„SCHWARZE SCHIFFE“ IN DER JAPANISCHENARBEITSWELT

This paper analyses the evolution of the image of Western corporations asemployers in Japan since 1945. It shows how the changing perception of Westerncompanies in Japan has influenced their position in the Japanese labour market andtheir ability of successfully recruiting highly qualified Japanese staff. Accordinglyto the changing positive or negative self-view of Japan, the image and perception ofWestern companies has strongly altered in Japan. In the first postwar years, the fewWestern companies active in Japan, and especially the US-American companiesamong them, enjoyed a very high status and were highly popular as employers.However, simultaneously to the institutionalization of the Japanese employmentmodel during the 1960s and the increasing self-confidence the perception of Westerncorporations started to change....