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Damn I always wished to visit Japan. Their discipline is great and everyone should follow. Thank you for all your videos. Keep it up please upload more as possible. So you can educate us westerners 😊
In Germany, the company is held liable if you do not take your paid vacation, so the company may actually force you to take it within a given time-frame.
So basically the most important thing about your job it's to keep your coworkers happy, even if it means not giving quality time to your family or yourself. There are many things I admire about Japan, but work culture it's not one of them
And of course this can lead to your mental health spiraling and eventually suicide if you cannot get a grip. It doesn't help that there's no Saviour and only idols galore
And never complain to your manager about the things that the company is supposed to do, either contractually or legally. Obviously it is your coworkers fault that you have to stay until 21:00pm to finish something your manager overpromised, or yours that you are not capable enough to reach your manager's expectations of you... There is no way out of that despair than numbing everything you feel and think until your life means nothing, even to you :(
@@MrAdminaras This is what i'm hearing. If your manager is overdemanding, its YOUR fault. I'm sorry but WTF??? No way in hell would this fly in any western country except the US where the result is being fired because of at will employment.
If your deadlines cause you to work past your work hours regularly, it’s because someone else like a manager is failing to give out appropriate deadlines to clients. You can talk about not wanting to cause trouble, but it’s ignoring the systemic issues that system creates causing managers to consistently feel pressured to crunch people.
Exactly this. If it's once in a while, whatever. But regular overtime is a failure of management to set reasonable expectactions and overworking their employees to actualize their mistakes.
I've been to Japan 17 times, my first being about 15yrs ago. I realised VERY quickly that I LOVE Japan - BUT - I would NEVER live there nor work there. It's an amazing place to visit.
Thanks for the information. My only issue with this is 1- Japanese people themselves complain about these work conditions (some to the level of suicide) 2- for a country complaining or fearful of the decreasing population, it’s counterproductive to think the birth rate will pickup when people hardly have time to build families or relationships due to their extreme work demands (hours)
This is why fresh perspectives are useful. Left to their own devices, Japan with their working culture will cease to exist. They must adapt or perish, and having foreigners who can help bring about change is key
@@kaitanuba Tthat's exactly the problem with Japan. The Japanese hate their working culture just as much as we do. However, in western culture, as a whole, when something becomes outrageous and we disagree with something, we tend to protest, complain, strike, etc. When something happens in Japanese culture that they hate, they always just say, 仕方がない or "It can't be helped"
I totally agree. As much as we foreigners admire Japanese culture, it is important to keep in mind that the Japanese way of life is not sustainable from a demographic perspective. It needs to change in some way, sooner rather than later.
My wife is Japanese who worked in offices and retail for many years. After working in Australia for a year or two, she one day turned to me and said "There's no F'King way I could ever work for a Japanese company ever again". Yup, what she said
Yes agree... My korean and Japanese friends are also said the same thing. They love Australian working culture. We have balance between work and personal life. If we are saying that we are busy, that is nothing compared to japanese working culture. When I travelled to Japan, the train station was still busy at midnight.... Unbelievable 😬. No time for family or personal need. But I heard, although they work long hour, the result is the same productivity as in Australia
My friend worked briefly as a junior architect in Miami, Florida. He then started working for a Japanese company back in Tokyo (he is from Japan, we met at university here in the colonies). He worked for maybe 3 or 4 years but developed Major Depressive Disorder. He took a year off to recollect himself, became fully licensed and works for a smaller start-up that is very successful in 3D animated safe workplace videos where he has to design the workplace environments using the same techniques as architecture. Essentially, he gets to develop small film productions and utilize architecture (the two things he loves most). He said the ethos for workplace manner is a very good blend of Western and Japanese culture: fantastic teamwork but awareness of personal needs. He hasn't had any problems since. I *know* I could not work in a strict Japanese company!
I think Japan can get to you in general, its an oppressive feeling after awhile...that strictness.. combined with the insane advertising barking at you when you go shopping etc
All the reasons lead back to “it’s not respectful towards your team” but the question is if the workers have self respect. The fight for workers right in Europe was not a matter of personal advantage, but it made the life of everyone better.
Yeah, European workers rights came about through protest, strike, unions which many years ago, often lead staring death through the barrel of a musket. Whereas 1930's Japan still had the majority of everyday people working almost like 'serfs'. It was only after WW2 Japan inherited some semblence of workers rights from the west, and thus never went through it's own struggle to fight for it, meaning most wolf roll over and continue to be abused by the company that employs them. I'm a foreigner who works for a Japanese company in Japan, among many other foreigners, and pretty much every foreigner hear behaves like it's a company back home. Because that's what the ***Japanese GOVERMENT*** wants. The Japanese government realizes Japan needs to change, people need to start having kids, start having lives, and the only way to do that is to break company oppression.
@@lukehulm6819 are you some kind of american libertarian interested in forming an ethnostate? grow up. worker's right benefit everyone unless you're a billionaire or have no idea what you're talking about.
@@327legoman plus you see rich countries with high standards in labor rights, people have kids because they can afford it not only financially. Because having a child won't mean being excluded from society or anything, because people know there is a safety net etc. Good examples are Scandinavian countries and France. In Japan if going home early is seen as being egoistic towards your colleagues, so you have to be egoistic towards your family?
@@fritzjackson4336 Ya this psycho took arguments about union organizing and went off on how much he hates immigrants and wants to shut the border. Complete psycho post. Stay on topic. Worker rights are way higher in countries that embrace an adversarial relationship with corpos. Its not really up for debate.
I worked in Japan and Korea for a bit and both countries are somewhat similar about their work culture. While I understand where it's coming from, I believe that it creates an unproductive environment in a greater scale. There were so many days in both Japan and Korea in which I already finished my work hours ago and is just forced to sit there and appear busy so that I don't offend my co-workers or my boss by leaving "early", which was my actual time to clock out btw lmaoo. It's a waste of time. And when looking at the current issues plaguing both countries (high suicide rates, aging population, low birth rates...) you have to take in consideration that perhaps, this unnecessarily strict and heavy work load is taking a toll on your people and should be changed.
In my experience with Japanese companies I've worked for, it's not always the case. For example, if I finished my assigned tasks by 2 p.m., I would typically use the remaining time to prepare for new proposals or projects. This resulted in achieving better outcomes than my colleagues and enabled me to advance more quickly. So, it's also essential to consider how individuals utilize company resources.
