The upheaval in the telecommunications industry that started in 2000 with the meltdown of many leading data centers is still going on. From the data centers, the data carriers were affected, then the telco's owning the infrastructure, and now the wired providers versus the wireless ones. Japan passed the point of having more wireless customers than wired ones about a year ago, and the ensuing shakeout of both sectors has been happening ever since. One of the biggest movers and shakers is of course...

Despite the success of Carlos Ghosn and other foreign CEOs in Japan in recent years, 99% of companies that I deal with want a Japanese person heading their operation in Japan. This is all very well if the candidate with the right mix of management, leadership, sales, restructuring, and language skills can be found - but this is getting harder to...

With the general grinding down of the Japanese economy, more and more senior foreign managers, particularly expats, are getting their pink slips and wondering what to do next. Of course, the natural first reaction is to get back out there in the market and find another position. But things really are getting tight at the...

Tokyo is a small town - not in terms of the population, but in terms of who knows whom. This makes it especially challenging for a high-profile person to go out and look for a job - especially if you're a CEO or CIO. But, if you've been hearing rumors back at head office of a...

If you can't get the job you really want, there's always the opportunity to start your own company. Luckily Japan is very kind to foreigners wanting to try their hand at commerce, and so long as you follow the rules, foreigners can get licenses, loans, government help, etc., just as easily as Japanese can. The kind of company you should start largely depends on your ambitions and needs. If you're a consultant looking for an easy way to structure your taxes, then you can simply have...

One of the problems with falling in love with a Japanese partner and following them back to Japan is that they don't always come from a major city. Unless you speak Japanese, Tokyo is almost the only place you can get a decent job quickly. So what do you do if you're about to locate to a small town in Toyama? Well, first of all, get used to the fact that you're in a...

I just knew that I would get some mail about my recent JET column, because there are so many people who have done this program. But I wasn't prepared for the quality of the stories about what a powerful experience it is to be a JET. Here is a single (condensed) story that says it all...[Terrie Lloyd]On a cold winter's evening during my final year of university...

For many of us, the prospect of moving and living in Japan is both exciting yet daunting. Especially for those coming here on a tight budget, Japan's reputation as the most expensive country in the world in which to live, certainly doesn't help. So, this week, I'd like to cover some of the typical costs of living here. This is purely a guide only, you can do it both cheaper and much more...

Recently I wrote about entry level salaries in Japan for foreigners. I deliberately left out the IT industry, which is the topic for today. The IT industry in Japan is broad based and as a foreign engineer there are many opportunities. Naturally, most of these opportunities revolve around being able to speak Japanese, so that you can communicate with your users, clients, and/or colleagues. However, there are also jobs available for English-only speakers if you have a high-level skill set - for example...

In a tight labor market, it's the newly arrived people who feel the pinch first. I frequently get mail from people who've just landed in Japan and can't find a job, they're running low on funds and are starting to get desperate. Almost always, the writers are here because of a Japanese spouse or partner, and they were planning to come regardless of whether they could get a job first. If you're a native English speaker and have a degree, there are always...