For all intents and purposes, the "trainee" visa in Japan is borderline slavery and is used to bring in extremely cheap labor from China and SE Asia. Japan is

For all intents and purposes, the "trainee" visa in Japan is borderline slavery and is used to bring in extremely cheap labor from China and SE Asia. Japan is actually pretty relaxed about immigration considering the xenophobic image. All you need is a job offer from a company willing to do the paperwork, (normally) a Bachelors degree in the field you will work in and a salary offer that is at least what a Japanese hire would get. No quotas or H1B hire-in-Japan-first requirements. You aren't trapped in your job - once you get a work visa, you can change to another company in the same field with no repercussions. Get married and you have full rights to work, not work or start a business as you please with a spousal visa. Don't want to work for someone else or get married? 5 million yen in the bank (about $60k) and a business plan gets you an "Investors" visa.