@@gotakazawa408 you misunderstood the posters sarcasm. His normal clock out time would be considered early because of unnecessary time frames. Nothing wrong being done with a required task before it’s time to go home and spending the remaining time to prep for future projects. Everything wrong with expecting people to give up their free time to meet an absurd deadline. Not occasionally but all the time. I agree with the OP about what is ailing Japan.
@@gs-pd5ox Of course, his experiences are undoubtedly true based on his perspective. I am also aware of such issues in Japan and Korea. However, I don’t think it’s appropriate to generalise these issues as problems of the entire country. In Western work culture, I often see the notion that work equals sacrifice. While I agree that working overtime for unnecessary tasks is unreasonable, it’s also true that Japan’s work culture, which views work as a way to contribute to society through the company’s success, has produced excellent products and services. Have you never benefited from such products or services? Although Korea and Japan may seem similar at first glance, perhaps you could take a closer look at the current economic situation, stock markets, and corporate performance of each country. Even just comparing Samsung and Toyota reveals significant differences.
@@gotakazawa408 what’s the point of perfecting a good or service if your society goes extinct? I have personally never been to either country although I have plans to visit both next year so I can only infer based on external information. There needs to be a middle ground. I myself have had salaried jobs and put in the occasional 7 day 70 hour week. I have also left on a Wednesday stating very confidently that I won’t be back until Monday and will not be counting against my PTO so fire me if you don’t like it. Never been terminated yet. You have to prioritize you occasionally. ‘The group before me’ mentality in every waking aspect is obviously unsustainable.
If you want to avoid all the bad stuff while still learning the good (like cleanless and respect) and still work in Japan, look for a job in a company that is aiming to go global and that has lots of foreigners already employed, in particular in IT. I did this for about 3 years in Tokyo and had a blast working in Japan. Of course some of the work culture was still there, but it was mostly the good stuff, in a weird merge with western work culture. Had awesome work-life balance, dressed in jeans everyday, took all my vacations, but also learned tons from my japanese and foreign coworkers about team work and respect, or even cleaning my work cubicule constantly. I think all cultures do offer good sides of things, and our western work cultures also need to learn a lot of things from Japanese work, such as amazing team work.
How can cleanliness and courtesy be qualities parallel to over self exploited culture？not mentioning that those good manner is an outcome of strict boundaries with others.
I will be working in a French company (as a French myself) in Japan starting february 2024. Work is in english and with a lot of foreigners. When i was doing the interview the manager told me "people here take 4 to 6 weeks of vacation in a row to go back to their home country and visit familly" and having heard everything i did about japanese work culture i knew i needed to get that job. Just gotta hope everything goes well afterwards.
This was so nice to read. Glad you had that experience. I was lucky enough to do a temp job in Japan at IBM. It was a short time but you could feel the team huddled nicely around me to get my feedback, seemed like a good feel.
may I ask how much vacation you got? Here in Austria, 25days/year is the standard. (I've heard the Japanese take less than 10days per year on average.)
This seems like a total nightmare to me. If I had to do so much overtime in my country, people would either think I'm really inefficient or that we are severely understaffed. It's also insane that you are supposed to care more about your colleagues than your own family!!
I agree. The prioritisation of work over family is the biggest deal breaker for me. The best advice I was given by university alumni that worked in scientific fields was "Companies are not people. They cannot care about by definition, so you shouldn't care for them beyond your own needs". Even the most workaholic person I have ever met said this and he was still a devoted family man. Also, I'd say laziness promotes creativity. Work smart, not hard.
@@donnyjkimball What does "perform" mean to you? Does it mean to produce high quality work? If so, I hope you know that doing unpaid overtime all week has a negative correlation with work quality. Well rested workers produce higher quality work with fewer errors.
@@adamblance_nihongo would totally disagree with the premise that you can really do anything impactful only working 8 hours a day. 10-12 is almost certainly necessary...
@@donnyjkimball If you work a job where you can actually do something impactful that may be true in some cases. But at least half the jobs out there are not that. Look at any org chart of a company, about half the positions are on the lowest rung of the ladder, and about another quarter are in mere technical functions the company needs to operate, but that are not part of their business model (HR, IT, janitors, cleaning staff). In those kind of jobs, you don't do anything "impactful" by definition. You just exchange your time for money. Which is not very satisfying, and should be balanced by a fulfilling personal life. And by the way: In Germany, a number of companies is running on a 4-shift system. They have seen that the performance of their production workers drops off significantly after 6 hours of work, so in order to improve rejection quotas, they limited work hours. Talk about "impactful"....
I’ve worked in a Japanese corporate environment as a non-Japanese for all of my professional career. These points are all fair, but the reverse is also true. If the foreign staff ignores all of their own cultural expectations to conform, most will quickly become very unhappy at work. A balance is needed and any company hiring international employees should expect some cultural differences. If an office expects complete conformity, it may not be the best match for either.
@@JigglypuffTutorials how smart is this answer. A big applause for this answer ! You know the world is not so easy? Pls don’t make comment if Nobody ask you thanks. By the way I have this two things.
as a foreigner, i've worked in several japanese companies and have found that I have not been able to adjust to the working culture or would ignore the rules as long as i kept my work deadline. watching this confirmed that a japanese work environment is not necessarily for me. the best way to live in japan imo is to be your own boss, somehow. control your own work environment, what and how you do things and whatnot. other than the work culture, the infrastructure, delicious food, relaxing onsens and everything else is pretty great.
Being half Japanese and seeing all my cousins children not want to work for corporate companies, get married or have children are directly related to this work culture. Never seeing a parent, never being together for dinners, missing family events has made them not to want to have children go through what they did. This is Japans problem that they need to fix. Family matters. Women need careers but they need to feel that they can get married and have children. It’s a mans work ethic.
This was my thought. Some of these concerns don't seem 'Japanese' but more universal in that we should be mindful of others in the workplace. But rigid rules that have people staying overtime when work is finished, not using their phone, ordering specific food, not going to the toilet because your colleagues could get mad at you ...? Wanting a balanced life is not entitled behaviour and I can understand why your family members are struggling right now.
America went through a similar problem that is somewhat still underlying. In the early years, let's say 1930-1960, there was an overall understanding that "the company, is the people, without the people, there is no company", and so companies looked after their employees. Somewhere in the 1970's/1980's, this mentality changed to a company being looked at as an all-powerful inanimate object that would accept 0 accountability for anything. It was a "protect the company name above all else" mentality that demanded loyalty from the employees but gave none in return. This toxicity still continues today but has lightened up some, due to employees realizing they need to put their own needs first.
