Life in Japan

What's it like to

work in a

Japanese office?

...is different than in the U.S. in many ways.

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Working in Japan

It's Monday again. When Monday comes, work comes along with it. Need to eat my nutto and commute to my office in Shibuya. Oh! Shibuya! I have so many stories about Shibuya. But, that's for another BitFlip!.

For most people who live in Japan and work in Tokyo, commuting on the train means over an hour of standing on the feet of people. who are also going your way.

The ride into Tokyo is a real blast. Imagine getting on a train that is already full. No room for one more person. That's the train you have to get on, or you will be late for work. I close my eyes and run into the train of Monday morning salary men and office ladies. They, well..just ignore my pain.

At the office

You step inside your office and grab a cup of Boss coffee and go to your Monday morning meeting. Oh! The group exercise is so much fun. I don't do it. The Japanese employee's hardly do this anymore. I remember a few years back they did the exercises, but with the new modern ways of globalization - they tend to ignore the old ways of traditional Japan.

I would have to say that Japanese "salarymen" working in a Japanese corporate environment work very long hours ( or look like they are working very long hours...)

They get to the office at around eight in the morning and are at their desks until eleven or twelve at night.

I have done that sometimes just to see what they actually do at their desks. Most ( not all ) pretend to be working so the boss can count the number of hours they are at the office. And that is the important part. How may hours did you work in a given day to show your loyalty? Never mind the quality of work done, just the count of hours matters. Oh! And Japanese salary men don't get paid over time. I, do.

After work

After work I go home. I am not one to go out every night to get drunk with the people I worked with all day. But in Japan, after work represents the time to go out with your fellow co-workers and get very drunk.

When one is drunk in America, one may go to jail for public intoxication. In Japan, being drunk on the streets of any town or city is not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, shows of drunkenness are not frowned upon in Japan at all. The thinking goes something like this. If you are that drunk, you must be working very hard and very stressed out. So go ahead and drink 'til you are in a comma.

I have been here in Japan well over 13 years back and forth from Hawaii and Seattle, and I still get shocked when I see a Japanese salary man face down in a soup full of his own...soup.

Anyway, life is great in Japan. Monday is over, and now...I look forward to Tuesday.

The next day

Tuesday, I get to lunch at Mr. Donuts with a new client, and dine at Cute Hoshino's with my friends!

Yes. They are real names of real restaurants...

Happy job hunting!

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