We decided to ask a few visa consultants here in Tokyo about some of the more common questions that we have been asked by candidates over the last 12 months. This column, as well as others over the coming weeks, are taken from a set of questions I asked Marc Bergman of Strata Works - a local company consisting of accountants, judicial scriveners, immigration specialists and patent attorneys that offer a variety of services to allow clients to...

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...

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...