As Japan faces a gradually graying population, international professionals are increasingly expected to play a wider role in society, both as private citizens and employees. In communities across Japan, it is already common to see foreign nationals working in a variety of industries such as those focused on tourism and language education. At the same time, there are currently only about 1,080,000
international professionals - or about 0.9% of the workforce - employed in Japan. Many feel that attracting more international professionals to Japan will be critical to revitalizing the country's society and economy, but more than two-thirds of foreign national surveyed in a recent poll said they found working in Japan unappealing. If we hope to realize a bright future together, it will be critical to figure out how to make Japan a more appealing and supportive environment for international professionals. We at Link Japan Careers think that it is necessary to provide supporting structures that allow international professionals to work and live comfortably in Japan while coming to understand Japanese culture and lifestyle habits and, at the same time, leveraging the differences between Japan and their own country as strengths. We call the techniques we use to create these structures "Cross-Cultural Design" (* trademark pending). Link Japan Careers' mission is to promote Cross-Cultural Design for all stakeholders involved in working with international professionals in order that Japan will be seen as an attractive place where talented foreign nationals will want to work.
