Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice.
Background:
I’m currently working as a software developer at a mid-sized company in Nagoya, Japan. I joined in February 2025, right after graduation, along with two other new grads from my home country (2 males and myself, female). The company director and manager personally visited our country to recruit us. I’m N3 certified and work fully in Japanese.
In the job description we received before joining, it clearly mentioned that WFH was allowed up to 2–3 days per week.
The issue:
When we first joined, we didn’t push for WFH because we genuinely wanted to learn as much as possible in-office and integrate with the team. However, it’s now been over a year.
We’ve asked about WFH multiple times, but we’ve never received a clear reason why it’s not allowed for us. Instead, we get vague responses or delays.
What’s difficult for me to understand is that the other Japanese fresher employees were granted WFH within 6 months of joining. That inconsistency makes me wonder whether we are being discriminated against.
On top of that, I have severe PMS symptoms that make commuting very difficult at times. My commute is about 1 hour each way (we live in company-provided dorms). I brought this up with my manager, even though it was uncomfortable to discuss. Unfortunately, the response was dismissive and no alternative (like occasional WFH on difficult days) was offered.
There are only two women in our entire department. The other woman (also non-Japanese) mentioned she also had to push very hard before being granted WFH.
Other context:
– We have 8 days of paid leave (+2 mandatory paid leave days).
– Technically, I feel confident in my skills.
– I’m comfortable communicating in Japanese at work.
– I enjoy development work itself, but I’m starting to feel discouraged about the environment.
My question:
Would you consider this a red flag worth job hunting over?
Should I escalate this to HR formally?
Or is this something that’s relatively normal in Japanese companies and I should wait it out longer?
I’d really appreciate advice from people who’ve experienced similar situations.
by SomeUser02