For the Tokyo office they only hire foreigners with some knowledge of Japanese

thats ok, I can kind of get by in Japanese but its nowhere near good. I guess no-one else knows, ok, not to worry. Worth a try. Thanks anyway guys! :)

i have a good friend that worked there for close to a year.
she speaks some japanese and was paid only a small living stipend - which of course didn't purchase much but a few chopsticks in Tokyo. she worked close to 20 hours/day and said it was fantastic experience - but only once. she would never work for free again. good luck!

thanks geno. The hours and pay are just about how I imagined, I just wanted to hear someone say whether it was a worthwhile experience or not. I guess if you can ride the full-on work load and no wages, it will pay off in other ways. Thanks again.

am sure it would be an awesomne experience.

don't know anyone who has worked for him, but if he is anything like sejima and ito and that lot then the hours will be super hard and pay zero. lots of the young folk in my lab have, or are, working for the big guys but the burnout rate is extreme, and they only got the jobs because of connections at the school...apparently it is a privelege to work for nothing and ruin mind and body for the famous.

would be interesting to hear how a cold call works if you have a go at it. thinking of trying?

yeah, my contract is up at the end of March next year and I wanna stay and do some real design work. That was really the point of taking a teaching job, to hopefully step-stone into an actual design job here.

I'll let you know what happens but I am a long way off 'ready'.

i got offered a job there this summer as an intern. unfortunately i was unable to take it because they couldn't pay me and i couldn't afford to get myself over there then sustain living conditions without pay. totally sucks. i'd imagine it would have been amazing...

joek,
I would do a little research on the office. I actually havent heard good things about the state of the office -- it might be sliding a bit? You could email RNNR (archinect alias) as he has worked there and told me this -- good luck.

thanks person

Ya I know a guy working for Dean Maltz Architect in New York City. If you can't get into the Tokyo office you might try Maltz. I hear him and Ban collaborate on many projects together.---You also must like working long hours........

does anyone got a internship in SBA?

I accept it and I'll be there from mid June.

Hello, I may be going too. They asked me if the starting date (they proposed) was ok and how long I could work. I confirmed and told them. Then they have been silent until now. I am really confused. Anyone has ever been this situation?

I interned at SBA. It's generally no pay(you get reimbursed on transportation - the subway). Long hours (usually 10 to 12 hour days). I did maybe 2 or 3 all nighters due to preparations for competitions. You rarely ever talk to Shigeru Ban. He's always busy or flying out. The team is fantastic however. Nice people. Projects are very high profile too. Incredible building systems (super roof structures, complex facades, massive program). Most of the time you will find yourself model making - which can be very long and arduous. If you don't have unique digital production skills (excellent rendering/photoshop, good grasp of grasshopper, fast and adept 3d modeling in rhino) you will find yourself hunched over and model making the entire time. It'll be long, repetitive, and tiring, but in the end you will come out with exposure to high caliber design and global networking. To this day I still keep in touch with, and sometimes meet with my fellow interns I worked with at Shigeru Ban. 

If you're a fragile person, don't do it. It'll break you.

Hello, to those who have interned at Shigeru Ban,

I got a reply from them asking possible starting date. I replied but havent heard from them since then. Its been a week and the starting date is approaching, while I need at least a month for visa application procedures. 

When you said they finally replied with some paperworks to fill in, does this mean visa paperworks? Also, how long was that from the day you replied? Fyi, I am from a country that needs a Certificate of Eligibility to stay in Japan for over 15 days.