Designer / Artist

Position Summary

• Employment type: COMPANY MEMBER (Regular Staff)

• Base: Nagoya Head Office

• Application deadline: None

• Base salary: From JPY 252,800 per month (with additions for experience and skills), plus an overtime allowance for actual hours worked

Job Description

The Designer / Artist takes charge of visual design and branding across the whole of HITOHATA's business, including projection mapping, immersive art museums and immersive shows. It is a role in the fields of design, art, UI and branding, giving form to the world of a space.

Mission: Give visual form to HITOHATA's aesthetic and express the value of the brand at every touchpoint.

• Designing key visuals, logos, typography and spatial signage

• Layout and decoration of exhibition panels, captions and graphics for exhibition fixtures

• Refining the design of proposals and presentation materials, and creating image boards

• Producing graphics for social media and PR (event announcement banners, post images and so on)

• Preparing and managing print data (color proofing, bleed, outlining) and liaising with partner companies

• Collecting ukiyo-e digital data, checking copyright, processing images and selecting the ukiyo-e to be used

• Wall and caption design, and supporting the editing of commentary text

• Researching digital art and design trends in Japan and overseas, and investigating and sharing AI tools

Required Skills

• Interest in projection mapping, immersive art museums and immersive shows (no experience required)

• Standard PC skills, AI skills and communication skills

• A standard driving license (if you do not hold one, you may obtain it after receiving an offer or after joining)

• Basic proficiency with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop

Preferred Skills and Qualifications

All of the following are for reference only. No specific experience or qualification is required.

• After Effects and Premiere Pro (video production and editing)

• 3DCG software such as Cinema 4D, Blender or Maya

• Creating proposals and presentation materials with PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides

• Professional experience in graphic design, spatial design or UI/UX design

• Photography and video skills

Number of Openings

A small number of positions.

Application Requirements

• Aged 18 or over

• Able to work at the Nagoya Head Office (your current place of residence does not matter)

• Willing to accept the possibility of future relocation, secondment or change of role in Japan or overseas. In such cases the decision is made with full consideration of your work situation and family circumstances, and with respect for your wishes.

• Able to work on event preparation and live operation including Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and late at night, and able to travel domestically and internationally

• Able to work in Japanese (if Japanese is not your native language, JLPT N2-equivalent ability or above)

How to Apply

You can apply either through our entry form or by sending your resume by email. Please choose whichever is more convenient for you.

Applying through the entry form

The details you enter in the form serve as your resume, so there is no need to prepare one separately. Your portfolio can be submitted within the form, either as a file or as a URL.

Go to the entry form

Applying by email

Please send your resume (any format) and portfolio to the following address (10MB or less).

For the Designer / Artist position, a portfolio must be submitted together with your resume.

To: recruit@hitohata.jp (HITOHATA, INC. Recruiting)

Deadline: None

Applications are screened in the order in which documents are submitted. Recruitment may close once a successful candidate has been decided.

Example items to include in your resume

• Full name (with reading), date of birth (and your age as of the date of writing), gender, photograph, current address

• Family home address (if you have a family home you can live in), and contact details (email address and mobile phone)

• Education, work history (if any), licenses (with date obtained), qualifications (with date obtained)

• Reason for applying, self-introduction, desired position, and any other personal requests (including circumstances requiring special consideration)

Please apply after agreeing to the HITOHATA, INC. Privacy Policy, which sets out our rules on the handling of personal information.

About the portfolio

• Format: PDF or a URL (Behance, note, a personal site and so on) are both fine. If your file exceeds 10MB, you may send a Google Drive or Dropbox link.

• Content: anything you have made, whether professional work, coursework or personal projects. Class assignments, doujin work and fan works are all welcome.

• For each piece, please briefly note your own role, the production period and the tools used.

• Professional work involving existing IP should only be submitted within the limits of any NDA.

Selection Process

• Entry (submission of resume)

• Notification of document screening result (by email, within about three weeks of submission)

• Aptitude test (SPI3), for candidates who pass document screening

• Interview, held in person at our Tokyo Office or Nagoya Head Office, for candidates who pass document screening

• Work experience or assignment (for example, hands-on work at our office or an event venue, or an assignment completed and submitted on a computer), for candidates who pass the interview

• Final interview

• Job offer

Emails may fail to reach us because of size limits or spam filtering. If you have not heard from us more than three weeks after submitting your documents, please contact us via the inquiry form.

