They can tell right away from my name that I'm not Japanese, but yes, most of them are surprised to find out that I'm female. I think being foreign helps in a lot of ways, since I'm dealing with localizations into English, so it's like "proof" to them that I'll produce good English (not that being a native speaker means you have any actual talent with a language, but never mind!). Sometimes it can be a hindrance as Japanese people are more likely to trust a fellow Japanese person, and of course there can be some problems with communication since I don't have perfect keigo/business Japanese skills. Being female doesn't seem to obviously hinder me, but I'm almost certain it has at least subconsciously altered some people's impressions of me, and made it more difficult for me to get companies to take me seriously.

Overall, my dealings with companies have been mostly neutral to negative, although I do have one very good client who I'm always delighted to work with. So I know there are great companies out there, it's just finding and accessing them that's the hard part!