There are two main types of pension programs in Japan for those of us working here. The most common is the Employee's Pension (Kosei Nenkin) which is administered by the Shakai Hoken office and which is withdrawn from your monthly pay packet and paid to the Shakai Hoken office on your behalf by your employer. The other is Kokumin Nenkin, which is...

Once upon a time there was a very troubled bank called The Long Term Credit Bank of Japan (LTCB) founded in 1952, went bankrupt, was nationalized and in 2000 was sold to an overseas investors consortium led by the enterprising American buy-out firm, Ripplewood, managed by Tim Collins. Collins hired a man named Yashiro, previously...

For most of us, we envisage a nomikai as being a group of young employees, either the customer's or the boss and some of your colleagues, heading down to a smoky robatayaki or yakitori joint under the railway tracks. Indeed, for many freshly arrived foreigners, this is their first experience of the alcohol-induced "wet" side of the Japanese business culture. The creating and binding of relationships...

As a country which values group performance rather than individual performance, in traditional Japan there are very few opportunities to negotiate salary raises in a company once you are an employee. As I have written previously, the basic idea is that the company will take care of you within its capacity and on a par with other players in the market...