It's sad what you see happening with your cousins children goals. Not having a family nor a career practically means ceasing to exist. You mention, that women need a career: for me It's practically the same as saying, that taking care of the home and family is not a career in and of itself. Do you see what I mean? But my point is, that the minds of a whole population are being played with, their life priorities replaced, to suit foreign goals. Why I say so? Because it is not in Japan's interest to have all of these rules. Yet Japan keeps sticking to them fanatically. This needs to be recognized, the culprit identified and dealt with.
Interesting perspective. I feel people should not cheat themselves of the experience of raising children. Even if it means moving to a cheaper small town and settling for some kind of side hustle income. Children are more important than career!
As a British person, I think what fascinates me the most is: in Japan, it's very shameful to want to go home rather than ensure the team meet the deadline. In the UK, it's shameful to stay behind after work and make the rest of your team look bad by trying to do more work than them. You are expected to think about your team's personal lives as well as what they have come together to achieve as a team. Again, relating to individualism vs collectivism.
I see these as both collectivism, just that one is about collectively caring about your coworkers personal lives and the other, their work performance.
Never understood that. I work hard to make achievements as team, and no one appreciates it, they think I am being selfish, and I want to appear good to my boss.
@@yaz519 You're likely only doing it to avoid conflict. Try it. Rehearse the event first, and several possibilities, from terrible to amazing. Then you'll have a lot more confidence to actually just not try hard anymore... Its actually easier! This is called fear-setting. Once you get to the real event, you've already played it out enough to handle a lot more potential outcomes, and with less suspense, anxiety and compounding neurotic thoughts. You already did that in the practice portion! Easy!
I couldn't do it. I 100% agree with the respect and consideration of your co workers and working as a team towards a goal. Still a firm believer in the military training I received of "If you're early you're on time, and if you're on time, you're late." But, I refuse to put a company ahead of everything else. The whole idea of long hours for the sake of long hours just doesn't set right with me. I'd rather put quality ahead of quantity. When I'm at work, Ill gladly give 110% if the job needs it to get done and get done right, but I refuse to live at work, especially if it's staying "just because".
I'm 10 to 15 min early at my job pretty much everyday. Get my stuff sorted and put away then I'm go go all day but when it's time to leave you better believe I'm going. Unless it's something that absolutely has to be done then ok fine I'll stay but I'm getting paid for it. Know your worth or any company will walk all over you.
I feel the same. I'm usually at my workplace at around 7.50am (official start time is 8.30am) purely to avoid traffic and to answer emails and Sharepoint requests before I start the day proper, but at 5pm, I am out the door quicksmart. The pandemic has taught a lot of workers (myself included) that excessive work hours are not OK. Even though I was one of the fortunate few that was able to still have a job during the pandemic, I was driven to excessive hours and ultimately mental fatigue. If this is what's expected from working for a Japanese company, then 'no thanks'. Which is unfortunate, because I love the Japanese culture in general. It has so much to offer that other countries just simply do not have.
@mohammedhussain6749 I had a job rescuing people with a Helicopters in the ocean mostly for 20 years. I learned from my mentors. You absolutely can't save everyone and never be hard on yourself when things don't go as expected. Too many people in those business are their own worst critics.
I worked in Japan and Korea as well. I realized that I didn't match well with the work culture in those countries. I understand the importance of doing work correctly, and not burdening a team, but there is a limit to how much overtime I will do. By the end of my time working in Asia, my limit was zero, so I thought it was best to leave instead of forcing myself to be there.
@@Anonymouse007 Malaysia is a mixed bag bro. But I do believe it is a good thing for foreigners to experience 1st hand the cultures of covering for your co-worker when they go "solat" or prayers. As a non-Muslim Malaysian myself I do say it did not start off comfortable to me but over the time ...... holy hell, when I go help out in event without Muslim, I just automatically become conscious about personnel rotation to cover for "toilet breaks, smoking break, tea-time, lunch break, pangsai break, vape break" etc & at everyone at closing was like.... "how come this time there's no complain? Especially when everybody also manage to took their fair slacking share?" It was at this moment I truly understood, there's no such thing as "solat impacts productivity". Its just how you manage it.
I’m going to quit my job in the company I worked for three years , simply can not stand it anymore I think Japanese workplace is not a fair place to be in .
It's a massive culture shock for the Japanese expats at my company when they get assigned to the US Branch. The relaxed nature and "results over presence" mindset we have over here sometimes conflicts with what they've grown up with.
I remember several times when they started freaking out that people were leaving before the boss did. "Yoshi, work is over at 4:00. Anything that needs to be done can wait until morning."
In the United States, you can be easily laid off without just cause. Isn't it a bit of a culture shock that people can still feel at ease in such an environment?
Number 2 seems funny coming right after number 1. If the employees can't get out on time, it's because the company is either overpromising on what they can deliver in what time frame and has to force overtime to meet their promise or all of the employees overpromised their skills and therefore can't meet the assumed standards of the deadlines in the industry.
This. Exactly. Also, 3 - it is difficult to establish when the work for the day is done. The extra poor management skills of Japanese PMs put usually too much work load on the teams - actually they tend to commit for 110% in order to deliver 100%. Met many companies and coworkers working this way. Thankfully Im out of that s...t and switched to an international company.
it's worse in America, cause these folks brag about working 90 hers a week... that shit's ridiculous. They have to have multiple jobs, just to make it. Maternal/paternal leave sucks too. Vacation time is rarely paid... is it really that different?
I think there is a point where being considerate of others to the point of being inconsiderate of yourself and managing your own wellbeing becomes toxic and dangerous
I lived and worked in Japan for 4 months. I also noticed they are not very efficient people. They take super long on unnecessary tasks and customs. They also work late just for the sake of working late and bragging on how hard they work. I also lived and worked in Germany for 6 years. Germans provide the same quality work for much less amount of time, and insist bravely on using all their free time. They are super efficient and can do a lot in a small amount of time. I found both cultures providing the same amount of quality work but completely different means to get there. You should also have mentioned about karoshi in your video, which is dying from overworking.
