Job Hunting and Fairness in Japan

On Your Mark, Set . . . Bang! That’s how job hunting of Japanese college students starts. All of them are made to wait for the “Bang”, which date is set by Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), a very powerful business association. The date, therefore, is not mandatory, but a consensus made by a group of prime Japanese corporations. The idea of setting the date comes from the Japanese sense of fairness that all companies have the same chances to employ good students. This is the reason why not just member companies (about 1,300) of Keidanren, but also many others follow suite. It is not too much to say that jumping the …