Write for TokyoDev!
Have a story about working, building, or living in Japan? We'd love to help you share it.
TokyoDev publishes thoughtful articles for international developers interested in Japan. We're looking for perspectives that go beyond surface-level advice and are rooted in experiences in Japan: navigating your career, adapting to life, or even a unique experience or niche topic you care about deeply. We value writing that's shaped by curiosity and useful to others walking a similar path.
You don't need to be a professional writer, and we'll support you through the process. What matters most is that you have something genuine to say.
Why write for us?
- Get paid. We pay a fixed fee of 50,000 yen per article.
- Receive professional editing support. Our team of professional editors will help you write a better article than you could on your own.
- Write for humans, not algorithms. Our emphasis is on sharing interesting and informative articles. We create content for people first, and aren't driven by SEO.
What kind of articles do we want?
TokyoDev features articles related to Japan that are unique, personal, and high-quality.
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Japan-related: Articles about Japan generally fall into three categories.
- Careers. Examples include getting a job as a software engineer in Japan, workplace rights, and communicating with Japanese engineers.
- Lifestyle. Examples include bringing your family to Japan, making friends in Japan, and living with a disability in Japan.
- Personal interests (especially nerdy ones). Examples include the rise and fall of D&D in Japan, the history of recruiting in Japan, web accessibility in Japan.
- Unique: Containing information and insights that cannot be easily found on other major sites in English
- Personal: Grounded in firsthand experience, or driven by a personal interest in the topic.
- High-quality: Unambiguous, factual, and not difficult to read—we'll help you with this!
Do I need to be living in Japan?
No, you can be living anywhere in the world. However, you should have some connection to Japan, be it past experience living here, or a personal interest in the country.
Our process
- Propose an idea: Draft an abstract of a few paragraphs explaining what you'd like to write about.
- Contract: Review our contract to understand your rights and obligations.
- Draft submission: Submit your draft to Paul in a Google Doc (please make sure anyone with the link can edit the document). Please focus on explaining the content thoroughly and connecting it with your lived experience where applicable. Do not worry about a specific word count.
- Revisions: Our staff will review and revise your submission. You can then check the revisions and in some cases, discuss them with our staff. There may be several rounds of editing as we collaboratively iterate on the article.
- Publication: Your article will be published, and you may share it with the world!
Our expectations
We know writing an article can be daunting, especially if you have not written one before. The TokyoDev editorial staff will edit your writing to align with our internal style guide, while still preserving your voice. However, this means that you should be prepared to communicate in a timely fashion with the editorial staff until the article is ready for publication. We anticipate responses from our writers in days, not weeks.
There are many generic articles about Japan online, but this article is on your work and life in Japan. Broad statements and sweeping assertions have less impact on our audience than stories and examples from your past. The more personal experience you can include, the better!
We do not restrict the use of AI/LLMs, but they cannot provide the most important part of the article: your voice and perspective. If we have contracted you to write an article, it is because we believe that you specifically have something unique to say.
Additionally, we'd ask that you publish the article under your own name (not a pseudonym) and provide us with a photo and short bio. If your article is of a sensitive nature, and you're uncomfortable with this, please let us know in advance.
Get started
If you're interested in writing for us, please email Paul at paul@tokyodev.com and explain the subject you're interested in writing about.