Japanese businesses are dvided into two main categories. The first is that of the major corportations that work closely with the Ministery of International Trade and Industry. These large Japanese corportations employ approximately one third of the Japanese work force. Approxinately 30 percent of Japanese frims are in this category. The second category, comprising 70 percent of Japanese firms, is that of smaller businesses employing the other two thirds of the work force. Smaller companies often have ties to the large companies and do subcontracting work. Companies in the second category do not offer lifetime employment. For the major companies, the advantage of subcontracting is that in times of recession they can reduce their orders to subcontractors and avoid having to fire their own employees.