They literally just pretend to work or sit there doing nothing until they see everyone leaving. There will literally do this for hours or even half the damn day. It’s ridiculous. Whatevr my hours are that’s what I’m sticking too. I will always be early or on time. And when the clock strikes the end of my shift I’m gone. Whatevr you think of me is your problem not mine.
That's like my current job. IT for a school system. Our boss is a micromanager/workaholic. I can get the job done in roughly 4 hours. Depending on work orders submitted. She always insists on working a full 8. She'll suggest busy work for us to do. Completely pointless tasks. Luckily, we're salaried so she can't really do much about it.
Yeah - my experience was... The people in Japan were in the office all the time... but actually didn't do very much work. Probably not a surprise - if you work 12 hours a day you're not going to be doing good work.
As a European (Dutch), I would be a very poor fit in these Japanese offices. :D I have no ambition to move to Japan, but my work is in international relations, so I occasionally work with Japanese counterparts. Thanks for the video! It's always good to know a little bit more about other cultures. The "always be on time" rule seems a bit strict, however. In the Netherlands, we also think it's disrespectful to be late, but we'll understand your tardiness if your car breaks down or your child gets sick or something. That's life on Earth. You're not superman.
Dutch as well. The funny thing is about half of these would work very well for me and a lot of Dutch people. For example nr. 8, being on time, is very much a Dutch thing to the annoyance of most expats here. Number 1, 3 and 5 also work well here, and nr. 7 to an extent as well. However the other half (2, 4, 6, 9, 10) would go down very very badly with pretty much anyone Dutch. And of course I'm biased but I think at least a few of those are actually the reason Japan is in such an economic slump.
I am from India, and I have worked for a short while in Japan and the Netherlands. To be honest; Netherlands and Europe seems to have a much better work system. "Work smart" was the motto. Finish your work by 5pm, have a drink with your colleagues and hop onto the tram by 6pm. The rest of the evening is for the family. Whereas in the Japanese company I worked at, you are not expected to leave until your supervisor leaves. So if the supervisor had family problems and did not want to go home, you had it!!
It’s basically toxic work culture. Don’t make a mistake about it, their work ethic and dedication is a big part of their success as a nation. Truly a global superpower for such a small country. But work life balance is also important, most countries are even transitioning to 4-day work week to reduce burnout at work
Maybe in the past this way of working helped them. But as jobs shifted from manual labour to high level thinking, this obsession with working long hours actually hinders productivity and innovation. It's why Japan is falling behind.
Remember folks: Just because the work culture is "normal" and "common sense", doesn't make it right. Especially when it negatively affects your personal life.
That's why Japanese have a word for "death from overwork". Giving your life away so your boss & company can get rich faster and actually glorifying it and thinking is a proper idea. Absolutely ridiculous.
It wouldn't surprise me if at least half of those "unwritten and hidden cultural" rules were actually introduced via propaganda by some japanese companies at some point to form their own perfect, obedient workers.
I think they have an “overwork be hurting your health & shortening your life” slang phrase that translates to “your liver is gonna explode.” Taiwan has a ‘work culture’ that involves being at work all the time. Confusingly, it doesn’t correspond to getting work done or doing a good job: you’re just supposed to be there all the time. Similar to your Japanese “answer your messages right away,” that exists, too. I once caused trouble & seriously annoyed my boss by not answering an email right away, but it was because I had back-to back work meetings all day. I wasn’t supposed to be checking my email during these prioritized, primary, work responsibilities, but nobody thought about that: I did a “disrespect” by not answering the boss right away…
Death from overwork is not just a problem in Japan. It is happening all over the world. In the 70's and 80's, Japan bashing started in the US as Japan became an economic superpower. And at that time, the liberal media in the West put negative words about Japan such as tsunami, Karoshi and Hikikomori into English. This kind of Orientalism was successful, and even today, many Westerners stereotype Japan as the place to go when it comes to suicide. In fact, the suicide rate in the U.S. was higher than that in Japan in the statistics of the suicide rate in 2022.
I know a family that the father is American and his wife is Japanese. They met in NYC when she was working out of the US office. They decide to relocate back to Tokyo when his son was born. After about 8 years in Japan, his wife wanted to go back to NYC, so they could have more of a family life. When she was in Tokyo, she would not get home until at least 8pm or later and would miss seeing her son before he went to bed. She said the number one reason she wanted a transfer was the long hours and not seeing her family. Now they are a lot happier living on Long Island, where she gets to see her now 16-year-old more often. It seems like Japan has a very bad work/family dynamic.
It's not specifically a Japan thing. It's common across many Asian countries as well, where parents work long hours and return home only to find their children already in bed. Japan just has it the worst. This is why some Asian countries/cities are top of the world in productivity and efficiency, but also at the same time have the worst stress levels and suicide rates.
@@SylvSGI remember reading the exact opposite. Some Asian countries don't make the lists of being the "most" productive because there is a false equivalency between hours worked and productive hours. Vis a Vis being present at work (aka the appearance of work) is more important than being productive at work or actually accomplishing something.
Let's flip the script: Reasons why foreigners dislike working with Japanese. 1. Time-wasting meetings with no follow-up action 2. Lack of digitization and poor understanding of IT 3. Responsibility is spread across so many people that nothing gets done and no one can be held accountable 4. No flexibility to adapt to reality 5. Ho-Ren-So causes items to get stuck in the chain-of-command and nothing gets done 6. Making a fuss over irrelevant details while ignoring actual issues
Well, at Swanson in Solon Ohio (NOT a Japanese company), they had a 40 minute meeting about boogers on the bathroom wall. Time wasting meeting happen everywhere.
It's very respectable for people to care about their coworkers and how their absence can effect the group as a whole. However, it is very foreign to me to say that the group is greater than my wife and family. Maybe it's because in the US, I don't really have a allegiance to my company because they could drop me because of a bad quarter of sales or something like that.
Yeah, I think we can gain quite a lot from it if we maintain a balance between individualism and collectivism. Having work-life balance, but also have the consideration for co-workers and to emphasize collaboration.
It used to be that in Japan you would be with the same company for much of your life. Quitting was pretty rare. The opposite end of that is that you work really hard.
It's worth pointing out that in Japan firing or laying people off is usually the very very last resort. Companies receive more loyalty because they _show_ more loyalty. In the US it's a straight business deal. We pay you as long as you're what's best for the company and then we drop you. And in return I work for you as long as you're what's best for me and then I drop you. It would be a very one sided relationship indeed to show Japanese level loyalty to a US company. And similarly a US style employee isn't a very good deal for a Japanese company. Reciprocity. It matters.
