Want to study and work in Japan? This Malaysian answers all your biggest questions

If you’re a big fan of Japanese language, culture, and media, it’s no surprise that you’d dream of getting to study and work in Japan too. The good news is, you’re in luck. The country itself is eager to welcome more international students and exceptional foreign talents within the next decade. 

With that said, the question remains: What does it take to find your place and gain acceptance in Japan, whether you’re a student pursuing a degree, a graduate seeking major career opportunities, or someone dreaming of settling down in one of the world’s wealthiest and healthiest countries? 

In this episode, we speak with Hazman Baharom, a Malaysian international student turned Japanese PhD, translator, and lecturer, about how you can successfully navigate its evolving academic spaces, job market, and society.  

Listen below, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

 

 

The transcript below has been lightly edited for grammar, spelling, and clarity. 

Maryam: Hey guys, welcome back to the Extra Credit Podcast.

To all first-time listeners, this is a series where we discuss the beauty, ins and outs of studying abroad with fellow international students, graduates, and faculty members from around the world.

I’m Maryam, your host, and today we’ll be exploring the exciting life of being an international student in Japan. Everyone’s familiar with the country’s iconic cuisines, ancient traditions, and inescapable pop culture trends like anime, manga, video games, and more. But for many study abroad hopefuls, Japan is, most importantly, home to world-class universities and quality education as well.

On that note, our guest for today, Hazman Baharom, has a lot to share about living, studying, and working in the famous Land of the Rising Sun. As a lecturer for Malay Studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Hazman has long been curious and passionate about the study of language and culture.

In fact, he even speaks six languages, including Japanese, and works on the side as a professional translator, having produced the official Malay translation of best-selling and award-winning Japanese novel, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop.

But before all of that, his journey to Japan began as a bright-eyed international student, just like me and you. Hazman, welcome. It’s so lovely to have you join us today.

How are you?

Hazman Baharom: Ah, thank you for having me today. I’m good.

Maryam: So Hazman, since 2021, before you kickstarted your career in Japan, you were and still are completing a PhD in political science and government at Waseda University.

Hazman Baharom: Yeah.

Maryam: That’s quite a change from your previous study abroad experience, right, as a Bachelor of Economics student in the UK? So, tell us, why Japan? Has it always been one of your dream destinations as a student?

Hazman Baharom: Yeah, thank you so much for the question and thank you for inviting me for this podcast. Well, I guess, when I was in high school, since I studied Japanese for five years, since Form 1 to Form 5, Japan has been one of my preferred destinations to go overseas. But when I got the Yayasan Sime Darby scholarship after my SPM trials, I was offered to [go to] the UK. So then, I was like, okay, I’ll go to the UK first. And then, my dream to go to Japan was buried for a while.

But after I came back to Malaysia in 2018, I represented Malaysia for one of the programmes called Talk with Muslims, organised by Japan Foundation.

So, Japan Foundation selected 10 students from Southeast Asia and two from Malaysia. One is me and the other one is Dr. Raudah. She is currently, I think, in the US.

So, I came to Japan, and then we discussed a lot of things about Japanese culture and Muslim culture. And I got to know my supervisor during that time, my PhD supervisor who is Japanese. He is an expert in Indonesian Islamic movements.

So, if you listen to him speaking Indonesian, you will think that he is an Indonesian, but he is actually Japanese. So yeah, that’s my PhD supervisor.

So, that’s one of the reasons. My research now is about the Malaysian Islamic party, PAS. Uh, I think since there is a similarity between both of our interests, I selected to study here.

Second, I am obsessed with Japanese literature and that is why I translated Japanese novels. So, I think, why not come to Japan since I will have, like, [an] unlimited supply of Japanese literature to read, right?

So, yeah. So, these are my two biggest reasons coming to Japan.

Maryam: So, you will say that, doing your PhD in Japan is kind of like your second chance at studying in your dream country.

Hazman Baharom: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, it became a dream country, and then it was buried for a little while. And then, I guess, my trip to Japan under Japan Foundation, back in 2018, reignited that dream somehow.

Maryam: Nice. Okay, but you also won a full-ride postgraduate scholarship under the MEXT scholarship programme.