Interviews are in principle held in person at our Tokyo Office or Nagoya Head Office. Online interviews are available only to candidates living outside the Kanto, Tokai and Kansai regions or outside Japan.

Details of the work experience or assignment will be explained to you according to the role and your circumstances.

Interviews, work experience and assignments may be held more than once depending on your experience, skills and abilities.

Travel costs for the first interview are at your own expense. Travel and accommodation costs for the work experience and final interview are covered by the company.

It can take up to about three months from the closing date or your entry until the final offer or rejection is communicated.

Interviews and communications about selection results are generally conducted in Japanese, although interviews can be conducted partly in English.

Inquiries About This Position

Please email recruit@hitohata.jp. Making an inquiry will not affect your selection either favorably or unfavorably, so please feel free to get in touch with any questions.

Compensation and Benefits

Employment type

COMPANY MEMBER (Regular Staff)

Salary, bonuses and allowances

• Monthly salary from JPY 252,800 (Grade 3, Professional, or above; determined with consideration of experience, skills and achievements)

• [Estimated annual salary] From JPY 4.04 million. Calculated from base salary plus bonuses of 4.0 months (FY2024 actual). Housing allowance and overtime allowances are not included

• [Model annual salary] Approx. JPY 5.16 million (Grade 3, with 28 hours of overtime per month). Monthly pay JPY 341,260 (base salary 252,800 + housing allowance 30,000 + overtime allowances 58,460) x 12 months + bonuses of 4.0 months, JPY 1,011,200 + business-trip per diem JPY 50,000. Overtime allowances are estimated for 28 hours per month (12 hours overtime, 8 hours overtime at late night, 8 hours on non-statutory holidays)

• There is no fixed overtime allowance. Overtime, holiday work and late-night work allowances are paid in full, calculated by the minute, as required by law

• Incentive scheme: incentives based on individual and team results, such as winning proposal and competition projects or meeting visitor-number and sales targets, are paid together with the bonus

• Base salary: from JPY 252,800 per month

• Grade: from Grade 3 (Professional Grade)

• Base salary and grade are determined with consideration of experience, ability and achievements

• Bonuses twice a year (June and December)

• Base salary and grade review once a year (July)

• Housing allowance: JPY 10,000-30,000 depending on your residential area, paid where renting a property in your own name is recognized as necessary

• Commuting expenses covered in full

• Business trip per diem (tax exempt): JPY 2,500 per day, paid for overnight business trips or day trips of eight hours or more, on working days and holidays alike

• Relocation allowance of JPY 200,000 if relocation is required on joining. This applies to both new graduate and mid-career hires, including foreign nationals relocating to Japan from overseas; it is free to use as you wish with no receipts required, and is paid in principle in the month you join.

• Loan of a work PC you can take with you (a MacBook in principle)

Working hours, holidays and leave

• Working hours: 10:00-19:00 (one hour break, eight actual working hours), with a flextime system available

• Holidays: Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and the year-end and New Year period (December 29 to January 3) in principle

• 123 days off per year

• Annual paid leave: 10 days granted in the first year, six months after joining, increasing by one to two days each subsequent year up to a maximum of 20 days per year

• Leave can be taken as full days, half days or by the hour

• Special leave: three days granted in the first year only, separate from annual paid leave, three months after joining

• Refresh leave: after five years of service, 10 consecutive days of paid leave separate from annual paid leave, granted at the start of the business year and available within that year, and granted again every five years thereafter

• Other leave systems, including maternity leave, childcare leave, family care leave and leave to care for sick children

Probation period

Six months. There is no reduction in salary or allowances during the probation period.

Primary work location

Nagoya Head Office. There is a possibility of future relocation, secondment or change of role within Japan.

Other benefits

• Full social insurance: employment insurance, workers' accident compensation insurance, health insurance, employees' pension insurance and nursing care insurance

• Regular health check-up once a year, with optional examination items designated by the company also covered by the company

• Subsidy for book purchases, training and study groups for skill development, where approved by the company and up to a set limit

• Outside activities such as lectures, writing and presenting your own work are permitted where approved by the company

• Further benefit programs are being introduced progressively

Training programs

A range of required and optional programs is available, including business etiquette training, logical thinking training, mentor training, communication training, time management training and leadership training.