Foreign job seekers need better preparation for working in Japan: experts

Ian Robinson, human resources manager for Toshiba Europe Ltd, said, "We are not necessarily looking for Japanese speakers. We are looking for people who can change how we do business in Japan and change the mindset."

Too late for your company....

Japan is last in Asian countries in attracting foreign workers according to 2017 IMD World Talent Ranking. If you don't work for the lifestyle, the opportunity, or the money, why bother? The business culture is not attractive and the scandal-a-month only reinforces this

They hire english teachers thinking that anyone that can speak Japanese must be smart and quickly learning that mistake.

You want to attract foreign talent? Pay as much as other countries.

The overwhelming majority of Westerners will never adapt to Japanese working culture, period. Most of us who do for the long term have ties that are hard to break. We may not embrace our situation but we're resigned to it. OTOH, young kids with their entire lives ahead of them, asked to come to a nation run by doddering oldies who preach change but wage an endless rear-guard action to prevent any such thing. Asking bright grads from elite schools, critical thinkers groomed to be innovative and think outside the box, to be locked into rigid hierarchies where criticism of the status quo is tantamount to heresy. Asking them to work long hours, b/c umm mutual team suffering and feigning productivity are always fun, right, all the while sacrificing your personal life. Not to mention asking them to work in department A when their degree, skill set or goals don't match its work. "I know you studied finance but we'll train you to work in HR, then after 3 years rotate you into something completely different, b/c well-balanced blather, blather." Of course, since none of that is in the advert, you'll continue to rope some naive grads in, but don't be surprised when they bail after a year or two in the Galapagos.

As always, Japan wants the world to adapt to their particular practices, they do not now nor have they ever had any intention or capacity of changing their "mindset." In fact, working too long here just might damage your career going forward. When you break free of the mold, the uncritical automaton they'd made of you, you're bound to struggle when called upon to function normally.

The quality workers in Japan I’ve met or worked with don’t stay long, and the very top quality workers generally wouldn’t come here in the first place.

The quality staff where I work are in Europe or North America. I’m not bashing Japan here - I like the place but it isn’t first choice for those with talent.

Japan is very old fashioned and hieracy based.

But most people here think they are modern and doin fine.

Just remembered at one company my performance was reviewed, I wasn't wearing the the company supplied slippers, I explained that they were too small and uncomfortable. Not good enough "you must wear them" but they don't fit, no everyone wears them, but they don't fit. That was the focuss of my performance meeting my non wearing of slippers. Nothing about my actual job. Not one positive thing to say just looking for negative...and slippers. Now I see slippers and feel sad.

Yeah, another thing would be to not expect ALL foreigners to be able to communicate at native level Japanese either. I would challenge many of these companies to have their own employees take the JLPT1 and see just how many actually pass!

Just as many (for English speakers here) can not pass the EIKEN 1 test, due to the esoteric nature of many of the questions, companies looking to hire foreigners here many times are just looking for that "token" and have low expectations for the foreigner, because of the COMPANY and it's employees being ignorant of how to work with someone who isn't from here.

Oh take the time to teach/educate employees that anytime a foreigner asks "Why do Japanese do this?" don't take it as a personal insult! Dont think they are attacking YOU personally, they aren't, they are just trying to understand better what is going on!

Fair comment Strangerland, a little bit general but I get it. I speak and understand Japanese apparently quite well, but only with family and close friends. It's interesting to hear what people say when they assume you don't understand. I believe that the negativity is justified, the article makes it clear that a move to Japan is a career killer and that companies really don't care as you a dispensable commodity. There are challenging battles with nonsensical rules in the most surprising situations. I shave my head every 2 or 3 days but at my gym a swim cap is required? I have no hair. What's the cap for? I was berated for being 2 minutes late for a meeting with the HR department, I was told that in Japan you have to be on time. My next meeting they were ten minutes late. When I repeated word for word what they had said to me. I received a look. No apology nothing. Like many I have family here but that actually makes it more important to highlight nonsensical actions.

Title: Foreign job seekers need better preparation for working in Japan

Quote: We are looking for people who can change how we do business in Japan and change the mindset

They want foreign talent to be more Japanese and not at the same time?

Interesting article. The survey conducted by the National University of Singapore is quite interesting and Japanese companies (primarily larger ones) should study the survey, reflect, and act accordingly. I think it is the businesses in Japan who need to make the first move in this case.

