IntroductionThis essay provides an account of Japanese human resource management practices1 used in subsidiaries in China. This essay is organized as follows: the first section is about human resource management practices in Japan and their development; the second part covers the main differences between Japanese and Chinese human resource management practices, and the third and final part examines the problems that Japanese human resource management practices face in their subsidiaries in China. First of all, attention will be focused on the Japanese human resources management system and its characteristics, and above all on the significant changes that occurred in the period 1960-1980 and from the decade of the 'Bubble Economy' onwards. The second section compares these characteristics with the Chinese human resources management system, highlighting their common and different points; This analysis is useful in understanding the main problems that Japanese companies face when operating subsidiaries in China. These issues will be studied in the last section of this essay. Human Resource Management in Japan Human resource management is the process by which a company manages people to achieve a result (Keeley, 2001, 17). A country's human resource management practices are closely linked to its cultural, socio-political and physical environment. Culture is one of the most important aspects to consider when studying human resource management practices; the influence of culture is essential throughout the human resources cycle: selection, recruitment, feedback, evaluation and interviews (Kaminsky, 2002). Human resource management practices in East Asia are believed to be significantly influenced by Confucian values; in particular Japan manifests this paternalistic vision of life with some key components, such as: lifetime employment, the importance of the employee's needs and the encouragement of team processes (Pucik and Hatvany 1983, cited in.... .. half of the document ......as, 2002). As Beamish, Delio and Makino (2001:89) state, this ethnocentric style of multinational management can lead to few opportunities for local citizens, although in recent years a slight shift from ethnocentrism to polycentrism can be seen in Japanese subsidiaries in China (Nakamura, 2001). Conclusion Human resource management practices in Japan have gone through many changes and reforms. In recent years, Japan has been opening up to foreign markets and one of the countries where the branches are most numerous is China. In China, Japanese human resource management faces many problems, although most of them are not related to China itself but are related to the HR practices used by Japanese companies abroad. Due to the growing importance of Chinese business in the world and the constant evolution of its human resources management system, Japan is trying to find solutions to these problems, although it is not an easy task.