Hey Magamo, did you know that in your username the "maga" is the hungarian word
for the respectful "you"? Just asking
Pronunication is exactly the same as it would be in japanese

Last edited by Raschaverak (2010 August 09, 11:43 am)

Dear Magamo™,

I have a question actually. I am keen on doing a masters degree in Japan. In other words, I want to learn a subject in Japanese and I was thinking of doing an MBA.

I have currently completed a 3 year degree in "Visual Communication" which had subjects like Graphic Design, Web Design et al. I graduated from college in the year 2005. After graduating, I did a one year diploma specializing in Animation but I couldn't get a decent job.

While I was job hunting, I also starting learning Japanese because of my interest in Japanese Drama, Movies and Anime and things have changed because of that. Been learning for 3.5 years and I have also gone to Japan twice.

Right now I am working at Nissan Motors (Indian Factory) as a freelance interpreter and translator for the past 8 months. Completed JLPT N2, looking to complete N1 by next year.

So anyway, here's the question - I would like to know whether doing an MBA in Japan is worth the effort, time and money I am going to spend. Is a 3 year degree more than enough for applying for an MBA degree? Plus I am planning to gather work experience of at least 1 year before starting to apply. Is that enough or do I need more work experience like 2 or 3 years maybe?

Womacks23 wrote:

An MBA from a US school will get you further in Japan than an MBA from a Japanese school.

Japanese MBAs are a very bad idea unless you are company sponsored and already have a post-graduation job lined up.

Hmmm. But that will defeat the purpose of me wanting to do Masters in JAPANESE. Or does that idea sound a bit stupid?

A couple of my friends also advised me against doing an MBA in Japan as an MBA in US will look better on the resume. But I am kinda stubborn about wanting to Ryuugaku in Japan and studying about business in Japanese (not english) sounds quite challenging (to me).

So would doing an MBA in one of the Top Colleges be worth the time, effort and money? Ofcourse getting into one of the top colleges will be quite a daunting task by itself.

Last edited by atreya (2010 November 09, 4:32 am)

Also

I assume you want to pursue an MBA to make a career switch. I'm doing the same thing right now. Well sending out applications, GMAT is all finished. In my school research I found a lot of interesting programs with strong international business and specific Japan ties. Might be good info for you.

University of Hawaii (afaik the only Japan focused MBA in the world)
University of Southern California
University of South Carolina (see IMBA- Japanese language track)
Thunderbird school of management

That's the idea. The pain of joining a Japanese MBA program comes at graduation time and you find out that no companies recruit from your school. It's the nature of corporate Japan... Lifetime employment, promote from within, etc.

Also stay away from Waseda unless you want to be a lifer. Waseda is not AACSB accredited. AFAIK the only Japanese schools with accreditation are Keio, Nagoya, and Temple. Meaning the schools lack the basic requirements the rest of the world considers necessary in MBA education.

The way around this of course is to get a US degree, work on your Japanese in your own time, get your cushy job in your home country, put in a few years of hard work then put in a transfer to Tokyo HQ.

Last edited by Womacks23 (2010 November 09, 6:16 am)

Womacks23 wrote:

Yes, an MBA from a Japanese school would be great for the Japanese but would be career suicide if you do not already have employment lined up in Japan. Corporate Japan is very different from the rest of the world. Japanese companies do not recruit from Japanese business schools. Japanese companies -send- their students to business schools.

Foreign companies in Japan and liberal Japanese companies will hire MBAs (esp. consulting, IB, marketing) but they have near zero respect for Japanese business schools and focus their recruitment abroad. This is why a a US degree will get you further in Japan.

It would be better to go to a US school (or even HKUST, NUS) and possibly exchange out to Japan to work on your Japanese. And pursue employment at the Boston Career Forum.

Just don't be surprise if you come to Japan and blow away 50,000$+ on an MBA only to find out you can't find a good job because no company recruits at your school and no one else has any respect for your degree... But your Japanese will be good.

Womacks23 wrote:

Also

I assume you want to pursue an MBA to make a career switch. I'm doing the same thing right now. Well sending out applications, GMAT is all finished. In my school research I found a lot of interesting programs with strong international business and specific Japan ties. Might be good info for you.

University of Hawaii (afaik the only Japan focused MBA in the world)
University of Southern California
University of South Carolina (see IMBA- Japanese language track)
Thunderbird school of management

Womacks23 wrote:

That's the idea. The pain of joining a Japanese MBA program comes at graduation time and you find out that no companies recruit from your school. It's the nature of corporate Japan... Lifetime employment, promote from within, etc.

Also stay away from Waseda unless you want to be a lifer. Waseda is not AACSB accredited. AFAIK the only Japanese schools with accreditation are Keio, Nagoya, and Temple. Meaning the schools lack the basic requirements the rest of the world considers necessary in MBA education.

The way around this of course is to get a US degree, work on your Japanese in your own time, get your cushy job in your home country, put in a few years of hard work then put in a transfer to Tokyo HQ.

