Episode #2 of the Japan Dev Podcast features Alex Chen’s amazing journey from translator to software engineer in Japan 🚀Alex talks about his experience breaking into tech at Mercari, Japan’s first unicorn. He shares how he went from the JET program in rural Japan to a job in tech — with no CS background. He shares tips for learning to program and make the switch into software development.Do you want to work in tech in Japan? Or switch careers to software engineering? If so, this episode is full of helpful tips! 🎙️👉 More from Alex💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-chen-590a14a2/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/takoyaki192/✍️ Portfolio: https://www.clippings.me/alexchenjp📌 Timestamps for Easy Navigation:00:00 - In this video00:40 - Meet Alex: His journey02:12 - Studying abroad inspired move to Japan06:13 - JET program offers work opportunities12:37 - From government job to startup14:56 - Adapting to flexible tech work culture20:42 - Fascination with engineering sparked by the Mercari app26:28 - Overwhelmed by coding resources30:38 - Balancing boot camp with job38:05 - Learning APIs through practice43:22 - Importance of trust in career transitions49:13 - Engineers constantly face learning challenges54:46 - Blameless culture fosters collaboration58:18 - Transitioning to remote work in Kyoto1:09:04 - Freelancing utilizes diverse skills1:10:45 - Pursue tech for passion, not money💬 Have questions about tech jobs in Japan? Drop them in the comments — we’ll read them. And we’ll do our best to answer them!🌟 Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell 🔔 so you never miss a new video from Japan Dev!👉 Find your dream tech job in Japan:🔗 Website: https://japan-dev.com📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/japan.dev🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/jpn_dev💼 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/japan-dev