Hazman Baharom: Yes.

Maryam: Yet, in 2024 alone, almost 10,000 students applied for the MEXT scholarship, but only six applicants were recommended. So, Hazman, can you share with us your secrets and tips behind securing such a coveted slot?

Hazman Baharom: Mhmm, thank you so much. I love to do this because I think a lot of people deserve to get this, but many of them just don’t have enough information on how to strategise their application.

So, I guess, the most important thing is, be clear about what you want to research about. For example, if you are planning to do your PhD in Japan and you are planning to do something related to, well, I don’t know. Now, probably the most famous idea that people are talking probably is about AI, right? AI in education, AI in economics, AI in whatever.

So, if you are researching AI in Japan, you need to be clear about what specific aspect of AI you want to research about.

So, the Japanese professors, being experts in that field – they want to know about what you want to do, right? And they want to know that you are passionate about what you want to do.

For example, when I was applying, my research proposal was to research the impact of the Japanese occupation on the Islamic institutions in Malaya. So, be clear about what you want to do in your research project.

Number two, I would suggest that you try to create connections before you try to apply, especially for the embassy recommendation. It would help if, for example, you already have a kind of professional connection with some of the professors that you plan to work with before you apply, because they are the ones that will recommend you for the scholarship.

So, it would be helpful, in my case, before I applied for the scholarship, I already translated some books about Islamic institutions in Malaysia and I made connections with my current supervisor through my translation work. So, using that connection, it would be easier for me, professionally speaking, to reconnect with the professor later when you are applying for the scholarship. So, that’s how you play with professional connections. Create professional connections in your field and that might help you in securing the scholarship.

The third one, which I always share with people who are applying for the scholarship is, in your application, try to find a way that your research can benefit both Malaysia and Japan.

Maryam: Yeah, or your home country instead, if you’re not Malaysian.

Hazman Baharom: If you are from Malaysia, try to find a way that this research will benefit Malaysia and Japan at the same time. So, that will be more appealing to the panel of the scholarships at the embassy, if you are looking for [an] embassy recommendation.

So, these are the three biggest things, I guess, that you need to prepare for the scholarship.

Maryam: Those are fantastic tips. I assume that, you know, since you mentioned creating or building professional connections before applying, I think that also influenced your choice of university as well to attend.

Hazman Baharom: Yes, yes. It influenced my decision to choose Waseda University. I got accepted into four universities, but finally I chose Waseda University because of the professor that will supervise me, and at the same time, Waseda is also known as one of the best places in the world if you wish to study Japanese literature. So, I can do my research while fulfilling my hobby of taking Japanese literature classes.

Maryam: Nice. You’re just enjoying the best of both worlds there. We love to hear it. Okay. Alongside your MEXT application, what else would you say would be required from students who wish to study in Japan with or without a scholarship? How did you prepare your own application?

Hazman Baharom: Right. Okay. Personally speaking, I would suggest you keep an open mind because, the Japanese way of doing things will be a lot different from where we come from. For example, both of us are from Malaysia. So, for example, the bureaucracy in Japan and the bureaucracy in Malaysia might be quite something. It might be challenging for many people who are not familiar with that kind of bureaucracy. So, that’s number one for everyday life.

Number two, I would say, if you are living outside of Tokyo, you might need to learn some Japanese. If you live in Tokyo, it would be okay if you don’t speak fluent Japanese. You still can live. But outside Tokyo, then it would be a challenge. That would also be one of the requirements, I would say, for you to live comfortably in this society.

Next, I would say, Japan has a lot of opportunities in terms of jobs. If you have a master’s and you are doing your PhD, and then, your master’s [is] related to things that the Japanese really need, like, for example, English education or English language, right?

It can really help you to get some jobs that will help you in your life here in Japan. Try to look at how you can maximize your own certificates or whatever that you have before in the Japanese job market. Because I think all of us are familiar with the statistics that the Japanese are losing their younger population. So, they would need more workers from abroad, especially the professional workers. So, I would suggest that – people from the Asian countries, when you come to Japan, try to look at your certificates and your qualifications. They might land you some jobs to keep you going here.

