Company: Microsoft
Date: 2016-08-27
Overall rating: 4/5
Employment status: former
Experience level: Senior

Senior Program Manager Lead
Pros: At Microsoft you really do feel like you have the ability to do just about anything.  If you aren't happy with what you are doing at the moment, there are other opportunities throughout the company.  
The pay, in Japan, is quite a bit higher than similarly spaced Japanese firms.
Cons: When you are remote, visibility is an issue.  This is something that you need to fix on your own as if your boss is not in Japan, they cannot see you and if you aren't seen, it is hard to move and easy to be overlooked.
Case in point, Redmond (Windows team) decided in 2014 to lay off all Windows Program Managers who were not in Redmond (a few slipped through the cracks, but the majority went).  Didn't matter if you were a high performer, low, or middle of the pack.  They gave us a month or two to find a transfer position, or accept their package... to took the latter.
This is another negative about the Japan office if you aren't in sales or support, the jobs are few and getting fewer (when I left).  If you are willing to move to Redmond, the sky is the limit, but if you want to stay in Japan, sales and marketing may be the way to go.