Pros
Rakuten.com (formerly known as buy.com) certainly has its upside. Food was provided twice a week. Regular company meetings on a weekly basis keep everyone up to date and educated about the industry. Fun events every quarter (cake for launches of new products etc). The Japanese influence is there and both interesting and entertaining. The company as a whole has potential.
Cons
This is where it all starts. Buy.com rebranded to Rakuten.com back in early 2013. Until mid 2014, issues regarding the rebranding still existed. Both consumers and businesses are not open to the change or the name. How does this translate to the work environment? More stress for everyone. Numbers that go up and down. Small teams that desperately need more people are unable to handle the influx of merchant demand. Sales has a harder time pitching. A number of top management left (albeit not due to issues but for their own personal reasons). This left more aggressive, and now-focused (as opposed to future focused) management in place. A good amount of stress as a result of these issues.