Vantaggi
You have the opportunity to acquire a lot of experiences in a short period of time. There are some great people there, and in general individual departments do build a sense of camaraderie. The company does look internally first to fill open roles. The power tools division of Hitachi has a lot of potential if it could get out of its own way.
Svantaggi
There is no long term strategy, road map, or mission statement. The company as a whole has very little power - everything is controlled in Japan. Essentially it is just a sales office, so if your position is not directly tied to sales then you are not valued. No investments are made in anything that does not directly create immediate sales. Hitachi relies on the "if we build it they will come" strategy, relying solely on their engineering and efficiency to spur sales without any real marketing or consumer research. Even with this strategy new products are few and far between. While there is the allusion that you are making an impact, none of the employees are empowered to do anything. All decisions are made by the top 2 or 3 people. While the benefits package was good, the pay was poor. Don't expect a salary increase - merit based or cost of living adjustment. There is no formal training program, it is very much sink or swim. As an old world Japanese company, work-life balance is not a consideration.