With its schizoid hybrid of Advanced Capitalism and Zen Buddhism, Japan has a magnetic pull on some people. Tokyo is a vital, edgy and exciting place to be; crowded, cramped, noisy and hectic, it is the “archetypal concrete jungle, but with a real charm to it.” While you can get yourself the latest all-singing all-dancing mobile phone for mere pocket change, you may surprise yourself by succumbing to a six quid can of baked beans. Go in September to miss the rainy season and enjoy the skiing. March is a month of blue skies and cherry blossoms, and a time when the Japanese go to extraordinary lengths to celebrate the changing of the seasons.

Work: Forget genteel tea ceremonies and Geisha entertainment, a posting to a Tokyo office slams trainees straight into finance work and lots of responsibility. There may also be energy and litigation matters. You need to have “a lot of stamina,” because the hours can be long, and you’re quite likely to handle a number of your own files, so “you won’t feel like a trainee.” A working grasp of Japanese is essential if you want to get the most responsibility possible and if you’ve got it there may be translation work and you “can often act as a go-between for clients.” Your colleagues too will expect some cultural understanding and most are incredibly friendly who “appreciate you’re also here to enjoy Tokyo and Japan in general and allow you the time to explore.” As one trainee subtly put it, “the market in Japan has dropped off the edge of a cliff,” and it was clear that Tokyo was one of the epicentres of the crisis with corporate work tailing right off at the end of 2008. There were firms that moved trainees around as a result, particularly into dispute resolution teams. And even though corporate lawyers were feeling the pinch, no trainee was left twiddling their thumbs when things picked up again, with some even working “until midnight every night for two weeks including weekends!"

Rest and play: A western-style apartment is rare; most trainees reside in traditional Japanese-style accommodation complete with tatami matting. Herbert Smith trainees, for example, all stay in the same apartment block and regard it as “one of the glamorous trainee seats you can do.” There is also an “uplift in your salary so you can truly appreciate Tokyo living” and firms tend to cover the rent, bills, flights and no doubt the latest Blackberry. It’s far too easy to work and play in the same district, so make the effort to get out of Roppongi and its expat bars and English pubs. You can expect lots of travelling to diverse locations in short spaces of time as well. At weekends, bullet trains can take you to Hiroshima, Miya Jima and Nikko for day trips, and in winter you can be on the slopes in an hour and a half. Gentlemen, unless you’re tiny, take plenty of clothes with you, as you’re unlikely to find much that fits. Ladies, retail therapy won’t be in the least bit therapeutic, as you’ll probably need to buy size extra large unless you have the hips of a nine-year-old. One of the more popular spots to find fashion is in Daikanyama, which is Tokyo’s answer to Camden. Karaoke is a must, and the Japanese do it in a booth with their friends, so it’s not at all embarrassing.