Genetist in Japan...?

Hi!

Next autumn I will start the Faculty of Medicine (3 years) and then I will go to specialize in Genetics (2 years) and conclude the degree. What I wonder and ask you is whether you know how things are in Japan in this field of work, such as whether the demand for new Genetists is present or a niche job. It is to be considered that i'm already learning Japanese (Grammar) while for the language I would like to follow a school in Tokyo after graduating.

Japan has big research institutes like RIKEN where among many other research genetics is reasearched as well. There are also specific support schemes for foreign PhD students and researchers. Japanese is normally not a requirement for these positions but will obviously help you in daily life.

i Know Biken since I work in the Pharmaceutical market in Japan.
Japanese is requiered to work, since internal communication including management is handled in Japanese.

Thanks to both of you, really helped me! Even if it was a niche job i was conviced to pursue my career, but i'm just convinced!

Well, I guess it depends on your position at RIKEN. If you want to get hired at RIKEN, Japanese would definitely be useful / needed. However most foreign researchers in Japan that I have met Riken, Jaxa, some universities etc do not speak Japanese at a level ready for their work. There are grants for PhD and post-docs and even more mature researchers for the international community.

http://www.riken.jp/en/careers/programs/ipa/
http://www.riken.jp/en/careers/programs/spdr/

Just an example of a job offering at Riken currently. No Japanese required, but to a certain degree desired, although I would doubt that with a UK boss there is a lot of opportunity to speak about work in Japanese: http://www.brain.riken.jp/en/careers/20170519_w617_a_moore_r.html

But learning Japanese if you want to live in Japan is never a bad idea.