Maryam: I would say language is also a pretty important requirement there. I mean, even if you’re studying at a university in Tokyo, that would be one of the main deals, right?

Hazman Baharom: Mm, yeah. If you are studying in universities in Tokyo, I know some people that don’t know Japanese at all and they can survive, because in Tokyo, many people can speak English. Imagine Kuala Lumpur, right? Almost everybody can speak English. Even though Tokyo-wide, [their] English is not as good as English in Kuala Lumpur, but they can understand you, and they can reply to you in English.

But outside of Tokyo, it will be challenging because [for] many Japanese outside Tokyo or outside big cities like Osaka, English is [a] challenge for them. So, if you are outside of the big cities, then you need to be prepared with some, like, everyday conversation-level Japanese.

Maryam: Ahh, okay, okay, okay. Then, fast forward to when you finally arrived in Japan, what was that experience like? How did you adapt to your new surroundings and a culture that’s so different from what you’re used to?

Hazman Baharom: First, for me, I did not have any big problem adapting, because I already had prior experience of studying abroad in the UK. So, it was just like a little bit of change in language and some of the administrative systems. I don’t think they are, like, serious problems for me. But I also need to acknowledge that there is a gender dimension to it. For example, if you are a man, it would be easier for you to be accepted as a foreigner because for a man from Southeast Asia, you don’t look really different from the Japanese. For example, Malay men will look very much similar to people from Osaka, for example, or people from Kagoshima. So, many people have mistaken me for a Japanese.

But for women with hijab, there are challenges. For example, because you look expressly different from the Japanese, right? So, some people that I know, because they are “hijabi” in some parts of Japan, they are being stared [at]. People will stare at them. But please don’t misunderstand. This is not staring because they are hostile towards you. But many Japanese don’t know what…what is that cloth on your head, right? It’s like a curious kind of stare. It’s not like if you go to the Western countries like the UK or US – there, you can see hostile staring.

Maryam: That’s very enlightening. So, speaking of your student or academic journey while you’re in Japan, as a PhD student at Waseda University, can you walk us through your academic experience? How are the coursework and programmes structured?

Hazman Baharom: Ah, okay, okay, if you receive the MEXT scholarship under [an] embassy recommendation, you will receive 1.5 years of, uh, they call it, “research student.” It is just a period where you are not officially a PhD student yet, but you are free to roam within the university. Whatever you want to learn, whatever you want to take will be covered by the scholarship. So, it’s like 1.5 years of freely choosing whatever you want to explore within the university. So, what I did in my 1.5 years was, I took a lot of language classes to prepare [myself] to live in the society, and also to prepare [myself] to enjoy more Japanese literature. I also took Japanese literature classes during that time. After 1.5 years, you will officially enter your PhD programme. So, okay, [the] PhD programmes will be different according to universities. Yeah, in Waseda, different schools will also have different requirements to get a PhD. In my school, Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, there are only three requirements for you to get a PhD.

First, you need to complete one research ethics subject. And second, you need to publish one research paper under your single name in either English or Japanese. So, that is quite challenging for many people because you need to publish it under your name as a single author, not as a shared author with other people. And the third one is, to submit a 70,000-word PhD thesis. So, these are the three requirements that PhD students in my school, Waseda University’s School of Asia Pacific Studies, need to fulfill to get a PhD degree. Of course, people in other universities or other schools within Waseda University will have [a] different set of requirements to get a PhD, but it’s generally the same. But it would be, like, quite different here and there according to different schools.

In a Japanese university, if you are doing [a] master’s or PhD, there’s a system called “research seminar.” Research seminar in my school is a weekly meeting with your supervisor to update the progress of your research. I believe in universities in the UK or in the US, you don’t have this kind of system if you are doing your PhD.

Maryam: Interesting. Did you enjoy your time at university? Did it live up to your expectations?

Hazman Baharom: Ah yeah, well, it will depend on what kind of expectations you have. Because not all PhD supervisors are created equal. Some PhD supervisors are really pushing you to show something every week. Some PhD supervisors are more “chillax.” They don’t push you to show anything every week. It’s up to you if you want to ask [for] his or her guidance or not. But if you don’t ask, then your supervisor will also not push you. So, different supervisors will have different styles of supervision.

