[Nathan]

Even some companies in the western world work slow sir.

A friend of mine applied to work at a bank here in Canada, and it took them 4 months to respond to his application. It lucked out for him, since he had just been laid off from his previous employer.

But it goes to show you its not just a Japanese thing. Bigger corporations take a long time to shuffle paperwork through HR. It's that much more work when you are talking about visas.

I know some eikaiwas will even want you to get a medical checkup before they will start the visa process.