I want to be a train driver in Japan

Hello! My name is Toby and I am 14 years old!
When I am older I want to move to Japan and be a train driver, it's going to be really hard. But I am sure if I am persevere I can do it! If you have any tips for me and tell me how I can do this, so when I am older I am ready for it! It will be really good if you could help me! Thank you very much! Arigatou!

I believe that in order to become a train driver, one has to attend and graduate the suitable school in Japan. Than means that firstly you should have a native level skills in Japanese. After you have the language skills, you may think about the next step. But notice that I have not heard any foreigners attending those driver schools, so it may not be even possible with good language skills either.

Even if for some reason doing train driver training in another country would be ok, getting the job in the end is difficult.
Because train drivers are not the kind of skill Japan needs to "import" from other countries, getting a work visa for it will be almost impossible.

TrainsAATG,

Your first goal is to be able to read this. Have fun learning!

http://www.google.co.jp/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=%e9%9b%bb%e8%...

First step you have to do is like to go and graduate a Japanese high school here to start working for a railroad company.

I heard a story that 50 year-old non-experienced man, who had been dreaming of be a train driver some day, recently passed an exam to get a licence of operating a train. You are young yet, so do not give up your dream.

Good for you! I see no reason why you couldn't achieve this dream but there are practical hurdles to overcome along the way.

Of course, first and foremost is the language. You can of course study in your home country but you're going to need to be pretty much native level fluent to achieve your dream so at some point you're going to have to move to Japan to get up to that level.

Getting there and being able to stay - before you begin to address the train driver issue - is one of the big hurdles.

I don't know where you're based but in my experience, most rail workers in other countries, whether drivers or not, rarely have the standard of professionalism and pride in their work that you'll find in Japan. I think that as a westerner, you're going to need to have the sort of personality that would flourish in that sort of environment (and I'm sure it's as hierarchical as all Japanese companies) because I suspect it's tough even for native Japanese. I imagine that if you're the type who would do well in the military, with all the rules and necessity for absolute pride in what you do, you'll be ok.

So, start learning nihongo now and make it your number 1 priority in life.

hone your character so that any sloppiness or casual attitude to work is unacceptable to you.

and finally...learn to point and call... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_and_calling)

good luck!

I wanted to be a tram driver when I was younger.

Nevertheless, I am going to respond in a serious and frank manner: I think you have no chance at a major railway company, because they all tend to be conservative companies which hire mostly new graduates from Japanese universities. And since you are already 14, it will be very difficult to get your Japanese level to a high enough level by the time you graduate from a Japanese university - unless you will be moving to Japan in the relatively near future and are a language genius.

However, there are many smaller, local railway companies where your chances may be slightly higher if you are really serious about it.

It might be easier to become a train driver in France...they do have very fast trains too, along with all sorts of trains.

You might be interested by a blog mostly about Japanese trains, but with items about French trains, trams etc.

http://www.denshaotaku365.com/

to be honest i think that there is heavy xenophobia (racism) in companies like JR - i have never seen a foreign or even half japanese person driving a train or even conducting a train in japan. the sight of a non-japanese person driving a train would probably frighten a lot of passengers anyway.

JR is one of those companies that is stuck in the 1950's and will stay that way until it suffers an accident like JR west did - then they'll be forced to modernize somewhat.

sorry to crush your dreams toby but i'd say for now there's no chance.

there is heavy xenophobia (racism)

There is no qualified foreigner, I think?

even if there were qualified non-japanese (by ethnicity) i highly suspect they would be denied access to the position by whatever means possible - JR management would find a way to stop the person from getting there.

one only needs to look at who is conducting all the trains to see how old fashioned the company is in its thinking - they stick all the young unmarried women in the conductor role until they marry and leave the company..

JR is one of those companies that is stuck in the 1950's and will stay that way until it suffers an accident like JR west did - then they'll be forced to modernize somewhat.