 They speak, read, and write great Japanese and do technology related work. They say: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, blame Japanese racism and xenophobia." I dont speak or read Japanese great, but it hasnt stopped me running my own business here in Japan and earn considerable more than your average J salaryman, in fact the average j mindset isnt a quality I need in my staff actually the opposite. In fact the highest earning foreigners I know in Japan arent trapped in the J business model, they have both J and foreign staff and run their companies how they see fit. One guy who came to Japan around 20yrs ago was

looking for a fresh start by almost declaring bankruptcy back in his home country. 2yrs ago he retired and sold his company he built in Japan for about 1.8billion yen. majority of his office staff are gaijin, his yard workers nearly all Japanese and he payed them above the average J wage, very few ever quit. You dont need to accept assimilation in Japan to be successful here.

orwelian double think.

Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO) is for retired Canadian workers, managers, CEOs, etc etc bored of their retirement life but still had service to give. They'd get placed in countries all over the world to provide their work experience and management expertise to help a company meet whatever challenge they're facing.

Other countries probably have something similar

Japan is looking in the wrong direction, and needs to be hiring experienced managers not green recruits if it wants to change culture and really start meeting international challenges head on

Japan needs better preparation, not the other way around.

Last time I checked the rest of the world was NOT facing an unprecedented population crash which will completely gut its workforce by 2035.

Why on earth would anyone want to reduce their productivity, stifle creativity or subject themselves to illegal work practices ranging from unpaid overtime or death from overwork right through to callous sexual or physical harassment or abuse by their superiors!?

As usual Japan thinks everything is about itself. Newsflash Jcompanies, the only people flocking here are the very poor and unskilled workers from Southeast Asia, and once they have money to buy their house children's education they want out, your company and country be damned. Look inward and prepare yourselves to work efficiently for the first time since the 1960's.

I'm a retired USN American expat. The amount of time ad energy it takes to become skilled in the Japanese Language and writing styles does not translate into a good or even mediocre job. I am fortunate that I'm an American and I was able to get a comfortable employment on a US base; otherwise it would have been poverty level English teacher. I truly feel for the expats from other nations.

And lets’s not forget the 80-20 rule. 80% of western foreigners in Japan are here because they can’t function in their own culture.

I find that to be an overly harsh and overly simplistic and stereotype kind of remark.

So any "westerner" who chooses to live in an Asian country "can't function" back home? Are you speaking from experience, of just throwing numbers out here to suggest something more?

Foreign job seekers need better preparation for working in Japan: experts

Really? You needed "experts" to tell what every ALT who has been here for over 3 months already knows?

Conrad also argued graduates need to understand better how Japanese companies think and operate in practice. 

Just know this , upon placement in a Japanese company the first thing to know is the pecking order, forget trying to sell yourselves by outdoing your co-workers , it’s about making your supervisor look like he is in control. Learn there is safety in shared mediocrity and that appearances trump substance. Rules are everything. Don’t expect to be put in a position that best suits your talents and skills either, you will be required to simply learn how to do what other Japanese workers do, and ignored if you question the purpose of WHY things are done the way they are. Heads down, don’t rock the boat. Enjoy.

Conrad also argued graduates need to understand better how Japanese companies think and operate in practice. Anecdotally, many foreign graduates drop out of Japanese firms because they have unrealistic expectations.

Yeah, the foreign graduates dropout of Japanese firms because cannot accept the bullying intimidation and being treated like a slave with a ridiculous overtime limit of 100 hours per month.

My daughter, a Japan/USA passport holder and university senior in America, recently went to the Japanese Job Fair in Boston and came away disillusioned because the companies attending were offering seminars for women on how to pour green tea to men and giving pep talks that contained the subtext that enduring long hours and low pay are part of the Japanese spirit.

"Anecdotally, many foreign graduates drop out of Japanese firms because they have unrealistic expectations."

LOL, nobody told them they would have to do "face time" at office till 11pm, excessive drinking with colleguaes, dine at 7-11 and lose all meaning of life!

Ian Robinson, human resources manager for Toshiba Europe Ltd, said, "We are not necessarily looking for Japanese speakers. We are looking for people who can change how we do business in Japan and change the mindset."

Decoded

"We are not necessarily looking for Japanese speakers. We are looking for people who can change data results in Japan and change the research results."

