Japan's top companies are increasingly moving to give foreign people permanent contracts, judging that the benefits of diversification are well worth the challenges.

Among them is convenience store chain Lawson Inc., which has awarded between 10 and 30 percent of its graduate positions to foreign nationals over the past several years.

Among major manufacturers, such as Fujitsu Ltd. and Hitachi Ltd., around 10 percent of the new graduates scheduled to start work in the business year beginning next April are not Japanese.