Another tip before you enter a PhD programme is, try to ask students of that professor about that professor’s supervision style.

Maryam: Nice. Also, we spoke about your journey as a student, but at the same time, you landed a position as a lecturer for data science at J.F. Oberlin University, which is a private university in Tokyo. So, can you tell us more about your transition from being a student to being an educator there? And also, can you tell us how you successfully secured a job in Japan? I’m sure the listeners would want to know that.

Hazman Baharom: Right, thank you so much for the question. Okay, first, I would say, it is very important to have professional connections because I got the information about the opening from one of my fellow MEXT scholarship holders. And he was also a contract lecturer at another university. So, from his professional connections, he got the information that, oh, J.F. Oberlin had an opening for data science. He shared [it] with me and then I sent my application.

After I sent my application, I was called for an interview, an online interview, and that interview was in both Japanese and English.

Maryam: Tell us about that.

Hazman Baharom: I guess, if you are interested in landing a job in Japan, you need to at least have [a] professional level fluency [in] Japanese if you are searching for jobs in a Japanese-based company. But if you are searching for a job in, like, maybe [an] American-based company in Japan, some of them don’t require Japanese at all. But for many universities, which are Japanese-based universities, like the place that I am teaching [at] right now, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, you need to know professional-level Japanese because they will ask you that kind of question during the interview. And then, of course, you need to be fluent in English.

Next, you need to demonstrate how you are going to teach that subject. For me, what I did was, since I graduated from [an] economics programme for my undergraduate, like in 2014, the data science syllabus was mostly about how to use software, especially Excel and some other software to do statistics. Right? So, what I did was revise my own economic syllabus that I took 10 years ago in Manchester and then try to demonstrate some software skills to do some of the statistical calculations. And then, during the interview, I showed it to the interview panels. I showed my slides, and I showed the software that I am going to use for my teaching. So, you need to demonstrate that you know your stuff. That is also the same with the job that I am currently doing: lecturer for Malay studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

I brought the books that I translated to the interview, and I showed them that these are the books I translated from Japanese to Malay. So, if you want a lecturer for Malay studies, then I would say that I have proven myself through my publications. Yeah. So, I would suggest that you try to show the skills that you have and try to show that you can really teach this subject to the undergraduate students.

Maryam: Speaking of employment in Japan, in 2023, right, the Japanese government announced that they aim to welcome up to 400,000 international students by 2033. And one of the ways they’re trying to achieve that is by increasing support for international students seeking employment after graduation, and then boosting their post-graduation employment statistics in Japan by 25%.

As an educator who works with various international students, and as a foreign student yourself, what are your thoughts on this? Are there any significant changes in how universities are approaching and supporting international students nowadays?

Hazman Baharom: Mm, yeah, thank you for that question. I think, yes. Universities are actively changing some of their styles to suit more international students. And not only universities. The local councils in Japan – some of them are also expanding their services to attract more foreigners to live in Japan, which I think is a good approach by the Japanese government and also from the local council. Because from the perspective of the local council, for example, the Japanese [are] having a problem we call “Shoshikoreka.” The meaning of “Shoshikoreka” is, “the babies are dwindling, but old people are increasing.”

So, what they do is – for the local councils, some of them even have multiple international language support [services] for young mothers that are not Japanese. The last time I checked my local council, they are not only having, like, English language support, but also, like, Hindi language, Filipino (Tagalog), Indonesian, Vietnamese, and so on. They are hoping for the international community to reproduce in Japan.

Among the Japanese universities, some are expanding fully English courses, which is, in my opinion, a good development. In Waseda University, there are some schools, for example, [the] School of International Liberal Studies for [the] undergraduate level. All courses are taught in English. So, if you go to, like, University of Tokyo, they just announced that they are opening a new school. And in that new school, it will be a full English course. So, I think this is good news for international students because the Japanese educational institution – they are really serious in expanding and attracting international communities to come to Japan due to, I would say, their own economic need.