 This is Japan's chance to attract this talent.  why , those Americans can easily work in Canada, Australia , Singapore, NZ, UK, earn a higher wage than they could in Japan dont need to learn a foreign language and have a better quality of life. I can think of another 4~5 Asian countries that are better accepting of foreign talent. Add to this that Japan will make you pay a high inheritance tax if you live here long term (many countries dont have these DOUBLE taxes) why would skilled foreigners want to even consider Japan

A recently retired company man told me he and several others were sent to the Company's Sydney office, How was that? I asked. He never wants to go back, Everyone left work at 5 or 6. Leaving the Japanese who were dug in until 10, purely out of habbit. He admitted they had nothing to do. But couldn't understand or accept that people left during daylight? The reverse happens in Japan sit at your desk getting frustrated nothing to do but it's required. Japan has a work mentality that supersedes any personal wants. Obviously the word is out and when you have several countries on your job radar Japan ranks pretty low for pay, lifestyle, promotion even acceptance as an individual with a family.

So much wrong so little awarenes,

It’s probably best for these grads to move to Japan on a transfer instead of them risking their career moving here without a plan. Unless they want to teach English on minimum wage for the rest of their life, they should just hope for a temporary transfer

but by and far japan's business practices has helped this island country to have the 3rd largest economy in the world. not too shabby of a mindset, if you ask me. yet it hasnt helped Japan dig itself out of economic stagnation for the last 25+yrs, within 20yrs Japan will be passed by India and be 4th. Japans economic miracle wasnt from its mindset it was from its was from circumstance, they made a good products at are very cheap price while having very few asian competitors. Now China has come along done basically what japan did in the 70s/80s and their economy has surpassed that of Japan, so that must make Chinas mindset better than that of Japan, by your logic

Sadly this article shows that Japan is still not really even close to making the much needed changes/adjustments to have a better future.

Hoping NEW grads will affect corporate culture, sure that is a mistype!

I feel sorry for students who take J-Studies at Uni's & colleges & then AFTERWARDS find out what Japan is really like. With the internet these students should be better informed.

As the recent article that showed Japan last in Asia for foreigners looking to work in this part of the world is hardly surprising.

I like most here wishes for Japan to do better but it just seems so adept at shooting itself in the foot pretty much non-stop.

JT, how about a question for old timers, ""If you could go back in time, would you come to Japan again with the intention to stay long term or not & why""

Well if you don't speak/read Japanese how can you run your own business ? Your market must be pretty niche, and specialised. So I wonder how you can actually survive.... firstly I run an export business , its hardly a niche market, all the taxation Japanese paperwork, telephone office work is handed by my J office staff. I and my gaijin workers handle all the foreign customers. Incidentally my J office staff are the cheapest to pay as they are in abundance in Japan, gaijin staff have to pay considerable more as they have the export and communication skills required to bring in business. I pay myself considerable more than your average salary-man and more than if i was working in an office job in my home country, recently bought a 450Sq/m building to expand my business, so yes I survive very well thank you, and all with my limited Japanese language skills, amazing!? hardly, just determination and hard work and all without having to accept assimilation.

The national English teaching and testing program needs complete revision. 1. English is not going to be taught the way it has been since the end of WWII. 2. English is going to be taught through the use of useful vocabulary that has variety and continual review. (Hello, how are you? I am fine, thank you, and you?) Those ideas are fine for a businessman or woman, but what about the other ways to ask and answer. 3. Silly stories such as the umbrella opening only when it rains are supplemental vocabulary. Students do not need to memorize key sentences in the story. 4. Send one Japanese English teacher from every school alone to an English speaking country, even if it is Hawaii or Guam (better the west coast of the USA) ALONE, so that he or she has to survive with the locals and not rely on a Japanese speaking traveling companion. 5. Ask American publisher for free copies of their Japanese textbooks that are used in the USA.

Something has to be done about the English programs in Japan or the conversation (pun intended) has to end.

Who in their right minds would want to start their professional life in Japan? Decent destination for the gap-year traveller, not so much for young grads seeking a good, mid/long term job.

Agree with dcogs, better to move here with a plan or, even better, a good expat job lined up (or, alternatively, a fair bit of money in the bank so you don't have to take cra**y jobs).

