[LynnieS]

There are multinationals with offices in Japan that offer summer internship-type programs. However and to the best of my knowledge, they will almost always accept local students and graduates only. It will take, IMHO, a very strong candidate for them to even consider a foreign student, esp. for this current economy. Education-wise, the interns with whom I had spoken and worked were, to a person, earning their masters degrees; not a single college-level candidate at all. They were also already being considered top candidates for post-school jobs as well.

Not every company or industry will be this tough, but there are going to be hurdles in your way, esp. if you can't find a resource in the library describing companies offering such a program.

One possibility - if you have the time and money - is to come up first with a list of companies interesting to you (work, mandate, business area, etc), travel to Japan and ask their people in person. This may work, but only if (1) you are enthusiastic and (2) they are willing to give it a try. Small firms in less conservative sectors should also give better responses, but just be prepared to end up with lots of rejections. Japan is still pretty conservative, IMHO.

Also, find out what restriction(s) your citizenship will have in terms of your working in Japan temporarily. If you need sponsorship of a work visa, most if not all companies may not talk to you - given that it'll not for a full-time job.