Q1 Please share your experience of job hunting in Japan.

My job hunting in Japan began with building experience early. During and after my master’s, I completed internships in Sapporo and Osaka, which taught me Japanese workplace culture, teamwork, and how engineering projects run in Japanese companies. I tailored my resume to highlight my AI and backend projects and kept practicing my Japanese for interviews. Every interview taught me something new, and persistence made the difference. In March 2026, I joined ATF Co., Ltd. in Tokyo as a Software Engineer. My advice is to start early, show your skills through real projects, and keep improving your Japanese.

Q2 What kind of job or research are you doing now? How are you making use of your learning and experience that you earned at Hosei University?

I am a Software Engineer at ATF Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, working across AI, software engineering, cloud infrastructure, and technology consulting. I build production AI platforms with Python, FastAPI, and Laravel, including semantic search with RAG, model fine-tuning, and Docker and Kubernetes deployment, and I also meet private and public institutions to propose and provide AI solutions. At Hosei, I gained more than technical skills: research discipline, structured problem solving, cross-cultural teamwork, and the confidence to communicate in both Japanese and English. These strengths help me turn ideas into practical solutions and connect people, technology, and business across Japan and beyond.

Q3 Give a message to prospective IIST students.

If you are thinking about IIST at Hosei University, I encourage you to take the step. Studying in Tokyo placed me close to Japan’s technology industry, and the research I did here led directly to internships and a career in Japan. Your supervisor and the international community will support you, and the university’s career resources are there to help you. Start learning Japanese early, because it opens doors both on campus and at work. Choose a research theme you care about, build real projects, and use every opportunity to meet people. IIST helped me grow as an engineer, and it can do the same for you.