I've never worked in Japan. I mean I work in Japan, but I work from my home and have never needed Japanese language or workplace skills. But I do know people who have, so I set up interviews with 8 of them to see what their experiences were like. All of them worked in the "real" Japanese workplace, from small, modern companies to big traditional ones. Or in other words, they worked jobs that didn't involve teaching English. They needed to be proficient in the Japanese language and business culture. All the interviewees speak English, have lived outside of Japan for some period of time, and have university degrees. So these are not your typical Japanese workers, let's just be ultra clear on that. But I think they do help give insight into what it's like working in Japan and how it compares to working in a global or Western workplace.

This is the short version of the interviews. For the hour long version please check it out at https://youtu.be/qrWkgVu2MHo

**CORRECTION: It's illegal to not pay overtime, even for…