Here is my tip for foreigners wanting to work here in Japan (been doing it for many years): If you want your life to be: - miserable - harassed - work overtime for free - ruin your personal relationships - end up "karoushi"ing yourself like a true traditional Japanese salaryman. yeah go ahead and follow the "rules" in this video. The first thing is, that not every company (as mentioned) and not every Japanese person, even in strict companies follow those, this awful work culture is changing little by little. The reason why you can't leave until you finish your work and you have to overwork for the crazy deadlines is because of two things: 1 - Bad management, lacking the ability to negotiate properly realistic deadlines. 2 - The company is taking advantage of the work culture and making their employees work overtime to be able to deliver fast, a lot of times for free (Minashi Zangyo) My advice would be to work by the boundaries laws, and regulations set here in Japan, anything other than that is NOT REQUIRED AT ALL. Yes, I will sometimes work during the night on emergencies or work that can only be done during late hours (I.T.), but I will not work overtime if it is caused by bad management. I will most definitely not prioritize work over my family and friends. If your coworkers hate you for it, let it be like that, and if the environment is not great, just find somewhere else with a better work culture. I love this channel but this is such a bad-taste video in how it was brought, like giving the idea that if you come and work in Japan you gotta follow those... you could've brought up the same topic while just comparing the working cultures of abroad and Japan, without giving this terrible advice.
Agree, definitely a bad-taste video - it only encompasses the negatives (to foreigners) without mentioning things are slowly changing. Last time I worked in Japan I recall the govt introducing measures to combat this toxic work culture. It's slowly becoming less toxic, and if it doesn't - Japan is shooting itself in the foot.
I don't think I could ever live in Japan because of the work culture. I think it's wrong to value your work life higher than your personal life. It's silly to not expect someone to take their vacation. And it's straight up dumb to have people stay later than their schedule, but freak out if they're late. I absolutely don't believe in being late, but I'm not going to want to stay late either. Have the time they are screwing around anyway, because they know they are going to stay late anyway. I'm all for being considerate and working as a team, but there is a limit to everything and the Japanese don't seem to have that limit. That's why I believe they are unhappy as a country and their suicide rate is so high, they have no work-life balance and they have too much pressure on themselves to conform and please others. I love Japan, and despise parts of their culture. Being selfless, considerate, and humble is an awesome way to be, up to a point. You should also care about yourself more than they do in general.
For centuries, Japan had no other "holidays" other than New Year's Day, once a year. Even the concept of "weekly holiday" is an import from overseas and is only about 100 years old. It's no wonder that people don't get used to long vacations. It's a just difference in values, so I think it's a bit too aggressive to say it's 'wrong'. ...Well, as a Japanese person, I can assure you that Japanese people are also fed up with it.
@@tyouseitounyuu You're right, I think 'wrong' is too strong. In my mind it's illogical, which seems wrong to me, but others might not see it that way. Time is either valuable or it isn't, the imbalance for me stems from that.
High standards aside, this imbalance in work-life really must one of the reasons why Japan’s population has been in decline for decades, putting the country’s future in jeopardy. It’s interesting how the short term (in the life of a country) prioritization of the collective (teams for instance) might be the downfall of a whole country (demographics demise).
Good Point, i think the high speed capitalism of todays dont work well together with Japanese Work Ethic. Sure, with this strategy they worked theire way up to the top in many Topics from the 80s to nowadays. But it also may be that foreigners bring jealousy over Japanese workers when they see that they are working less. So diversity has pros and cons.
I just wanna point out that Finland has one of the best work-life balance in the world and isn't doing much better in terms of birth rates. I think the problem lies far beyond that, although I'm not saying this isn't a factor as well. Statistics show that Jpanaese married couple have only slightly less children than before, but the real issues is the number of singles has risen drastically in recent years. I guess one of the main issues is that it's become so convenient to live by yourself that people no longer feel the need to have a relationship?
@@krashme997 i think women are sick of the "women do the household and take care of the kids and men go to work for 15 hours a day and then come home drunk and scream at their wife"-narrative, like all over the world not just japan, but it's still heavily pushed there, but that also means that women have to work now and real talk: do you wanna come home and take care of a husband AND a kid (so 2 kids) after a 10+ hour work day which you have almost every day? with almost no holidays in sight except of golden week as well? and golden week seems like a horror to me if you wanna do a trip, because everyone has the week of it's gonna be so crowded, expensive and noisy everywhere. in japan there is no work-life balance, there is only work-work balance and the high suicide rate and the literal word for people dying from overwork (Karōshi) because it happens so often literally speak for themselves.
They had the same work culture when their population was growing though and as someone else pointed out, other countries with much better work life balance also reproduce below replacement rate.
I am Chinese currently living in 🍁 Canada. I have to admit that Japan and china both have similar workaholic culture and declining populations. I am very grateful to be given lots of freedom and trust at my work place here in Canada and people in North America generally just think work is to facilitate a better quality life, not the other way around.
I think I have always had a bit of a maverick streak, it's likely I would do very poorly at a Japanese company. I respect the level of order and consideration, but this is on a different level.
My problem with their version of "order" is that it is almost all seniority based. Even if a junior may be more productive than someone slightly more senior, it's incredibly difficult for the younger worker to progress beyond someone that started earlier despite performance.
I think it is good to focus on the team more than the individual, but your own personal life matters more than a company. You are a gear. A replacable piece that can always be changed if needed by those in charge. Your health comes before a corporation's deadlines, but always do your best within the frame of reason. You only have one life and you need to get the most out of it, the way that makes sense for you. I work to live, not live to work.
I worked in Japan for a Japanese company and for a foreign company. I wouldn't go back again. To them, spending hours in the office is the most important thing. You can be chatting away with people or doing less but you need to be there to "appear" a hard worker.
Great video, as always, Paolo. Having worked in Japan on and off since 1990, I can say that everything you say is correct. This should be required viewing for anybody who wants to work in Japan.
Would you like a video on why americans dont like working with Japenese people? 1) They are very abusive and practice human trafficking 2) They blame all mistakes on forgianers and never say sorry 3) they pracice ethnic cleansing and. are very very reacist 4) They have no respect for values , cultures and people's personal life 5) they think its ok to piss on peoples bed 6) they show up when no one wants them 6) hey steal from children 7) they always think they are your boss when they are not 8) well 8 is reason 8 -- all the reason no one wants japense co workers ever!