When you hear a foreigner complaining incessantly about Japan, they invariably don't know how to speak the language.

Very true.

Anyway, the main thing foreign job seekers need to be prepared for is how low their salaries will be.

Cricky Know the feeling, the performance reviews are a good insight into what their take on the job is, and where their focus lies. You can hit the ball out of the park on nearly all fronts but it will generally go unrecognized. Doing the actually job well for some reason doesn’t seem to be the point. They will find a way to downgrade you , as that’s the way they manage. The slippers thing was a great example.

As for the comments that once you speak fluent Japanese these issues go away, well I actually reminisce about the days that I was oblivious to the language and intricacies of the workplace mindset. Hoping once the baby boomers finally move on things will improve, as are the rest of the staff both foreign and Japanese alike. As also stated in previous posts no where is perfect but could also be much better.

People complaining about Japanese business practices and saying that Japan has become the worlds third largest economy after China and will soon be the fourth after India. What does it take 1.3 billion Chinese or Indians to make as much as 127 million Japanese?

Really has more to do with how much those 2.3 Billion Chinese and Indians consume on a daily basis rather than what they produce themselves.

@Yubaru

Bingo! Indian and Chinese consumption is really what's important. For those of us with skin in the game here the next 10-20 years are sure going to be interesting.

wtfjapan

* They speak, read, and write great Japanese and do technology related work. They say: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, blame Japanese racism and xenophobia." **I dont speak or read Japanese great, but it hasnt stopped me running my own business here in Japan and earn considerable more than your average J salaryman, in fact the average j mindset isnt a quality I need in my staff actually the opposite.*

I can relate to this completely. Don't think I could work for a Japanese company longterm. However, starting my own business (with considerable help from my wife I might add) has allowed me to earn more and do more with my time. Foreigners really wanting to make a go of it in Japan should highly consider being their own boss if possible. Win-win if you ask me.  

We are looking for people who can change how we do business in Japan and change the mindset."

I nearly spit my coffee out at this comment here; just how naive does he think people are?

You want people who can change how you do business and change your mindset?

You are paying lip service to an idea that you have little ability to understand yourself. Sure bringing in outside talent can achieve what you want, but FIRST you have to have the mindset yourselves that you are willing to accept change and improvement, and how to utilize new ideas.

You want people who will bow down any follow your ways, to validate to yourself that the "Japanese" corporate way works best!

Japanese companies are loath to accept foreigners as "leaders", they want underlings, worker-bees, and one's that don't stick out.

@Strangerland - very good observation.

I can speak from personal experience (as one who never had a "formal" Japanese education) that before I was able to understand the language and what was going on around me (not only words but the context) I was quite frustrated and would complain about things that were not relevant and I would get frustrated to the point where my complaints probably made no sense.

Now, fast forward 20 years. I guess I still complain now and then but (at least in my own mind) things I am complaining about are more relevant to my life and my complaints are much mellower and probably easier for others to understand.

Japan is far from perfect; I think anyone living here long time knows that. But, the world is far from perfect so I always feel it is a blessing when one can find a place that suits them.

What else do you want the universities and advisors to do more than they already do?

You know what J. Inc. needs to do? Stop lying to foreign college grads about career prospects.

"You will be hired into the up and coming cyber security department"

...is Japanese for...

"You are being assigned to an underfunded, understaffed, experimental department that was started to keep up with our competitors. You'll be asked to look over e-mails and power point presentations to make sure the English version makes sense for our foreign customers"

Well if you don't speak/read Japanese how can you run your own business ? Your market must be pretty niche, and specialised. So I wonder how you can actually survive....

It definitely requires assistance. But some are able to do it, and do it quite well even.

So any "westerner" who chooses to live in an Asian country "can't function" back home? Are you speaking from experience, of just throwing numbers out here to suggest something more?

Well, he said 80% of them, not all of them.

I don't know if that number is accurate, but in my own personal experience, it's not that far off the mark. I'd probably put it at 60/40 myself.

You can survive in Japan with no language skills even gain an income, start a business might be easier at home but doing it in a foreign country shows a capacity to adapt not no language skills just enough to get by, ive been here long enough to realise going home and starting again isnt an option so work hard to make what ive got now successful.

