[noodle]

I don't think you're understanding what I'm saying! I UNDERSTAND what you're saying, but that's with respect to JAPANESE! It's been long said that once a Japanese person starts work in one company, he stays there till he/she is retired! I'm not debating that.

Look at it this way. My soon to be sister in law got ACCEPTED for a high ranking job in Yokohama coming from Korea because of her EXPERIENCE and English level! This was in engineering! And before you ask, it wasn't one of those rare foreign engineering companies in Japan, it was a Japanese company.

I really don't think it works like you're saying. I guessed you would say the "going up in the company quicker" thing, but that's just silly! Japan would never get any half DECENT engineers if they really had to work their way up, even if it was them working their way up quicker! No one would be interested in going to Japan, especially when engineering jobs in Japan are known for their low pay, extra long hours and lack of fringe benefits and/or bonuses.

Secondly, I didn't say students specialised at engineering school. At least, that's not what I wanted to imply! Once you've graduated as an Engineer, in almost every country (i.e. Masters degree level), you're not specialised! From there, you have two options, to continue studying to specialise, or you go into a company to specialise. BUT, you are not specialised after the 5 years of University or Engineering School.

As for the "this is japan, not the rest of the world" remark, I think you should take a look at the rest of the world! Japan isn't so "unique" when it comes to hired foreigners!

EDIT; I forgot to mention. I spoke to my dad about this who asked an old French colleague of his that went to to work as a Marine Mechanical Engineer with 7 years experience. His starting pay was 750,000 JPY / Month