[samokan]

to answer #3 . if you plan to get a land a job in Tokyo , yes it is possible. Some of my junior colleagues who virtually don't speak Japanese are now working in Tokyo and earning more than me and japanese is not a requirement. BUT all of them used to worked in major japanese companies before, so even though they don't know how to speak the language they know the politics inside a japanese company which is actually a big factor.

Osaka and Fukuoka software companies are more strict compared that of Tokyo.

There are 2 ways(that I know) to get into a Japanese company, one is to get directly hired and another is use an agent.