *any* sort of side income, it's something I've been thinking about recently, just have no clue on how to manage the numbers ^^;; Guess I'll just have to start researching sometime soon.

About ranting, something that I've always been aware of [common sense really], I try to keep any opinions I consider a little extreme in some way to myself as the internet is a public space. Plus one must take care of their reputation, especially if you have a username/alias you use consistently, I have read news articles that state some employers are checking out their employee's online profiles [facebook etc] ^^;;

I hope you manage to launch your app in time~

Interesting article Danny, thanks for sharing your experience with us and allowing us to learn faster from it. Haters and trolls are everywhere these days, too bad to see that just by existing, some people will troll on you out of jealousy or the likes. I prefer to love and not hate.

So far my -quite young- blog is hobby and hobby passion related but I do hope it has an atmosphere of positivism and passion, don't think I rant much in it or at all. That is, what would one see as a rant or negative blog post?
I usually write about episodes, series I saw, art I like, usually stuff that inspired me or which I thought were appealing and beautiful so like to share it. ^^

this is a good read :) thanks mister choo! :D

I got my Working Holiday Visa a while ago :D leaving in a month!

Hmm...an online resume...guess i better get started on it...

Great post Danny. Your advice about finding jobs in Japan and starting up businesses is invaluable :)

So... is the woman in the employees picture your wife? :D *curious curious*

I'm loving Ken Lee's Dutch shirt in that picture. Great article!

Kinda regret not being to much into computer now, got to have a look anout dental job. The Japanese products ive used in my industry tend to be quite lame.

Welcome to Mirai Inc, Chris Gaunt ^_^

Alright, will start a detailed write-up of my DC profile~~~

Interesting interesting. I'm curious why you didn't go with Ebay, though something tells me you've already mentioned why and I've just forgotten.

Also, I have no shame in my blog. My past is all there, forever. Don't care what people think, I'm human.

Nice to see the whole team and what they do. So much goes into computers and websites @_@. I agree about the blog thing. I don't have one but your right, it does not look good to employers who have the luxury of being very choosy right now! Also I like the honesty of admitting that you were not being your best. Helps others/myself look at themselves and figure where they could be nicer or improve. (Contemplating that right now). Life is to short to live with negativity!

woah! £2000 and a letter is all you need?

Score!! Looking to go to japan for a period to work in the near future and better grasp the language and I thought that the immigration stuff was going to be a pain. Glad to hear that it might not be!!

Well done Chris on the job!

All good advice as usual Danny. I have started a profile page on my site, but not quite there yet.

This year is the 10th anniversary of my design studio.
All my work has been through referral which shows that high quality service attracts clients.
One thing that Danny will find (if not already) is that once you work for yourself it's virtually impossible to become an employee again. I wouldn't dream of it. Flexible hours and holiday leave, complete budget control, client avoidance/rejection if needed, expense justification, speedy implementation of plans, equipment and other purchases without any approval periods, etcetra make self-employment or being the boss the position of choice.

hmm great insights o_0

Are my eyes playing tricks on me ? Is Danny wearing something than solid black or storm trooper armor in this picture !?

Congrats to Chris for scoring the job...

Thanks for the tips, Danny. And congrats to Chris. ^_^
I guess I need to work on setting up an online portfolio, now. n.n;

Interesting post congratz on the job chris.

Congrats Chris!

I had no idea it was that easy to obtain a working holiday visa. I'll have to keep the in mind for post-graduation work ideas.

Ranting in public blogs is never a good idea. I keep a personal blog for ranting, while emimilove is my public blog. I've never ranted in it, but thus far most of my posts have been extremely trivial regarding subject matter. I'm trying to find more specific topics to blog about, like travel. I've tried converting ideas from dannychoo.com, specifically the ones that show Tokyo at 7:00 or so, but it just doesn't translate when I live in a suburb!

I'm also trying to find *cough*con*cough someone into helping me set up my own blog site, where I can have a more specific profile and information.

