Pros
Work/life balance is decent - it's your typical 9-6 job with little mandatory overtime. However, due to the strict Japanese business culture, coming in late at 9:01am will result in you being warned/punished, and even shamed publicly. Career opportunities: You'll get to improve your Japanese language skills and learn more about many different Japanese-related jobs. However, they've since transitioned from HR consulting to focusing only on recruiting and placements, so there are very few transferable skillsets you gain outside of recruiting. Even then, due to the lack of a fully-functional ATS/CRM, the experience you do gain is sub-par at best. Your life beyond TOP will largely depend not on the skills learned on the job, but the extra effort you put in as an individual outside of work hours. Due to favoritism of Japanese employees and oppressive micromanagement, opportunities for advancement are limited. Even if your title changes, your duties will not. Nice co-workers: Outside of management, there are many fun co-workers with interesting personalities. You'll likely get along with many of them due to your shared interest in Japanese culture and business. Unfortunately, almost all of them leave without that same interest after having the reality of working for a strict Japanese business taking its toll.
Cons
Compensation & benefits: Below market-rate comp. The top performers barely make market-rate salaries, and to be one of them is largely a factor of luck as they're (non-coincidentally) assigned the "money-maker" accounts in an ambiguous manner. Benefits such as insurance, retirement, PTO, etc. are just half a step above the bare minimum. Culture & values: Toxic, oppressive, passive-aggressive. There's also a lot of politics, backstabbing, harassment, and racism (this coming from a full bilingual) - I was treated as Japanese when it was convenient to them, and as an American otherwise. New ideas are publicly encouraged, while behind the scenes they just throw all of them in the waste basket. There are frequent violations of HR laws - you'll at times be sent to an HR seminar, asked to provide a report on compliance, and see the company violate these same laws the next day and not give a care. Look up "Black Kigyo" - you'll be talking about them a lot and realize you're working for one yourself. They bill themselves as helping Japanese companies and candidates, but most positive outcomes are coincidental. Senior management: Almost completely hands-off in running the business. They have a very dated knowledge of recruiting/running a business and fail to listen and implement new ideas. Data-driven decisions and logic are thrown out the window. At times, they will lie regarding policies and business decisions (whether intentionally or not). Every company has its issues. However, problems they had when I joined were still there when I quit a few years later. I've left for more than a year now, and for comparsion, at my new company those same types of problems are fixed on the same day. **Important Note** - Take a close look at the positive reviews. If you pay attention, you'll see they're not written by a native English speaker - they're written by the Japanese upper management masking as regular employees. Management is of course entitled to their own opinions, but I'd advise you to look at the wording, see their motives, and consider the skewed perspective they're writing it from. These are the types of "solutions" they come up with to solve their problems. Would you want to work for a company like that?