How to Become an Entertainer in Japan: 5 Important Things to Do

A shot of me from the Variety show, Joshi Ana No Batsu.

For anyone looking to become an entertainer, Japan can be an interesting place to start off. While the pay scale is not on the same level as that of the states, if you are good at what you do, and patient enough to become established, you can make a decent living here; particularly once you get into the larger projects where all the real money is. Beyond that, as it is a considerably smaller industry, and there isn't a SAG requirement for even the biggest projects, it is also much easier to get into those large scale projects as well.

If you are coming to Japan, or already living here, and are interesting in giving it a go in television, film or entertainment, here are five things you can do to set yourself apart from the pack.

1) Learn Japanese
I absolutely cannot stress enough how important this is. While there are a lot of people working as a actor in Japan who don't speak the language, you will do much better if you do. There are a myriad of reasons for this. 1) If you speak the language, you are much more likely to understand the culture, be patient with the way they do things and not get into cultural clashes on set. 2) If you speak well, then that means that your agent can send you on jobs without their having to go with you to translate. This makes their lives considerably easier and also opens up the doors for last-minute, short-notice jobs that come in when they have already planned for their staff to be elsewhere.

If you watch Japanese TV, all the most successful entertainers can speak or articulate themselves in the language. (Which isn't so different from the states- how often do you see people on American TV who can't speak English?) While learning Japanese in Tokyo can be quite costly, it also doesn't have to be. Each ward offers free Japanese classes for its residents , and these are a great place to start.

2) Don't be shy about your experience
One of the other mistakes that novices to the industry often make is that they are much too shy about their previous experience. If you have previous acting experience, that makes you a more valuable commodity to any agency than if you don't. Even if it was only on small scale projects. Keep in mind that most of the people who get into entertainment work in Japan do so purely because its an easy thing for westerners to do here. Kind if like how everybody does extra work on the side in LA. As such, if you have actually taken the time to learn and study acting, have done it before (in theatre or TV commercials, television) then your chances of actually getting the job you are sent to audition for is greater because to some degree, you already know what you are doing. This means more money for the agencies as well, so naturally that means they will send you to more or better auditions. If you haven't come to Japan yet, and are interested in getting into the industry here, it may pay to take an acting class or two before you come just to have it on your résumé.

3) Get good headshots
Nothing says "professional" like good headshots. In the case of mine, I paid about $150 to get them done right, and get a huge stack of them, and at this point, that is money that I have made back at least 50 times over. Not just in terms of getting casting directors to take me seriously at auditions, but in terms of getting agents to take me more seriously when I register as well. As with any other kind of career investment, you will often hear people say, "I don't wanna pay that." but these are generally not the people who get anywhere. (Mainly because they have to compete with the people like myself who are willing and committed enough to pay for it).

Like learning Japanese however, getting good headshots doesn't have to be expensive. The easiest and cheapest way to get some great pictures is simply to check Tokyo classifieds such as the Metropolis or Craigslist for up and coming photographers. They are trying to build their own portfolios as well, so they will oftentimes photography models in exchange for being able to use the prints in their portfolios. You'll get no money yourself, but you will however get the prints, and these are a great start. Beyond that, free fashion shows like Tokyo Fashionista are also a great way to get experience and also get some great pics out of it at the same time.

4) Make a portfolio or demo reel
Again, it's all about looking like you are a professional already. If you have any shots or pictures from previous work you've done, collect it together and put it into a book. My portfolio consists of modeling work, shots from commercials and posters from movies that I've done. This can work out very well because every so often the casting director will recognize something that you have done, and that's credibility. Even more so if they personally know the production company or the director of one of your works. In cases that that's happen, I've almost always gotten the job, simply because one they know we had a mutual associate, they knew they could "trust me".

If you have no previous experience to put into your book or demo reel, then your next best option is to simply create it. Again, get your shots from up and coming photographers, and/or see if you can get into non-paying film work to get some footage. (or create a film project yourself!) Even non-paying experience is still experience, and if it is well done, you can't tell it from the paying stuff anyway.

5) Don't give up
This, by far, is the hardest part about becoming a successful entertainer anywhere. Regardless of which big city you go to, there is always far more people that want to work in entertainment than the industry has room for, and as such, you are always in a position where you not only have to compete against throngs and throngs of others to gain any kind of a substantial position, but also to keep and maintain what you've got while continually pushing to move forward. The fact of the matter is, this process is exhausting. Calling in sick for a job can mean losing respect with an agency, and losing respect can mean being replaced. The good thing is however, the fact that it's so hard will also continually weed out the weak-hearted, and oftentimes you can find success not because you are the best or the most talented, but because you were the one who had the heart to hang in there while everyone else turned tail. In business, for every 100 people who start a company, 50 will quit, close their doors, or go bankrupt in the first 5 years. Then within the next 5 years, 50% of the first round survivors will do the same thing...and so on and so on until you get that rare company that has the honest right to brag about being able to celebrate their 30th or 50th anniversary. Such is the same with entertainers. As such, more so than anything else, if you can hold on through the slow or hard periods, then much like those rare companies you can develop the long term industry relationships, successful habits, and good sense that can carry you for a lifetime.