Mr. Lô Văn Thành

Born in 1995 in Vietnam
2018: graduated from university, worked for a company (10 months)
2019: Japanese language school (6 months)
2019: Worked for a construction company (in Shizuoka Prefecture)

Using a Human Resources Agency

Many seniors at my university worked in Japan as engineers after graduation, which made me want to work in Japan as well. I studied civil engineering and industrial architecture at university, learned how to use CAD (computer aided design software), and after graduation I worked for an architectural design firm in Hanoi creating structural drawings for hotels and houses.

Having learned the basics of design in Vietnam, I asked a human resource company to introduce me to an architectural firm in Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture. Then I passed the interview and studied Japanese for 6 months paying the tuition fees to the human resource company.

Working as an Engineer

I came to Japan in June 2019. I use CAD to create structural blueprints for timber homes. There are 5 people in charge of this task and 2 are Vietnamese. Based on the blueprints made by the architects, we create the structural blueprints for the walls and roof. Using this data, we manufacture the walls and other components at the factory. We have many employees in the factory, but our office has about 40 people, 8 of whom are Vietnamese.

Learning Japanese

Work communication is in Japanese. At first, I could not understand what the Japanese people were saying, but as the people at work spoke slowly in simple Japanese, I gradually began to understand.

At home, I take Japanese language classes once a week via Skype (video phone) conducted by a non-profit organization in Tokyo. I also study on my own for more than two hours every day. I passed the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) N3 within a year and a half of coming to Japan.

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Japanese Corporate Culture

The president and other Japanese colleagues are kind. As I work with them, I am becoming familiar with Japanese corporate culture. For example, the workday ends at 5:30 p.m., but Japanese people usually work overtime for about 30 minutes if they have not finished their own work. We Vietnamese work a little overtime as well.

My take-home pay is about 200,000 JPY, from which I pay rent and other expenses and send an average of 120,000 JPY to my parents every month.

Fellow Vietnamese

8 Vietnamese live in the same apartment. The 8 of us bike to work together in the mornings, and on our days off we often have dinner parties in our room. I also have friends from my university in Fuji City and Hokkaido, and we meet up occasionally.

This is how I enjoy my life in Japan, surrounded by kind Japanese and Vietnamese friends. My dream is to acquire solid skills in Japan and one day, when I return to Vietnam, to establish a wooden house construction and design company.