Japan is a great country to travel to, but it's a hell to work there and I have never had a thought to work there ever. (I am currently working in a Japanese owned company outside of Japan)
Would you like a video on why americans dont like working with Japenese people? 1) They are very abusive and practice human trafficking 2) They blame all mistakes on forgianers and never say sorry 3) they pracice ethnic cleansing and. are very very reacist 4) They have no respect for values , cultures and people's personal life 5) they think its ok to piss on peoples bed 6) they show up when no one wants them 6) hey steal from children 7) they always think they are your boss when they are not 8) well 8 is reason 8 -- all the reason no one wants japense co workers ever!
1:50 DO NOT OVERPROMISE AND UNDERDELIVER. Yes! Thank you for saying this! I’m working with some foreigners and always get trouble because of this. Promise just things you can actually accomplish. If you set a stretch goal and are trying to achieve it, we assist you. Both overpromising and underdelivering may lead your colleagues to overwork (which is a bad working culture you guys keep mentioning).
3. Is incredibly toxic. Sacrificing family for the sake of your company is tragic. Family is what matters the most. My boss/manager when I worked at Apple was from Japan. She 100% lives and breathes the Japanese work culture but in the US that did not mesh. She bullied me to the point where I almost ended my life. I had to report her and she was completely shocked. After 13 years I ended up leaving and got unemployment due to a hostile work environment. I have a couple of Japanese friends who have moved to the US and they said there is a lot of accepted bullying in Japan in school and corporate life.
Japanese work life has its pros and cons. The cons tend to outweigh the pros. When I worked in Tokyo 6yrs ago the job I had was demanding & I would be at work till 10pm, sometimes 1am if we had a big deadline to meet in two days. I was single so I didn’t have family at home or worry about my own personal time. What it taught me was how to be punctual, how to organise my time at work, how to be considerate in team projects, to be more vigilant in my work etc. it gave me a good work ethic that worked for myself. However, when I got back home to NZ I had continued that same work ethic. But I also learnt being back at the time was how to prioritise my mental health at work, to not feel guilty about calling in sick, to not feel guilty about going on holiday (I had to stop getting gifts for people in my team 😂) to not feel guilty about taking a day off for a doctors appointment. I also learnt being back that I was burnt out.. but didn’t realise it so I had to take that holiday 😅 It’s not a bad place to work in Japan, unfortunately it just hasn’t caught up to the western ideas. I don’t think it will cause, for me as an individual and based on my own experience. It taught me my own work ethic. It took me coming home to start living life and enjoying it, rather than having that mentality of just working all the time. However, Japanese work culture doesn’t teach you the signs of being burnt out or the lack of support when work is affecting your own mental health.
I’m from Switzerland and I couldn’t work in Japan. We do have many shared values and work etiquettes but other points you made, would be totally unacceptable to me in the long term. So in Switzerland we also value punctuality in general and especially in meetings, it is extremely rude to be late. But if your work starts at 8, you are not expected to arrive early to prepare your station on your own time, you start work at 8 which include the preparation time. You should also be honest about your skills and are expected to be able to do what you say. Submitting subpar work is also frowned upon, but we help new colleagues to become better during worktime. It is also polite to answer to messages quickly during work hours and to not use your phone for private affaires. It’s impolite to leave a mess, but that is true for society in general. It is considered impolite to order something completely different, you wouldn’t insist on a coffee if everyone else just get’s water, but were are more lenient and acceptable of different circumstances and requirements. I would not be ok with working overtime on a regular basis and every time something needs to be finished. We do sometimes work overtime in Switzerland if a deadline has to be met, but to me it is a sign of mismanagement and overpromise of the company, if your employees regularly have to work longer to complete projects. I also think it’s unfair of companies to take advantage of the peoples sense of obligation, teamwork and collectivism, which are admirable qualities. You should only be required to do the amount of work or the hours you are paid for. This applies also to the other point that would be an absolute no go to me, to prioritize work above your personal live. Unless it’s a case of life and death, work is not more important than your personal live, it’s important to have a good balance of the two. Not taking all your vacation days and seeing it as a commitment to the company is stupid in my opinion. By going on vacation to relax and by taking time off if you are sick, you will be a more healthy, effective and motivated teammate at work. And if your co-workers are overburdened and strained by your absence, it just shows once again the mismanagement of the company and the fundamental flaws of the system at large. I find it quite sad that workers are used to a system of compliance that causes them to see vacation as burdensome and causes resentment among teammates over such ridiculous thinks as taking more bathroom breaks than others. In conclusion, I think it’s quite ironic, that the collectivist Japan and the individualist US for example, have such different cultural values over all, but end up with a similar oppressive work culture. I hope that in the future a good work-life-balance will valued everywhere.
Thank you so much for this video, Paolo! As a Japanese Language teacher, I'm gonna share this with my students 🙏 because even when I have told them these things before, it will be so much cooler coming from you 😉
Siempre hay un brasileño para hablar mierd4s de brasil. Por qué son ton idiot4s. Apoyen a tu país, caraj0. Sos brasileño. No hay nadie de Sudamérica ou europa acá criticando su próprio país
I definitely couldn't work in Japan. I take all my days, and I leave when I'm supposed to. Weirdly, I see it as the same reason the Japanese do so: my team should see that it's ok to leave work and go home and not work 2-3 hours after. My colleagues should understand that as a team we're better off when we take time for ourselves and our families and not "the boss". I couldn't work in Japan because Japanese work culture is utterly toxic. It's not about the team. It's about the boss. It's not cultural, because this work culture is a recent phenomena post-WW2. It's one used to get those at the top more money.
It does. I really do admire how so many business owners in Japan pour their soul into making great products/services for people. I love how tight-knit the work culture is and how willing people are to help others… But to me, letting a coworker work themselves to death is the ultimate act of selfishness. I’d rather have a work culture where people don’t feel like a burden taking a day off than one where they must carry all their coworkers feelings and lives on their shoulders.
Sadly I agree with you. I live and work in Japan and people literally work themselves to death because of expectations and the need to deliver the best product every time.
@@Daneelwiggins if teaching kids how to be respectful and not become little brats or hooligans I guess some countries need to from Japan. They start early because they know that respect is a very important factor when it comes to the work environment.
