There are of course other recruitment sites out there on the web, but we believe ours is the best, so we will not bore you with information on the others!
 

The traditional print media is another good place to search out opportunities and most newspapers carry a special classified section at least once a week. For English language publications, the Japan Times on Mondays carries the largest selection of general vacancies, with the Daily Yomiuri's Wednesday edition carrying a smaller selection of ads both in English and Japanese. In the Japanese press, The Nikkei, the Japanese equivalent of the Financial Times or Wall Street Journal, carries a large selection of mostly finance related positions on Sundays and for general vacancies the Asahi, Mainichi and Yomiuri newspapers all carry job ads. on Sunday and Monday.

There is also a wide selection of Japanese monthly and weekly magazines that are dedicated to job hunting. Titles such as Be-ing, Tech Be-ing, Type, Type Engineer, Travail to name but a few, and all can be purchased from most Japanese bookstores and newsagents. There are not really any English equivalents but certain magazines carry job opportunities in their classified section - Japan Inc., and the Tokyo Classified are currently the obvious choices but there are a lot of other magazines available such as the Tokyo Journal, The Alien, Tokyo Noticeboard etc.
 

Tokyo boasts a huge number of recruitment companies, all eager to assist you in your search for a new career path. As a general rule they do not deal in jobs such as English teaching or the like and quite often will specialize in a few particular areas.

If using a recruitment company to assist you in your job search always check them out first. - while the majority of these companies are professional and genuinely interested in assisting both you and their clients, unfortunately there are some who have a different approach to their business. Sending out resumes without the owners permission and pushing people into a job just so they can collect their fee are common complaints so if you do not feel comfortable with the company or the consultant you are dealing with, just tell them that you do not wish to deal with them anymore and go elsewhere.

As a general rule the large global companies with a local Tokyo office (such as Robert Walters Japan or Morgan and Banks) are a good place to start, as are local companies that have been personally recommended to you.
 

Another suggestion would be the local Chambers of Commerce. In particular the American Chamber (ACCJ) has a well-subscribed resume bank. For a few thousand yen you can post you resume on their site where it can be viewed by their members, most of whom are senior representatives of various foreign companies with a presence in Japan. The other chambers (British, Australian etc) also have a similar service but it is not so polished or subscribed to.

Finally good old fashioned networking. It is amazing what can be achieved by being in the right place at the right time and this is amplified in Japan. Look at your contacts and if appropriate give them a shout; most will be willing to help out if they can. After all, who knows when they will need to call on you to return the favor.

The first event that will happen on a typical day will be the regular morning meeting. This usually takes the form of everyone within a certain division or section standing and facing a group of managers, and will generally start with a selection of company rituals, sometimes in the form of group exercise or the shouting of the company slogans. New directives or procedures will be discussed, as will updates on work in progress or on the horizon, followed by further announcements and the final shouting of slogans and inspiring sayings. The workers will then all troops back to their desks to start another long and arduous day. In general, most Japanese "salarymen" employed with a Japanese corporate environment work much longer hours than their western counterparts in a western environment, as do their managers and female assistants (commonly known as "office ladies" or "O.L." for short). Although the law states a maximum number of hours per working week and most companies officially work from around 9am to 6pm, in reality the majority of people will be in their office at least 30 minutes earlier and then stay for several hours after closing. A recently enacted law restricting the amount of overtime an individual could work has unfortunately just resulted in employees not reporting the extra hours they do.

Lunch is for an hour and is generally taken between the time of 11:30 - 1:30, and may consist of a bento (lunch box) normally brought from home or at the local convenience store and eaten at the desk, or alternatively the lunch special eaten in a nearby restaurant.

At the end of the day, your average Japanese worker will probably go out with his colleagues from the office and partake in a session of drinking, eating and singing. All will relax and let their feeling show and it is here as much as in the office that the strong bonding that so typifies the Japanese corporate world takes place. Public shows of drunkenness are not frowned upon in Japan as they are in the west, and many displays of over indulgence can be seen, from the crumpled salaryman sleeping on the train or bench to the rather unpleasant piles of regurgitated noodles and beer found around the station.
 

Most Japanese offices are "open plan" and based on the concept of group work and consensus building as well as on the hierarchical structure of the company. Desks are uniformly alike and arranged by teams, with members sitting in order of authority and responsibility, with the highest -ranking member seated furthest away from the door and closest to the section chief's desk. The section chief is likely to have a desk at the front of the office facing his subordinates, surveying all before him.

With only the very senior managers likely to have their own office, the lack of privacy produces a very real sense of belonging, with a great deal of communication taking place between members of a team, usually without the hindrance of dividers or cubicles. Managers can easily walk around and communicate with all the groups and individuals within the operation and therefore can ensure everyone, including themselves, are fully aware of all aspects of the work at all times.
 

Working Style  The typical Japanese worker tends to view the use of time rather differently then a western one. With the western approach, emphasis is placed on completing a task in the most efficient manner and within the shortest time possible. For the Japanese, it is considered more important for the whole team to work together to accomplish a goal. Each individual will know the limit of their responsibilities and what is expected of them, and will work selfishly to complete that task in hand. Many meetings and discussions will take place to ensure everything is going as planned and nothing will be rushed or pushed through. The concept of "thinking out of the box" or

looking for a quick result are very rare indeed and are often frowned upon. However the Japanese approach does ensure the end result will be something that is unanimously acceptable to all and is as complete as possible. Because of this group mentality, individuals feel a need to stay with a task as long as necessary to provide their colleagues who are still working on the assignment with all the help or support they may need. This sense of solidarity often means that even those who have already completed their work, stay late at the office.

 
For similar reasons, many Japanese workers rarely use their vacation time to the full. They feel it is their responsibility not to abandon others while they are still working, regardless of whether one's work has been completed. Because of this and to ensure that workers get some time with their families, Japanese companies traditionally close down completely for a week in the spring and summer and also over the New Year. Another common practice is the "company trip" with everyone going away for a few days of fun together, either totally or partially funded by the company.