As non-Japanese living here, with the high profile that comes from being different, we can play a pivotal role in helping to make things better. We can even build a business around being civic-minded residents.

Our advice is to get your Work Rules in place as soon as possible after establishment and NOT to wait until the tenth employee is hired. The reason for this is that it is FAR easier to negotiate with 1-2 early employees than it is with 10 or more.

It's tough being a foreign businessperson in Japan. Unlike our Japanese colleagues, we don't have a support network that stretches back to High School or University, and thus we're often left in a lonely and uninformed position.

It's amazing how things have changed in the last 20 years, and now the average young Japanese changes jobs 3 times before they are 30 (an unofficial industry statistic).