The foreigner's playbook for Japanese corporate culture — interview with Nathan Paterson (ex-Disney, ex-IDEO) Part 2/3

Born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Nathan Paterson has built an adventurous and innovation-forward career in Japan. After working as a designer in London, he came to Tokyo as an English teacher with basic textbook Japanese — then worked his way through a variety of traditional and progressive companies and founded his own companies.

He spent nearly 10 years at Disney across Tokyo and Los Angeles, where he led research and design of digital platforms including the precursor to Disney+. He later became Director of Learning Programs at IDEO, a global design consultancy transforming Japan’s largest corporations.

Very few people — foreign or Japanese — have navigated such a successful 20+ year career across Japan’s business landscape. If you’re considering working in Japan, Nathan’s journey reveals what it actually takes to build a cross-cultural career here.

What you’ll learn in this article:

• How to navigate being a permanent outsider

• When to use your foreign status strategically

• How to protect yourself while respecting the culture

  
  

One day at work, Nathan heard a loud “crunch!” — the sound of someone wacking their head onto their keyboard.

He looked down the aisle. His colleague, two seats away, had literally fallen asleep at her desk and head-butted her keyboard. She was so exhausted from the hours she’d been working that her body just gave out. Nathan felt terrible for her. They talked later — she was simply exhausted.

That moment crystallized something for Nathan. Even though he was learning so much from the team at this traditional Japanese ad agency, he also needed to protect his personal life, social life, and life outside of work. The question was: how do you do that in a culture where unspoken rules govern everything?

The Line You Can Never Cross

Before getting to tactics, Nathan believes it’s important to understand something fundamental about being a foreigner in Japan — something he learned over 20 years of building his career there.

“I’ve been here for almost 20 years now. I’ve built my career here. I’ve worked with some of Japan’s most prestigious leaders and companies. I speak Japanese. I understand the culture. I’ve raised a family here. But I’ll never be Japanese.”

One look at him and anyone can tell — no matter how long he stays, no matter how good his Japanese might be, no matter if he becomes a citizen. This is different from countries like New Zealand, England, or the US, where you can naturalize and be accepted as a full citizen. In Japan, that line is permanent.

Nathan has never met a foreigner who’s managed to cross it, and he doesn’t see that changing.

For some people, that’s devastating to hear. For Nathan, it’s liberating. His advice: acknowledge this reality, respect it, and use it strategically. Because if you’re going to be considered an outsider, you might as well use it to your advantage.

The Gaijin Card

There’s something Nathan likes to call the “Gaijin card” — gaijin being short for gaikokujin, foreigner. It’s the unspoken understanding that nobody expects you to know how to be Japanese, because you’re not.

That can feel difficult on some days, but it can also be a license to be creative. At the ad agency, Nathan had creative license to do things his way. Ideas that might seem too bold coming from a Japanese employee could come from him without the same judgment.

“That’s how many foreigners think” became a sort of superpower, giving him permission to experiment, to suggest approaches that broke from tradition, to think differently.

But the most dramatic example of the Gaijin card came down to something much simpler: when he left work.

Setting Boundaries: The 6pm Decision

At traditional Japanese companies, there’s an unspoken rule: nobody leaves until the CEO goes home. It doesn’t matter if you’ve finished your work or have nothing left to do. If the CEO is still in their office — maybe reading the paper, maybe reading something important, maybe just killing time — you can’t leave.

Nathan’s colleagues would sit there until 8pm, 9pm, sometimes later, waiting for the signal that it was okay to go. But Nathan made a decision. It was 6pm. He’d done a full day’s work. He had friends he wanted to see. So he played his Gaijin card and left at 6pm — his contracted hours.

Every day. 6pm. Out the door.

Nobody stopped him. Nobody ever mentioned it. He doesn’t know what people thought, and he’s guessing it probably didn’t win him bonus points in the office.

“But you’ve got to protect your work-life balance and sanity, especially when you’re an outsider,” Nathan reflects. “Sometimes, that means doing things your own way, and I think that’s okay — so long as you’re getting your work done properly and being respectful to the team.”

