Avoid if possible, it's not worth it! - werkgeversreview Product Manager bij Rakuten

- high turnover rate (especially of foreign employees, probably due to the points listed below) - within the building, all vending machines and convenience stores require payment by Rakuten Edy card. - inadequate onboarding and "mentoring" for mid-career hires (I was left to my own devices for almost two weeks because no one else on my team even knew what I was supposed to be doing, also I was never informed of my team watching Asakai from our own floor and not the 4F conference hall. I've heard of similar accounts from other foreign co-workers) - mandatory weekly Asakai (morning meeting) which is mostly meaningless because it's required to be in English with 1-2 minute robotic presentations done factory-line style. Look around every time and you'll see about 1/3 of the people around you are asleep. - the company's outward image does not match the experience from within. The company boasts about being a global innovation company but is still very much a traditional Japanese work environment. Lots of rules which make you feel like an elementary school student (if you're late to Asakai, you'll be placed in a "Tardy Room" as punishment), bureacracy, heirarchy, and company politics, tons of useless meetings, any attempts to bring about new changes will either take months or will be denied. Business units use very outdated processes and methods (like using Excel as a word processor, or to track project status) - bizarre cult-like worship of CEO Hiroshi Mikitani. Meanwhile he uses his weekly Asakai speeches to brag about his famous "friends" while in Silicon Valley - frustrating elevator scheme. Mornings mean long lines due to the lack of flex time, with elevators that only stop at certain floors. The rest of the time, the elevators will only stop at even or odd numbered floors depending on the month - no sick days, and the CEO regularly dodges any questions about introducing them