A fish mackerel craftsman from Norway came to work in Japan. Will it work because the situation is different?(Part 11)

Many foreigners who have experienced employment are coming to Japan. However, there seems to be a puzzle because the environment and the way are different. This time, in Hammelfuesdo city in northern Norway, a young male craftsman who had been processing fish with a kitchen knife came all the way to Japan with the aim of finding a job in the fishing industry in Japan on the edge of a Japanese kitchen knife. Will it work? What’s the problem?

Fish situation in Norway

Norway temporarily processes mackerel, herring and cod, which is also familiar in Japan, and exports them. There is a fish dish similar to that of Japan, and the fish is mainly steamed and baked. The processing of fish in Norway is quite rough unlike Japan. That is, it is only work to remove the internal organs, the head, the fin, and the tail, etc. What is different from Japan? Working in Japan is very detailed. And you have to work on a limited amount of time.

What kind of work do you want to do?

I got a cheerful answer from him in English.

I’ll do anything about fishing. This is a very good thing. It is very pleasing that the purpose of coming to Japan is clear and the job title is clear.

That’s why we initially thought that communication only Japanese would be a challenge. He used Norwegian (Bukmål) and English in Norway. Danish, Norwegian (Bukmål) and Swedish look very similar, but have different pronunciations.

Being able to speak and write English is a strength when you work or live in Japan. In addition, please come to Japan after mastering Japanese.

Response to our Foreign Support Office

His Level of Japanese is less than one and he can hardly speak Japanese. Unfortunately, you can’t get a job no matter how energetic you are. In the first week, I taught him how to get started and study Japanese. He seemed to have studied three courses over three months, “Hiragana Class”, “Kanji Introduction Class”, and “Kanji Acquisition Class” over three months. Three months later, I checked his Japanese level and found that level 3.5. It is a level where it is possible to work somehow. I told him to study Japanese at work.

In Japanese, “dexterity of the hand” was required!!

Well, in his job, he was in charge of dismantling the fish that had come up from the beach one by one in the morning. It is the work of taking up the fish on the belt conveyor which moves slowly by hand, and removing the internal organs, the bone, the head, the fin, and the tail, etc. on the cutting board. And, the resulting large body is cut well with the kitchen knife to “appropriate size”. The body of the cut fish must all be of the same shape, size, and weight. It is necessary to dismantle the fish early in a carefully limited time. This is the quality that Japan is proud of in the world, and standardization.

However, he was unable to secure the “quality” of his body after three months. He was not able to cut the body of the mackerel well of the Japanese style for instance. Coarse cuts of coarse fish in Norway do not work in Japan.

It does not become money. And, there was a telephone call from the person in charge of the office at last. “I’m sorry, but he doesn’t seem to be fit for this job. I can’t leave him any longer.”

A pinch is a chance. First of all, take a good look at the site.

Since the matter was outside the jurisdiction of the city, I had no need to fly my car for three hours on holiday and instructed the volunteer. Seeing him working on the local line and the finished fish, it soon turned out to be untargeted. What should I do now?

Is there any good way to do it? I asked him to work slowly without being tied up in time “off the line” again. What a fine shape the fish is cut properly, isn’t it?　Oh, my God!

Time was a problem for him. So I told him to work with confidence. It encouraged spiritual independence. Scarlett O’Hara says, “Tomorrow’s wind blows tomorrow.” Man is a reed to think.

Think more and more about how you can solve it.

Exchange of opinions with the person in charge of the field.

The current situation from japan’s aging population will continue to increase the number of people who do not rely on foreigners for labor.

I requested that such a thing be considered enough because it is likely to be in the future. If he works calmly without panicking as long as there is time, the fillet of a tidy high quality fish might be able to be made.　Can’t we do something about it? Think carefully and put out your wisdom. This is possible in the future. If you can’t do it for three months, do you send it back each time?

Can’t you stick more?

You have to think of people as people.

Reflection and determination of the office where the site is located

(1) Line speed halved

When he took the plunge and halved the line speed for three months, his fish fillet gradually reached the passing point.

(2) Standardization of work manuals

Because there was no work manual, work standard book, procedure book, reference book, and process book, english and Japanese translation expressions were made to be made to be made to be made to be made to be made.

(3) Develop acceptance plan

Over a period of three months, he experienced all the processes except fish-making (transportation from ship to workshop, fishing sorting for the line, collecting and inspecting fillets, packing, labeling, transporting to a cold storage, cleaning the line, etc.).

His usage which is not unexpected

A few years later, he was given the opportunity to go to Southeast Asia to teach in “Quality of fish mackerel technology.” The reason for this is that the word can be done.

The fish taken in Norway is taken to Southeast Asia once, and after processing there, it comes to Japan, and the fillet etc. of the fish line up in the supermarket etc.

Moreover, this is processed, it converts to domestic animal’s food and the fertilizer, and it is the one that it makes effective use though all remnants of the fish thrown away till then are thrown away as waste though he proposed. This is fish recycling.

It’s great to think about it, but I want to praise the companies that do it.

About money

In the first three years, his money was 850 yen an hour, which was stipulated by law, but after that, 1,500 yen, I hear that it is now a few 1,000 yen. It is the one not understood with the person. It is a strange thing.

At the end

In this way, he established his place with the cooperation of the office. It’s a big deal! I have heard that there are nearly 50 foreigners working at this office now.

It’s a success!