Hope u have fun Chris! would be fun if you started dressing Jedi knight or something.

As for ranting and raging online, i think thats what ultimately an Alias is for. Its bad to bottle up and thats why internets are great to release it. But just be careful how to release.

Keeping a profile up is one thing and should separate that from blogging in my opinion. tough choice.

various dangerous vids and pics put on facebook as turned people off too

good luck to chris in his future work

>niet vergeten frico eten
"Don't forget to eat frico"
Says the guy's red shirt lol

Hey Danny how different do you think things might have been if you had taken that job at Ebay?

I ought to pick up some CSS skills for my blog which I want to work on soon. however, my summer holiday work is preventing me from doing so due to the amount of it -.-

I see a bright future for Mirai Gaia and good luck Danny.
Anyway, congrats Chris!

Hi Danny

I find my self visiting your website most lunch times, for just for this sort of post.
I own and run a design agency on the south coast, UK and it's really nice to see some one else who agrees with our ethos here; No man, woman or company is an island. Link up and thrive : )

I have been in business for 13 years and the advise you give is very sound.
Deshok.com has an online portfolio site which features a cross section of our work. We also have a Blog and we use it as an easy to edit News site for our company. Our clients are subscribed to it and news posts are sent to them by email.

I have a linkedIn account and have been a member for ages, it’s been interesting watching it grow. I’m trying to inspire clients and colleges to join, it’s a slow job.
We have only recently opened a Flckr account and intent to use that as another, portfolio/Gallery/Slideshow, just another option for people to see our work really.

Do keep up the very good work and I watch with interest, as your business empire grows.

There's still more for me to learn

I figure I should start my own website as well to show off my web development skills. The work I'm doing now is all proprietary and under NDA and other clauses that prevent me from showing it off to the public, and you can't see my work anyways unless you are my firm's client. So I feel that having a public site would be best, but its that since that's all I do at work, its tough to motivate yourself after your day job to do the same thing as your day job. So I just have my simple wordpress blog right now. But maybe one lazy weekend, or even right now as I am taking time off from work to get a surgery done.

Best of luck to Chris!

Funny that this post should come up at around this time...

I've been slowly working on restarting a blog again. Was getting videos, designs, possible mascots and such setup, registered under a more professional name than litokid would be, and was basically ready to go public pending a last-minute-decision to redesign the mascot.

But then I sat down one day and thought things through one last time. And I realized how big a tool blogging and an online presence is. Or, rather, I became more fully aware of how positive and how *negative* it could be if I'm not careful. The name change is a break from my way-back-from-highschool persona, so I've stepped back plans for the moment to fully review what I want to present under this new identity.

I obviously don't want to censor myself too heavily. But there are certain limits I feel I ought to place for myself. :P

Who says that you can't teach old dogs new tricks? I'm in process of moving and redesinging/updating my website. Back in the day, I had my resume there too, but it looked too stuffy. I'm going to streamline it and put it back. I was going to work on it this weekend, but I'll be in Indiana. Thanks, DC!!!

Always nice to get advice that I might use in the future.

Not ranting or attacking in your blogs is a smart thing. Heard a lot of stories about people using myspace(guess its one of the long hypes around here) and what happens when their employer finds it...definitely not a good thing to do what my professor would say "Stupid Crap." I like the part how he treats us students as most of us haven't grasped what the real world is like and not taking what we paid for seriously. I hate myself T_T

Thats what I love about your blogs Danny, you aim to teach us simple-minded buffoons about the world in an enjoyable and fun manner.

I'm pretty much in the same boat as Intricate, too much interest, not a lot of direction. Whats worse for me is that I know next to nothing about web-design or making things pretty on the net. Graduating with an accountancy degree doesn't help my interests much either :P

Add me to your list of employee candidates, I'll start studying whatever needs to be learned right away! =)

congrats Chris on landing what I am sure will be a very fun job!