Overworked, underpaid, harassed if they don't stay hours past their worktime. And this is supposed to be a positive? Clickbait title, obvious content, and no lack of circlejerk for the hellscape that is the Japanese workplace and dropping social life for the average japanese worker.
Japan sounds like an amazing place to be a big business owner. They have somehow made their workers work extra hard to make them money by using the social norms to make them believe they are working hard for their coworkers and not for the owners. And by making their workers work so hard to be accommodating to their coworkers they have also minimized potential competition since people have less time to start their own businesses. Also, competing against your previous coworkers is not a nice thing to do. Japan sounds like a dream for companies that already are huge, especially if your main market is domestic.
It’s fascinating. My family in Japan revealed the cultural differences. There is some wiggle room on the cultural norms. I spent a summer with the National Defense Academy and the wonderful cadets attending. While their military is strict, they are given wide latitude to excel. Living in a very strict environment yet being encouraged to think outside the norms was a great lesson. The business model seems like an unnecessary harness on their workers. Thankfully their military doesn’t follow that model.
I have a couple friends working in Tokyo and they tell me they are pretty much on call 24/7 via their cellphone even though their job supposedly has no such requirement. It must be fun getting at text at 10pm from your boss. With all the long work hours most Japanese put in, the declining birth date is no surprise as there is little time to socialize with anyone except co-workers--and this too is required. I'm glad I left Japan before the advent of the cellphone! LOL.
People are on call 24/7 everywhere. Doesn't mean you will get called everyday at all hours of the day and night. If your building at work blew up, they would call you at 11pm and tell you not to come into work.
@@Mwoods2272 What a moronic comment just so you can say "well ACTSHUALLY". In Japan you get fired for ignoring calls from work. Meanwhile in America I would ignore every call from my boss, co-workers, the office for years if I'm not on the clock and I got promoted several times. Just because your work might call you to tell you something doesn't mean you're "on-call'. Being on-call means that you're expected to come in at the drop of a hat if needed.
I used to work for a US firm in Tokyo. It's really the same, when there is a business opportunity or an issue that needs to be resolved immediately, you will be getting calls 24/7/365. And the birthrate has nothing to do with work culture, because people have worked as hard in the past. It's just simply too expensive for many to have (many) children.
Prioritizeing your work and company that dont care about you over your private life is straight up nuts, In Croatia here we do our work after we are done we go home and hang out with our family because family is no.1 work no.2, no wonder many japanese refuse to marry or date
@@pf3311From what I gather, Japanese do think like this but I would love to go and personally ask people if they prioritize work over family. This guy seems to present this as quirky Japanese behavior but if it’s true then there’s hints of a dystopian society in all this.
Maybe it has changed, you said everyone order coffee. 35 years ago I worked in Japan with several business meeting/week in other offices. Every time we were served green tea, which I like very much.
I worked for a major Japanese company with Japanese expats over several Asian countries between 2004 and 2014 -. My Japanese colleagues and friends ( many) told me they were the luckiest Japanese workers -escaping this work culture as correctly reflected in the video. I feel truly sad when remembering many of those I worked with. I saw dozens going back to Japan, with some not hiding it, they are going back to a live they don’t want anymore. One particular picture remains carved in my brain.The one of my Japanese peer . A picture of him opening the back window of the Fortuner, water in the eyes as he was put on deportation. My overseas Japanese colleagues were funny, social, cheering - collaborative -visible. Today, only a handful is still on FB or social media. Seems the rest is all swallowed into oblivion. I love certain aspects of Japanese culture - having worked for this Japanese company for 17 years in total but it ain’t all gold nor perfect. Kaizen
and do you enjoy working at your American companies where you get your lunch stolen, must clean the turd smears in the toilet left by the previous user in the employee bathroom, people on social media and taking private calls all day long during the work hours, people leaving on time but never finishing anything, chewing gum, loud talking. The only thing the Japanese need to change is them taking all their days off and, if your work is finished, you leave at your due time. I also like the aspect of not canceling on your co-workers on short notice for bs reasons. I've been in work places where work outing is scheduled months in advance. Then, same day, some entitled mommy will say, hey, I am not coming because I feel like it will be more fun to cook a family dinner tonight. What a piece of work! And also, if you are child-free, in the cherished Western countries, get ready to only have a minimum lunch break while your mommies and daddies get to have 2 hour lunch breaks due to "the littles" and it's the norm to come in late and leave early. Yeah, NAH. I will pass. I am sick of entitled "family men/women" do the minimum, and always pick up their slack and be forced to even adjust when I go to a doctor's appointment because having had unprotected s** is so honorable, they now get priority that you can't even tend to your personal emergencies or urgencies because "you are not a mommy/ daddy." Your family is your choice. Be a considerate member of society, it's not my problem you chose to breed. Parents and grandparents are the most selfish and entitled people.
I know of some workers from Vietnam who have worked in Japan after studying there, and they have received some discrimination and verbal abuse from their Japanese colleagues. Hopefully, this is an isolated incident.
Japan is a cool place but a surprisingly large number of their older population is still pretty racist. And it's not just against Vietnamese people but basically everyone who isn't Japanese lol
I can assure you that it is not an isolated incident. Japanese company working in other Asian countries for example in manufacturing plants, fishing vessel and offshore industry if they have enough japanese working in the company they will form a pack and would go as far as having separate table and lunch menu catered to them during lunch hours and rarely use local or even English language. But if there's only a few of them then they will try to blend in with the rest. I've experienced it first hand in two of the examples I've mentioned earlier in the beginning.
This is one of the most accurate and useful information about work and after-work culture in Japan. Anyone studying Japanese should realize even if you're fluent in Japanese, it's not enough to fit in, in fact, the more fluent you are, the more you are expected to uphold these behaviors. The part about expressing what you want to eat with your co-workers (or Japanese friends) after work is true. The rule is don't draw attention to yourself with words and behavior, but, a lot takes place behind the scenes once you are accepted and commiserating by bad-mouthing someone behind their back is also rampant, but you have to know how to read the air, to avoid becoming a target yourself. Even Japanese have trouble with this.
So...there's the truth. The workers, in fact, are slimy backstabbing cunts. The inscrutability and faux pleasantry is used to hide their deviousness. I get it. Not only are these work culture things rubbish, they are fascistic and petty at the same time. It takes some really fucked up people to drive that.
