Pass the first stage interview with karaoke! Or, by playing wink murder.

For many Japanese university students job hunting is a near full-time activity, involving visiting countless job fairs and doing internships left, right and centre. Key is standing out from their plain black suit-clad fellows, which can be difficult, especially for those lacking in interpersonal skills, not traditionally the strong suit of the intensely dedicated anime fans known as otaku.

But entertainment company City Communications are looking for students currently between their third and fourth years (and thus due to graduate in the spring of 2018) who are as keen on otaku culture as they are about joining the company.

▼ City Communications runs a number of entertainment and hospitality-related businesses.

The first interview can be passed by performing at least one anime song at the company’s Anime Song Cafe in Yokohama. Even better (worse?) the staff there will be doing cosplay as they greet potential candidates. Open trials are being held on 4 and 18 April and 17 and 29 May this year.

Of course singing isn’t for everyone, particularly singing in front of strangers. So, City Communications is also holding another job fair at its Dice Internet Cafe in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district. The unusual selection process this time? A massive, up to one hour, game of the game wink murder (also commonly known as killer), a party game where one or more murderers can kill with a wink, and the dwindling survivors attempt to identify the killers in their midst before they too are done in. The wink murder game job auditions are being held on 10 April and 23 May.

▼ “Murder! Culprit-catching game”

Is there a better place in the world to be an otaku than Japan? With their own dating service (since they actually make quite the catch), their own Mecca in the form of Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood, and now their own job hunting style, probably not.

Source, images: PR Times via Jin115