Maryam: And I think we can definitely see that, especially with the increase in, uh, English language courses and programmes being introduced at universities, right? So, with that said, do you think, with this support in place, that international students and graduates are finding it easier to secure employment in Japan lately? Have some of your students revealed or disclosed that sort of information about their individual experiences and job-seeking over there?

Hazman Baharom: Yeah, thank you for the question. Yeah, I would say that the support for employment in Japan [is] also helpful because universities, especially, will have career guidance. And of course, like all other universities in the world, they have career centres or career counseling for all of their graduates and for all of their prospective graduates. And in Japan especially, they have expanded the different types of visas to help international students search for jobs.

Like, right now, they have the “searching for jobs” visa (Designated Activities visa), a specific visa for people who are searching for jobs. Like, after your graduation, if I’m not mistaken, if you are seriously searching for a job in Japan, you are eligible to apply for the “searching for jobs” visa, and you can stay in Japan for another six months solely for the purpose of searching for jobs. Yeah, so I would say that system is really helpful for many international students, and some of my friends are also using that visa while they are searching for jobs. At the same time, the full-time work visa in Japan has also been expanded into different types. Yeah, one type of, I think, a newer type visa is, the Professor Visa for educators from abroad. So, if you have, like, a PhD, for example, or if not a PhD, experience teaching in [a] higher education institution, you can consider applying [for] that visa, provided you secure a job in Japanese universities.

So, I would say in terms of immigration, the Japanese are expanding a lot of different types of systems to accommodate foreigners trying to work in Japan, which I think is a good development.

Maryam: Yeah, I think it’s wonderful to hear about the many initiatives that Japan is taking to attract more international students and talent to their country. I think that gives us a lot of hope that this could be the next top study destination for students. So, if you could give one piece of advice to the listeners, to international students everywhere who wish to kickstart their career in Japan post-graduation, what would it be? Aside from, you know, building connections and learning Japanese, what kind of resources, advantages, and skills can they leverage to boost their job prospects here?

Hazman Baharom: Right, right. You know, adding to the visa types, there is also a new visa type called “visa for influencers” (Entertainer Visa) in Japan. So, if you can prove that you have this kind of Instagram followers, you have this amount of TikTok followers, then you can try to apply for (an) influencer visa in Japan because they are trying to boost their tourism. And I think some of the Malaysian influencers – they got this visa and are being paid by the Japanese government to create content about traveling in Japan.

Another advice is, I would say, be open with your career choices. I always hear people saying this, “Oh, you learn ABC, but you are working in DEF. How does that work?”

Well, I would say, try to think broader than what you have learned in university. Because you might have learned economics in university, but you might work in something unrelated to what you learned in university. And that’s not a problem because that is just something that will enrich your experience. For example, a lot of engineers that I know end up working in something not related to [the] engineering industry at all. So, you can try to be open with possibilities in that scope and also try to make your hobby something that can be leveraged for your future self. Because some people are really serious with some hobby that the skills associated with that hobby can be leveraged for [their] professional development.

For example, in my case, my hobby is reading Japanese literature. Then, I started to translate Japanese literature into Malay and that translation helped me in securing several things. First, securing my MEXT scholarship. Second, securing my job. And third, I was just accepted to receive a research grant by the Japan Foundation. Also, I think, because in my application, I wrote there: I translated some novels into Malay.

So, try to make your hobby something that can be leveraged for the benefit of your own professional development. Some people become professional shoppers for action figures in Japan. Yeah. And some even have, like, thousands and thousands of followers on social media, and their job is just buying action figures in Japan, trying to get the best deal, and then re-sell it.

Maryam: Well, speaking of leveraging your passions or your hobbies into something that could benefit your professional development, the thing is, unfortunately, what we often hear from seniors, from our parents, relatives and all that, when choosing our degrees, it’s important to pick subjects that will offer better career prospects or ones that will likely lead to more in-demand jobs, right? I mean, you could become an influencer, but not everyone is going to become an influencer. But, you know, for the majority in Japan, that would mostly be IT, engineering, AI, healthcare. Those are really, really popular subjects and, like, you know, in-demand jobs over there. For international students, do you think their field of study really matters or works to their advantage if they dream of pursuing a career in this country?