Good on ya for making something outta nothing man! Hope you have more success. believe me ive done my far share of slaving away at a J export company for a number of years but came to realize hard work doesnt really get you much reward and almost no promotion, especially if your a gaijin. Finally I said enough of this tripe Ill do it myself. Now the most successfully people I know in my line of export are gaijin, not Japanese as was the norm 20yrs ago. You need to understand the peoples mindset and the markets your selling too, unfortunately many J companies ive worked with still cant grasp this concept. Employing Japanese who have worked overseas for a number of years , when they return to work at J companies many cant handle the business culture lack of reward for the extra skills they've acquired. They either quit and start their own businesses or return to the countries from where they studied. Working for yourself requires a ton or work but when successful the reward of not having to answer to anybody other than your customers is worth your weight in gold!!

yubaru:

I would challenge many of these companies to have their own employees take the JLPT1 and see just how many actually pass!

Even someone like me managed to pass JLPT1. That speaks volume because I am still horrible at the language. That test is not practical, aside from the fact that so many people cheat - people started looking through the papers before they were allowed to do so, and nobody cared.

We have several US guys working at the office. They speak, read, and write great Japanese and do technology related work. They say: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, blame Japanese racism and zenophobia."

In my experience, the most balanced foreigners in Japan are those who have learned to speak Japanese. When you hear a foreigner complaining incessantly about Japan, they invariably don't know how to speak the language.

Great comments but way of the article in my humble opinion - I see it from totally different perspective.

There are Eastern studies departments in the big Universities that many grads fascinated by the Japanese culture or manga or whatever think that if they learn the language they can have work related to Japan.

So what the organizers were trying to do is to inform and to draw a realistic picture of what to expect!

Yaburu#. I’m sure domtoidi is of course one of the 20 percent that functions well everywhere. It’s all the others that he is talking about. ;p

Wtfjapan

Its been easier for me to, being a mixed blood Japanese to set things up.

But I think other people have a point about one of the keys is being able to just stay here at all. You have to marry in (you) or have the blood (me) to be able to build businesses and have success in general.

My wife for example (American) is gunna start her own business, but chuck it all in under my name.

Good on ya for making something outta nothing man! Hope you have more success.

A smarter way is hiring foreign people in their home countries, its also cheaper solution. for example China has abundant workforce for high tech industry, but they'd useless in Japan because they don't speak the language.

@Dirk T

I'm surprised they were being so honest with the new graduates! Better for your daughter that she got that from the job fair, rather than after having gone through the entire rigamarole.

They say: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, blame Japanese racism and zenophobia."

Don’t forget the male-dominated work environment with very few women in higher positions. I’ve seen very talented Japanese women leaving for other countries. A real waste and a pity their skills were not rewarded.

Oh, and foreign women who lasted less than a few years.

Agreed better education and social skills are needed, big push for those globally job skill and intelligence are not enough social skills are the new focus.

I survive very well thank you, and all with my limited Japanese language skills, amazing!? hardly, just determination and hard work and all without having to accept assimilation.

Learning Japanese is integration, not assimilation. It lets you live with the people, instead of in a bubble.

You can survive in Japan with no language skills even gain an income, start a business might be easier at home but doing it in a foreign country shows a capacity to adapt. I am offended that people think living here is somehow a badge of being unable to live in their country of origin. I know the implication and I've met people here who meet this generaliseing. But I've also met fantastic work colleagues, really smart, amazing people who would shine anywhere. True most have left or through tenacious personality have generated an income stream non reliant on being part of a local management framework. Long term residents are generally insular and suspicious of new arrivals,.just don't write off 80% of the people you meet..a stranger is a friend you haven't meet yet. Until they display an idiocy then walk off.

@wtfjapan - what exactly do you export ?

It's not the foreign job applicants that need to change. Japan needs to change its old ways if they want to attractand retain global workforce. Otherwise good luck with demographic collapse and permanent labor shortage.

Wtfjapan

You are preaching to the choir man, is hope Ai never work for anyone again, and I’m just 39 and I’ve had enough, and I’ve had it good! Lol!

Kay I’m not 39. Typo

One company in particular who is trying to change how they do business and turn the worm is Rakueten. Rakuten, is rapidly expanding into global markets everyday. In order to ensure the success of the organization, but also to break down linguistic and cultural boundaries in Japanese society, CEO Hiroshi Mikitani mandates English proficiency within two years for all employees.

More companies should follow Mikitani CEO s lead.