Yes, you are right about the fact that I want to pursue MBA for a career switch. I definitely want some work experience before I even think of applying for an MBA. Of course I need to write GMAT as well. Even though I am working as a Japanese Interpreter/Translator at the moment and will be completing JLPT N1 very soon, I want to work in Japan and therefore I require a marketable skill apart from Japanese. That’s another reason I want to do an MBA.

So if I want to do an MBA from a good business school in Japan, then my only options are  Keio/Nagoya/Temple. Temple University is American, so removing that from the list, I have Keio and Nagoya if I want to pursue MBA in Japan. I was also considering NUS as one of the options. And thanks for giving me the list of American universities with Japan ties. The IMBA course at the University of South Carolina piqued my interest in particular. I am definitely looking into the MBA course details from the other universities in the list as well.

But since I have just started working (been 8 months), I still have at least 1.5 years to go before I even think of applying for MBA as I want to work for at least 2 years before I start applying. Meanwhile, I am preparing myself to apply by writing TOEFL/IELTS and GMAT.

Anyway, thanks for the help and prompt replies. I really appreciate it and I am glad that I wasn’t the only person thinking of doing an MBA in Japan. 今後とも宜しくお願い致します。

P.S. For now, I am planning to keep Keio as my number 1 option (as the international exchange program with either the German or the French University looks interesting), the American universities (University of South Carolina in particular) as my fall-back option and NUS as the “if all else fails” option. Or is it better if I keep the American universities as my number 1 option?

The elite class of the developed world--the people who get all the money and respect--is 能力よりも達成よりも資格。  Any time you're applying to a large organization, you have to deal with some gatekeeper HR peon.  If he says "let's hire this guy, he really knows his stuff," that's a subjective judgement.  If he says "let's hire this guy, he's got an Ivy League MBA," that's an objective judgment--at least in the sense that the subjective judgment "Ivy League MBA" = "good thing" has already been made for you.

The first rule of survival in a large organization is "avoid responsibility."  If the MBA you hired is a piece of crap, it's the school's fault.  If the non-MBA you hire is a piece of crap, it's on your head.

Now, imagine some weirdo comes to you with a Japanese 経営学修士 that he went out and got himself (weirdo) are you going to stick your neck out to hire him, when you know you can find good, normal candidates elsewhere.  Remember, you keep your job by making the decisions your boss would make--and he knows less than you do.  Justify everything and cover your ass.

If you really want that post in the big organization, you'll have to be normal.  So get a nice American MBA and the appropriate 国語資格.

能力よりも資格　　達成よりも資格　それは世の習いである　仕方がない

Yes. People normally do not spend that much money for the possibility of high Japanese skills and a (probably) crappy entry level job in Tokyo. It just isn't worth the money unless you are getting a free ride and have a job already lined up.

＠Womacks23

Right. I perfectly understand what you mean.

harhol wrote:

Some high-ranking business schools (e.g. London Business School) have overseas exchange programs, so you could look into that if you're desperate to live in Japan while you study.

Its more about me wanting to do a masters and learn something in JAPANESE (using the language) rather than being desperate to live in Japan.

captal wrote:

atreya wrote:

Its more about me wanting to do a masters and learn something in JAPANESE (using the language) rather than being desperate to live in Japan.

Why not learn another language using Japanese? I plan on learning Spanish using Japanese books made for natives once my Japanese gets to a high enough level.

Or pick something else you're interested in and order books on it in Japanese. If you're really decided on getting a masters, you could do those things while doing your masters at a much more reputable school. I did Heisig during the last semester of my MBA in Australia.

Yea, I was planning to buy some books and learn something. Recently, I have been listening to "西川里美は日経1年生" podcasts and I was planning to buy the books to get a better understanding of what they were talking about.

Ah well, my dreams of doing a masters in Japan have come crashing down. Thanks for the advice. If I am going to spend 50000$ for an MBA, might as well make sure I land up with a good job.

I am still curious as to how Magamo would respond to my question ^^;

Last edited by atreya (2010 November 15, 2:58 am)

＠Magamo

Thanks Magamo. I guess it is only logical to study a subject which Japan excels in and if MBA is not one of them, then I guess I shouldn't squander my money and end up jobless. Thanks Womacks23 and everyone else for their input.

とても、感謝しております。

I posted this on another thread, but didn't get any help.
So, please Magamo can you help me?

寿司と食べようと言うから行ったら作れと言われる、お茶飲もう、だから緑茶持ってきてくれと言う、パーティするからカレー作れないか、と言う。

What does this sentence mean?
Especially I don't get why 「と」in「寿司と食べよう」is used.

Last edited by jettyke (2011 February 19, 3:00 am)

@Magamo

thanks!

I suspected that it was a Wo...but I still couldnt make out the meaning!

Last edited by jettyke (2011 February 19, 11:23 am)