I've lived in Japan for 6 years, first exchange student, then self-employed but Japanese wife works for a large company. Just thought I'd chime in. It's really

I've lived in Japan for 6 years, first exchange student, then self-employed but Japanese wife works for a large company. Just thought I'd chime in. It's really hard to say anything generic about anything though, as I only have very limited personal experiences to draw from. From what I have gathered the parts about Japanese company life are accurate. Yes, coming home at 7pm is "early". Midnight is not out of the question. Not all companies require you to work on weekends, but it's not unusual to get phone calls or be expected to complete some minor work at home. It's possible to get a stable job again after quitting your previous one, although I can believe it would be difficult if you don't have a good reason. This wild concept of "changing your job" (tenshoku) seems to be becoming more common too. Part about company molding you seems true. To me it's bizarre that people get hired to work for a software company, despite having no such background. You could go from a completely unrelated degree to suddenly being a programmer, totally possible. The part about critical Japanese parents didn't ring true to me. No-one has tried to pressured me to have a normal stable job. Perhaps because everyone knows I'd be a terrible employee for a Japanese company, as I like to do things like have hobbies, take vacations lasting for over a week, be paid a decent salary etc. But I think the relationship to work is just different. Yes, people always assume I am an English teacher.