Entertainment Hostessing used to have a similar aura to English teaching in terms of the potential to make a lot of money in a short period of time. The main source of this money was also the same - wealthy businessmen getting ever wealthier in the bubble economy. For these nouveau riche, hanging out with a foreigner, whether it was an English teacher or a beautiful woman, was part of the game. The economy took a nosedive in the 90's and with it went extravagant pay rates. Hostessing still pays more on average than teaching but the hours are usually late and the company can be as unsavoury as ever.
Sexism is still the norm in Japan and women are often judged on their appearance.
This is particularly so in hostessing and is often directly related to one's rate of pay. Computer work These days, fast-changing IT and financial companies compete with each other in a search for the right staff and recruitment companies also advertise regularly for professional and managerial staff. Contract work has become more common, especially in the areas of networks, DTP and multimedia. There are several companies that specialize in finding and placing foreign staff. Qualifications in things like engineering, medicine and law are useful for rewriting work, while Japanese language ability is obviously a major factor in getting translation work.