A Pinay to her kababayans: Honesty, discipline key to success in Japan

SAKAI CITY, Japan – Visitacion Vicente has been in Japan since she was 30. She is now 41 and married to a Japanese national and very much settled in this city in the Osaka prefecture.

As someone who has been living in Japan for over a decade, she's in a right place already to give some advice to her kababayans dreaming of migrating to and making it in the Land of the Rising Sun.

“Unang-una kailangan tapat ka sa trabaho mo at siyempre 'yung honesty. Kasi ang mga Hapon once na nasira ka sa kanila sira ka na talaga. Mahirap bawiin 'yun,” Vicente said.

According to Vicente, who, together with her family, has been managing the Philippine food and souvenir booth during the annual Sakai-ASEAN Week Cultural Festival since it started back in 2009, honesty is the easiest way to win the hearts of the Japanese people.

“Lalo na ganitong may business ka. Pag nasira ka minsan sa susunod di ka nila kukunin. Pero tignan mo six years na kami pa rin dito,” she said.

Discipline

Vicente added that discipline was as important as honesty to the Japanese, since it is considered as the basic foundation of their community.

“Disiplina. Lahat ng bagay kailangan natin ng disiplina kasi kung wala kang dispilina lalo na sa sarili mo di ka uunlad dito,” she explained.

“Dito wala kang makikitang kalat. Sa kalsada naman, wala kang maririnig na nagbubusina. Bigayan [sila]. Makikita mo na lang doon 'yung disiplina sa kalsada halos wala kang makikitang banggaan,” she added.

Aside from these, Vicente said it was extremely important to learn Nihonggo for Filipinos who want to work in Japan. “Siyempre kasi kailangan mo 'yun sa pakikipag-communicate sa kanila kasi hindi naman lahat [ng Hapon] marunong mag-English,” she said.

Growth in Japan

For Vicente who has been working for a bento (packed lunch) company for half a decade, there is definitely career growth waiting for hardworking Filipinos here.

“Ngayon maganda na lalo na sa company namin five years na rin ako at may position na ako. At least na-appreciate nila ang mga Pilipino. Kung kaya mo magtrabaho lalo na kung may disiplina ka sa trabaho bibigyan ka nila ng position,” she said.

She shared that there are over a hundred Filipinos in her company where she works as a supervisor for the night shift, from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Vicente said male OFWs in Japan are mostly construction and factory workers, while the female are mostly caregivers. She also said there is a demand for Filipino nurses.

Discrimination

Despite her good words about her second home, Vicente admitted that discrimination against Filipinos exists, especially in far-flung prefectures. This, however, is slowly becoming a thing of the past due to Japan's strong ties with the Philippines.

“Hindi na masyado,” she said, referring to discrimination. “Kasi medyo na-appreciate na rin nila ang mga Pilipino lalung-lalo na ang daming mga caregivers na mga Pilipino.”

She then said that even though there were hurdles like discrimination and the language barrier, Filipinos can still succeed in Japan as long as they are honest and disciplined.

“Basta yan ang pinaka-importante sa mga Japanese, 'yung disipilina at talagang 'yung honesty,” she said. —KBK, GMA News


The media tour for the 2014 Sakai-ASEAN Week from October 7 to 13, 2014 was organized by its Executive Committee and sponsored by the city government of Sakai in cooperation with several private groups.