Non-native success in Japan

From high school homestay to Tokyo-based international relations for a major Japanese lifestyle brand, Sam Fitzgerald tells the AMC about his life as a non-native creative in Japan.

Like many Kiwis that end up in Japan, Sam Fitzgerald heard about the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) programme after studying at university. “It was the only viable means to actually having a job in Japan,” says Christchurch-born Fitzgerald, who did a degree two decades ago in international relations. “In high school, I went on a weeklong homestay with a sister school in Osaka, and was dying to get back after uni. One year turned to two, then three…

“Everyone else went to London, but I wanted [the OE experience] in Japan. I did the same things as my friends in Europe, except it was backpacking around Southeast Asia instead.”

Fitzgerald and his daughter in Tokyo | Photo: Supplied

Teaching English as a second language wasn’t Fitzgerald’s long-term career path, however. International relations was. He joined the Peace Boat, the Japan-based NGO that travels by cruise around the world to promote human rights and sustainability. Peace Boat raises awareness of issues to civil society through workshops, education, music, art, sports, and other avenues. Fitzgerald circumnavigated the globe on a Peace Boat voyage as a volunteer before a year-long stint back in New Zealand for Amnesty International. “Then I got a call from Peace Boat again, they wanted me to come back. I said yes, but after this [second] voyage you’ll need to give me a job when we get back to Tokyo.”

The fashion brand 'nonnative' is at the centre of the company Fitzgerald works for | Photo: Supplied

In living and working in Japan Fitzgerald became connected with the creative community, which led him to meeting the founder of That nonnative Production (TNP), of which the brand ‘nonnative’ is a fashion/apparel brand at its centre. TNP makes and distributes other brands in Japan and has retail stores, a coffee business (roastery and cafes) and a publishing arm producing a magazine called Transit. “The reason the name is nonnative is because the founder, Satoshi Saffen, is half Japanese and half American.” In Japan, where it is 98 percent ethnically homogenous, people who aren’t ethnically Japanese from both parents – commonly referred to as “hafu”, or half – are rare. “nonnative is about taking pride in being an outsider, not just from the point of race or nationality, but also in terms of culture or sub-culture. It’s about not attaching yourself to a single thing that defines you, whether it is ideas of race or nationality, or a specific style of music that you base your identity around.”

In the That nonnative Production office | Photo: Supplied

First joining the company as the only other English-speaking person (apart from the founder), eleven years on, Fitzgerald manages international relations at TNP. His job is overseeing everything to do with the international arm of the business, from sales and marketing to collaborations with international brands – including ones from New Zealand like Allpress coffee, which supplied coffee beans, expertise and support when TNP’s coffee business was first starting. “Eleven years ago, the only viable work in Japan for foreigners like me was English teaching, and maybe working for one of the cowboy recruitment firms or in international finance. It wasn’t the norm for a foreigner to be working in fashion or any other kind of creative industries. The founder was looking for a native English speaker, so TNP was a very natural fit for me as an outsider.”

Fitzgerald with Japanese designer Daisuke Obana | Photo: Supplied

Developing fluency in the Japanese language was key in Fitzgerald’s career progress. “This industry was new to me, and I was talking about sales and marketing terms I didn’t even know the English words for, let alone Japanese” he laughs. “Language is key. If I didn’t learn to speak Japanese, I couldn’t do my job. I knew I wanted to learn the language, and it was really stressful working in an environment without complete fluency, but over time it got easier. As you study and gain cultural competency through the language, you start to get it.”

Fitzgerald and his family | Photo: Supplied

Fitzgerald has also enjoyed the unique experience specific to foreigners in Tokyo, that being a part-time modelling career. “It's funny, because it's not something that I sought out, I just got stopped in the street by a stylist's assistant or a magazine editor's assistant or something, and gave it a crack,” he says. This experience gave Fitzgerald real working insight into the Japanese fashion industry; an area that makes up a big part of his job today. “Most of the domestic brands here are focused solely on the domestic market.

“They make great clothes - Japan’s legacy of craftsmanship and incredible textiles makes Japanese clothing manufacturing one of the best in the world. But the difference is, very little of it is ostentatious, avant-garde fashion like we see on Paris fashion week catwalks, which is probably what most New Zealanders think of when they hear the word fashion.

“The industry here is totally different beast. There is less focus on hype and glamour, people are much more interested in authenticity and the quality or function or design of a product.”

TNP's showroom in Tokyo | Photo: Supplied

Insider knowledge and skills is what leads Fitzgerald, today, to be a touch point for other New Zealanders seeking to thrive in Japan. Especially in music, a scene he is fully embedded in. “There are opportunities to become a sort of point of contact or a bridge between people traveling here, or wanting to do something here, and the local community. 

“It has led to lots of connections and relationships, both professionally and personally, with not only great Kiwis but also people from all around the world,” he adds, an example being working with Kiwi band Shapeshifter two music videos filmed in Japan.

Filming for Shapeshifter in Tokyo | Photo: Supplied

“Ten or 15 years ago there were not a lot of foreigners working in the creative fields here, but that has changed a lot in the last decade. Many of my international friends here are working in the film industry or as freelance photographers and jobs like that. These industries were previously very hard to crack for non-Japanese, mainly because of the language barrier, but that is changing a lot.”

- Asia Media Centre