Students graduate in March in Japan, and new employees begin to work in April, when the fiscal year starts. This February the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry carried out a survey of foreign students and former foreign students about working environments. Eighty-three percent responded that Japan was an attractive place to live in, while only 22 % replied that it was an attractive place for work. It has been pointed out that foreign students find it hard to adapt to the unconventional customs of Japanese companies, including cleaning the workplace, radio gymnastic exercises, long working hours, and the difficulty of taking paid holidays. On the other hand, 70 % of university and post-grad graduates wish to work in Japan. However, only about 40% of the students actually obtained a job; this is because 80% of foreign students want to work for a big company, and are not interested in medium or small sized companies. However, medium to small sized companies account for 99% of offices and for 70% of total employees. In addition, approximately 60% of these companies aim to employ foreign staff. If foreign students changed their attitude towards medium and small sized companies, it is probable that the ratio of respondents viewing Japan as an attractive place to work would increase. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, at the end of October 2015, there were about 910,000 foreign workers in Japan, a record high. Approximately 150,000 offices employ foreigners, which is 11.1% higher than last year. In terms of nationality, China comes top with about 320,000 people (35.5% of total foreign workers), followed by Vietnam, the Philippines, and Brazil. The policy of the Japanese government is to discourage immigration, while being eager to welcome the highly skilled – as long as they meet certain conditions in reference to their profession and income – as well as foreign students who obtain certain qualifications. These “specialized and technical sector” workers number about 170,000, which is 13.6% higher than last year.