Dozens of young people from around Asia descended on Tokyo last month for a job fair, dressed in a plain black suit of the type considered "the uniform" for Japanese college students when they meet with prospective employers.
Some of the visitors said they were attracted to the nation's cutting edge technologies while others expressed interest in the comprehensive in-house training provided by Japanese firms.
However, Japan Inc. may not be all a bed of roses when it comes to conservative labor customs. These include the male-dominated management style, rigid seniority system and long hours that sometimes even results in death from overwork, the phenomenon known as karōshi.