Kyodo News Service Keizo Mori is one of many old-style Japanese corporate warriors trying to keep up in an internationalized work environment where mastering English has become key to climbing the promotion ladder.
"TOEIC (the Test of English for International Communication) will shortly be adopted as one of the requirements for promotion to department manager at my company," said the 30-year-old Mori, whose real name was withheld at his request.
An increasing number of Japanese companies are starting to look at scores in English proficiency tests such as TOEIC when deciding promotions and pay raises, and many of them are also making English their official in-house language.