The boundary wasn’t rigid, though. Sometimes Nathan stayed late when it mattered — when there was a presentation the next day, when colleagues needed him, when there was real work to finish. The boundary was thoughtful, not absolute.

When to Play the Card (and When Not To)

The Gaijin card isn’t a free pass to ignore local cultural norms — it’s a strategic tool to use thoughtfully, Nathan emphasizes.

• Use it when you need to protect yourself: work culture expectations that are unsustainable, practices that damage wellbeing, situations where unspoken rules conflict with what you know is right for you.

  
  

• Use it when your difference is the point: in creative roles, on innovation teams, in situations where they literally hired you to think differently. “Your foreign perspective isn’t something to apologize for,” Nathan notes. “It’s what they’re paying for.”

  
  

• Use it when you can question assumptions respectfully: your outsider status gives you permission to ask “Why?” without causing offense. Japanese employees might not question long-standing practices. You can, because you’re expected not to know “how things are done around here.”

  
  

• But don’t use it to avoid learning about the culture. Don’t use it disrespectfully. Don’t use it as an excuse for bad work or missed deadlines.

The balance Nathan found: “I’m not going to change who I am, but I’m also going to be respectful of other people.”

A Framework for Navigation

So how do you actually navigate all this day-to-day? Nathan offers a framework:

1. Understand what you’re getting into. Before joining a company, research the team specifically. Look for signs of whether it’s foreigner-friendly: already has international employees, job posted in English, emphasizes “global mindset,” or is an innovation or creative team. These signals matter more than the company name.

   
   

2. Know your rights. Your employment contract defines your obligations. You can respect cultural norms while also respecting your own boundaries. When in doubt, check your contract. Know what’s actually required versus what’s just cultural expectation.

   
   

3. Embrace being the minority. If you didn’t grow up as the minority, this is your chance to see life from a different perspective. It’s valuable, even when it’s uncomfortable.

   
   

4. Learn when to adapt and when to hold boundaries. This is the art of playing the Gaijin card well. Adapt to most things most of the time. Learn the culture. Respect the norms. Try to understand why things are done certain ways. But hold boundaries around what’s unsustainable. Protect your wellbeing. Use your contract as your guide.

The Long View

After almost 20 years, Nathan has learned that succeeding as a foreigner in Japan requires holding two truths at once: immerse yourself in the culture and maintain boundaries. Respect the norms and protect your wellbeing. Learn the rules and use your outsider status strategically when needed.

“Foreigners who struggle in Japan are the ones who try to do only one or the other. The ones who reject the culture entirely and insist on doing everything their own way — they usually don’t last long. The ones who try to become perfectly Japanese and never assert boundaries? They often burn out.”

Those who succeed find the middle path. They’re thoughtful about when to adapt and when to play their Gaijin card. They’re respectful of the culture while also respecting themselves.

That’s the playbook. Not easy, but navigable if you’re thoughtful about it.

Key Takeaways

• The reality: You will never be Japanese. That line is likely permanent. Accept it early, then figure out how to use it strategically.

• The Gaijin card is real: You have permission to do some things differently. Use it to protect yourself, to bring creative license, to question and challenge assumptions. But don’t use it as an excuse to be disrespectful or lazy.

• Not all Japanese companies are the same: Traditional family-run agencies are very different from Japanese branches of global companies. Research the specific team, not just the company name.

• Find your team, not just your company: The people you work with matter more than the brand name. Seek out teams doing interesting work with people you respect.

• The balance takes time: You’ll need to learn when to adapt and when to hold boundaries. Give yourself grace as you figure this out.

What’s Next

You now understand how to get hired and how to navigate the culture. But there’s still a fundamental question: Should you actually do this?

Next article: The complete decision framework — salary vs. experience, when Japan makes sense, when it doesn’t, and the “nothing to lose” test.

This is Article 2 in a 3-part series on building your career in Japan as a foreigner.

(Editor: Jelper Club Operations Team)