Pure nonsense! JR East and JR Central, in particular, are among the most innovative railway companies in the world. They are, however, very conservative when it comes to human resources - and that is probably why they remain so much more reliable than railways in other countries. Foreigners will certainly not be considered. I don't think it is common practice anywhere in the world to hire foreigners as train drivers. People without perfect language skills will certainly not be considered. As for skin color, I don't think it has even ever been an issue, as I doubt that JR has ever received a job application from a properly qualified non-Japanese person.

But if TrainsAATG were to get his language skills and qualifications to a high enough level, acquire Japanses citizenship and permanently move into the countryside of Japan, I think he would have the chance to become an employee of the local (minor) railway company one day.

To the above. In the US it is very common to have non-native born individuals as train drivers, esp in major cities like NYC.

In the US it is very common to have non-native born individuals as train drivers

Yes you also have non-native cops, politics etc...however putting on the same level a homogeneous country like Japan with 2 or 3 % of forgeigners mostly asians and USA full of immigrants with all kinds of colored people from various places on earth is a "little" non-sense.

I do not think japanese are ready to get ID checked or arrested by a white cop or see one white guy driving the Shinkansen. Sorry if it shocks you but the country is not a caucasian dominated place like Europe or USA.

Shocking news: I went several times to South Korea, I never saw a black guy driving a train. South Korea is also homogeneous! China too as fast trains but I am absolutely sure they will never let a black guy or a white guy drive their trains.

Out of sheer curiosity..do they have native American train drivers in the US?

At one time one had to be born in France, from French born parents to be a postman, a barber..and a few other "high security" (joke) jobs.
I have no idea about train drivers..

Until the late 19th century quite a lot of people in France--like my own family that has lived in the same area of Metropolitan for 1000 years, did NOT speak French...we are in a way, like the native Americans.. hence my question at the top.

France is Metropolitan France (in Europe) plus Overseas France, by the way.

Start learning Japanese.

www.wanikani.com

Thank me in a few months.

I have learned 500 kanji in half a year. And 1100 vocab words.

Uji you started your post by disagreeing with me and literally in the next sentence agreed with everything I said - that they have archaic and discriminatory hiring practices. What exactly was your point.

Virtually all modern democratic countries have equal opportunity employment in every field - except Japan. Japan is literally stuck in the 1940's or 1950's when it comes to employment. Korea has a similar problem. Some companies have shaken off the ridiculous shackles, others, like JR, keep them on willingly.

Virtually all modern democratic countries have equal opportunity employment in every field - except Japan.

I would disagree. For example TrainsAATG can be a train driver in France because he is british meaning european citizen, however all other non-european citizens (japanese, american, canadian, peruvian...etc) are banned from working for french railways, they are not even allowed to work as tickets seller at the SNCF counter, or ticket controller.

Few years ago, before european union changed the rules only french citizens could work for french state owned companies. Same rules applied in many other european countries.

Every field you say? A lot of field are country security related and are open to citizens only. Only american citizens can be cops in USA, FBI agents, air traffic controller, customs, etc...

Only european citizens can be teachers in public schools in France. I saw many non japanese teachers in Japan. Where are you from by the way, tell us about that country you are from, it sounds perfect place on earth.

you're confusing nationality with race.

holding the correct citizenship is something that is obviously important. if you want to be a train driver in japan you should have japanese citizenship. that's reasonable.

however, in my opinion, at JR they will specifically discriminate against people based on skin color and/or race. they already do, it's clear because there are virtually no foreign born, light skinned, nor half-japanese people working around the trains. i've never seen one. has anyone else? i suspect you might find some working in the construction or maintenance crews at night though..

and again one only needs to look at the demographics within JR to see that their company structure is atrociously outdated. it's purely based on age and with the full expectation that all females will be removed from the workforce by age 30.

No, I don't agree that the system is archaic and discriminatory. I call it conservative and have no problems with it. To the opposite: I think it is one reason JR is working so well. Also, your racism theory seems like pure speculation to me.

My point is that TrainsAATG has no chance to get hired by large railway companies like JR, but that he has a remote chance to get hired by a minor one. I am here to try to answer questions.

To be honest, I don't think Japan is ready for a "gaijin" train conductor, but it would be nice if the OP achieves his dream somehow.