Not to blow my horn or be brash. I studied and studied Japanese and have been here for just about two decades. I have experienced almost everything I read in the comments. Success and failures. Prejudices and acceptance. Heartbreak and love. Everything here and between. I have reached a pinnacle in my career at Ferrari dealership because as good as I get. I give back in Japanese with bosses and salesman or salary men in my company. I am proud of that skill. If I am joked on. I give it right back to them with a quickness and some sass. I do what I do for living better than the Japanese. I make my CEO money and he compensates me in return. But my success has taken apart of my identity too. I no longer think it would be nice to have weekends off or punching out at 6:00 pm. Unheard of. Totally un-American for an American.

There is a price for success here in Japan. Ate cup noodle many nights with no heat on the cold tatami wondering if I am doing the right thing or on the right path. I didn't do it for a woman child or family. I did it because I like challenges. I did it cause everyone said it couldn't be done.

What was that movie? Are you a sheep? Or are you a wolf? Wolf of wall-street? I do not remember maybe someone reading does.

I am grateful to my CEO and Japanese counterparts. I couldn't have done it without them believing in me.

I am treated fairly where I am now as an equal with mild jealousy from other Japanese. But there were times when I was teaching I was treated horribly by some Japanese who just hated the fact a foreigner was in the same teaching room with me. They hated it even more when they found out I was fluent in Japanese.

Look if you reading this and if you are going to come work here in japan be prepared for the long term and be prepared to be hazed. it is part of the learning process. It is hard society to thrive in. Speak and learn Japanese or you will never be fully respected in my opinion. Its just my opinion. Learn the the culture. Learn to not take any crap too. Stay positive. Believe in your self. As far as Toshiba and large corporations changing the way they do business in Japan? Let us hope they catch on as the markets slide and shift.

Sorry for the typos and punctuation. Was hurried. I hope the messages came through.

Totally agree. It's definitely the problem of the rest of the world, not anything at fault with Japan and its backwards way of doing everything.

People complaining about Japanese business practices and saying that Japan has become the worlds third largest economy after China and will soon be the fourth after India. What does it take 1.3 billion Chinese or Indians to make as much as 127 million Japanese?

Gokami wo maneku

Spot on man! I had some friendly taunting coming my way several years back in a bar from my Chinese friends when they became technically the Worlds Second Economy.

Im like “So finally all 1.6 billion of you managed to equal .2 of us?”Great guys, don’t forget to divide it up 1.6 billion ways.

@Strangerland, That pretty much aligns with my experience too.

I feel sorry for students who take J-Studies at Uni's & colleges & then AFTERWARDS find out what Japan is really like. 

Don't be sorry.

Most students in America (for example) take Japanese language course NOT because they want a lucrative career, most take the course so that they can read the latest Shonen Jump manga in raw Japanese and play Japanese console games and hentai PC games not released outside Japan.

It's an open secret that most Japanese language courses in America (for example) are full of weebs and full blown otaku of all shades and colors. Go and observe what is going on in Japanese course in American high schools and universities.... The only reason they take Japanese course is to consume anime & manga & videogames straight and without the filtering going on with localization & censorship. Only the millenial diehard (American) otaku will actually settle to Japan so they can get that Akihabara and Comiket fix... extra bonus if they work in lucrative fields such as IT or finance so they can fund such expensive hobby and lifestyle being an otaku.

As always, Japan wants the world to adapt to their particular practices, they do not now nor have they ever had any intention or capacity of changing their "mindset."

yes, because of this unchanging mindset, japan's economy has failed so miserably. i'll agree that certain practices are outdated, and there is a ton of red tape to go through,  but by and far japan's business practices has helped this island country to have the 3rd largest economy in the world. not too shabby of a mindset, if you ask me.

Well if you don't speak/read Japanese how can you run your own business ? Your market must be pretty niche, and specialised. So I wonder how you can actually survive....

Considering what is going on in Trump's America, I'm guessing that lots of top overseas talent will be looking for somewhere to go other than America. This is Japan's chance to attract this talent. Japan should provide both training in Japanese language and living in Japan, but also provide English work environments. (PS, in my post above, "zenophobia" should be "xenophobia")

We have several US guys working at the office. They speak, read, and write great Japanese and do technology related work. They say: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, blame Japanese racism and zenophobia."