Hazman Baharom: Well, I would say yes, but that is not entirely true. It is true because, yes, to land a professional job, you at least need a bachelor’s degree. And what kind of bachelor’s degree doesn’t matter, but if you want a professional job, if you want a good paying job, the very least that you need would be a bachelor’s degree. However, your bachelor’s degree never defines you, right?

Japan needs a lot of different types of professional workers, and as long as you can show that you have professional experience of working in that field, even though your bachelor’s degree is in something else, you have a good chance of being accepted. For example, I would say that there are a lot of Japanese university graduates among international students. They graduated in engineering, but in Japan, some of them work in different fields other than engineering. Because what they could show to their employer are the other skills that they have other than engineering. That matters for your own professional development. So, well, at the very least, get your bachelor’s degree, but do not let that bachelor’s degree define you.

Maryam: Beautifully said. Speaking of switching career paths and [not] letting yourself or allowing yourself to be stuck in one place or in one field forever, for you personally, in April 2025, you landed a new role as a lecturer for Malay Studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. That’s quite a shift from teaching data science before this, right? So, can you tell us what inspired this change of interest in your journey as an educator and as an academic?

Hazman Baharom: Okay. I have always been interested in literature, broadly speaking, and that includes Japanese literature and Malay literature as well. So, I guess teaching languages is also my passion. Not only teaching the Malay language, but also teaching English and other languages that I know, including Japanese, Arabic, and so on. Even though it looks like they are unrelated, languages are primarily Mathematics. If you look at the construction of grammar of any language, you can create a mathematical formula out of them. If you are a programmer, you can do this. For example, if you look at the English grammatical construction, right? You have the subject, verb, object. For example, “Hazman eats an apple.” So, object, verb, subject. And if you have a singular third person, then your verb must have [an] “S” if you are talking about present tense. So, “Hazman eats an apple.”

So, that is a mathematical condition. You can create a mathematical formula out of that. So, things might look different from the outside, like data science and teaching language. But if you look more closely, languages are basically mathematical formulae defined differently. I see that they are related, but of course, the analytical category, and also the way you define things, and also the way you create your own analysis and research are different between language research and statistical research. Of course, both of them are different in terms of how you get data and how you analyse your data, and how you draw conclusions from your analysis. But, at the fundamental level, both systems have [a] very intimate connection between mathematics and language.

Maryam: Yes, I think that makes sense. Because I thought that language was what inspired you to make this jump. But I think it was your love for math or mathematical equations that sort of influenced or inspired your love for languages as well and led you to the current stage of your career in Japan. So, last but not least, what’s next for Hazman Baharom?

Hazman Baharom: Oh, what’s next? I am in the process of completing my PhD thesis in the hope of graduating soon, so please pray for me. Yeah, I am planning to continue to work here in Japan. In my opinion, I see that the research community here has great potential. So, if you are researching about Southeast Asia, Japan is one of the places that you might want to come to research on Southeast Asia, because Japan has a lot of Southeast Asian-related materials. That’s number one. They have a lot of archives on Southeast Asian history and Southeast Asian society. A lot of Japanese universities and institutions are willing to give scholarships for that kind of study. So, I would suggest that if you are researching Southeast Asia, you might want to consider Japan, other than the traditional places in Europe.

I am also in the process of translating the second volume of Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, but that will not be out soon because I need to slow down because of my research. Probably, it will be out, I don’t know, I hope next year. I also have a dream of translating from Arabic into Malay. Probably, I don’t know, maybe two, three years down the road.

Maryam: Sounds like exciting times are ahead for you. Thank you so much for sharing all your insights about studying, working, and living in Japan. I think you gave a lot of, you know, very useful tips and insights for our listeners, and for even those students who never really considered Japan as a potential study destination for them. This might open their minds to that possibility as well.

Hazman Baharom: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

Maryam: All right, guys, if you’re interested in listening to more cool stories from fellow international students and grads, don’t forget to check us out at www.studyinternational.com.

You can also connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. We can be found across these platforms under the username Study International. Until next time, bye.