Who needs real connections with their coworkers? Just make pretend ones where no one actually knows each other because their opinions and preferences are such a hassle for everyone else who also all have to keep their own opinions and preferences to themselves. That's not being a team, that's ignoring your team and burying everyone's potential happiness with a veneer of fake and meaningless work harmony. I would never consider someone else's food or drink preferences to be a hassle unless they had tons of allergies, and in that instance I'd feel sorry for them having to deal with that forever when I'd only have to deal with it occasionally.
Would you like a video on why americans dont like working with Japenese people? 1) They are very abusive and practice human trafficking 2) They blame all mistakes on forgianers and never say sorry 3) they pracice ethnic cleansing and. are very very reacist 4) They have no respect for values , cultures and people's personal life 5) they think its ok to piss on peoples bed 6) they show up when no one wants them 6) hey steal from children 7) they always think they are your boss when they are not 8) well 8 is reason 8 -- all the reason no one wants japense co workers ever!
All of these sound like a good argument to not want to work in Japan. From the toilet breaks to the holidays, Japan needs to get inline with modern society and human changes in needs. I wouldn’t say this is why Japanese hate working with “foreigners”, rather this is evidence that Japan’s work culture is toxic and I’m glad I do not work there.
The most ironic thing about Japan work culture is that it's counter-productive and Japan has hit the ceiling. Not only that, but Japanese government agencies know this already however they don't know how to change it without breaking the system.
My experience is that Japanese co-workers are always surprised (or feign so) whenever I accomplish anything. I feel more like a guest than a co-worker, and I've been on this job for 10 years now. At the same time, my advice is not taken seriously until a Japanese coworker presents the same, and only then is it implemented. It's not the most constructive environment and full of useless formalities that seem self-defeating.
Guess I'm very lucky that I'm only working REMOTELY for a Japanese company based in Tokyo. After watching this video, I'm now very comfortable in my own room 😂I love travelling to Japan, in fact we have a flight to Kansai tomorrow-- I will forever be😄 a tourist in Japan. Edit: I must say though, this video has the weirdest vibe of them all.
These are the core principals that cause high distressing mental health. Even though it's in their culture, so is suicide. This is even without knowing if they are remunerated well, would love some info on this!
Would you like a video on why americans dont like working with Japenese people? 1) They are very abusive and practice human trafficking 2) They blame all mistakes on forgianers and never say sorry 3) they pracice ethnic cleansing and. are very very reacist 4) They have no respect for values , cultures and people's personal life 5) they think its ok to piss on peoples bed 6) they show up when no one wants them 6) hey steal from children 7) they always think they are your boss when they are not 8) well 8 is reason 8 -- all the reason no one wants japense co workers ever!
I worked in Japan for a couple of years and my first company I worked for was considered a black company. So it was extremely strict and managers would literally berate or talk about you in ways that would probably get them fired anywhere else. However, the second company I worked for was more laid back and understanding, which was good. I really liked the second company I worked for. Overall, what Paolo said is true but sometimes it's not that extreme like it used to be.
Could you straw man an advantage to the black companies approach? Like perhaps it toughens you up and you quickly learn what your mistakes are so you don’t continue to make them?
I agree with your opinion based on your experience. Of course, "black companies" still exist, but it's a mistake to consider them typical of Japanese companies. Ultimately, it comes down to individual choice and doing thorough research on where to work.
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As an American who has worked for over 40 years in the engineering field at more than 20 companies (lots of contract work) most all the points are you made apply here as well. The only difference is it won't piss off your co-workers if you don't strictly adhere to every point you made. As long as your competent, maintain your focus on the job at hand, produce good work with minimal mistakes that get caught by your co-workers and visa versa, minimize personal business during working hours and respect others. Rarely will they ask you to work late but you do it voluntarilly to meet deadlines or to address unexpected deadlines. Most employers realize people have other resonsibilities outside the office and don't want to burn the employee out which leads to mistakes and poor productivity. My understanding is that the Japanese are expected to put in long hours and don't have much time to unwind at home after a long day at the office. Personally, I would not want to work for a Japanese company due to the strict work environment. Another issue is in Japan you are basically employed "for life" and moving from one company to another is frowned upon. It's been my experience that employees who have worked for the same company for decades tend to have limited experience not being exposed in different environments tend to have fairly narrow work skills and get complacent knowing they have seniority and are not likely to be "let go" due to mediocre job performance. I've heard of Japanese workers committing suicide due to the stress that can be imposed on them something which is unheard of here in the US.
This is also true in most technical fields, such as IT. The main reason for the stress is not the work itself. In fact, the U.S. actually has more productive workers (#5 currently). The main issue is psychological. Here in the U.S., it's like most countries in that it is socially acceptable for workers to hate their jobs and the rules as long as the work is done and they keep quiet about it while on the job. ie - we all hate working but we do it anyways. Then we complain after work about how it sucked. And all dream of the day we tell our bosses off and start our own business. :) So the stress has an outlet.
@@plektosgaming I'm sure there is a sizable number of people who hate their job especially if it's a "dead-end", repetitive one that pays low wages or has abusive management. But in most places I've worked, most people like their job (try being unemployed). If you hate your job, chances are you won't be very good at it which is something the boss will notice. I have no plans to retire and work my ass-off to help the company make money which keeps everyone employed. Start your own business! You'll be working twice as hard and may make even less money than then you were working for someone else. Its all about attitude. Remember, most everyone has to work if you want to live a reasonable lifestyle. I know plenty of people who don't want to work and are paying the price.
@@donuthole7236 But that's the thing in Japan. The business environment crushes individuality and worker stress is high. AND you aren't allowed to ever complain about it.
@@plektosgaming True statement. In Japan, the group or organization comes 1st, the individual comes last. As much as I respect the Japanese and some of their culture, it's not a place I would want to live. No place is perfect, even the US, but there is no place I would rather live. I hear so many people here in the US bash their own country, but they would be cling to the ground underneath their feet if you tried to get them to move elsewhere. If they do after a while, they want to come home. Not everybody, but most. I do admit our society is going downhill with all this woke crap. Life was so much better here 20, 30 years ago.
@@plektosgaming Bitching about the job is not the same as hating it. It's the same thing as with marriages: as long as you still get emotionally worked up about things, it means that you care. Swearing is the soul's way of taking a dump ;)
Sadly I think it's true. People in the US argue we're pretty much slaves to work for nothing, but yikes. Though the US could definitely benefit from learning teamwork again rather than me me me.
I’m glad how Paolo enumerated all these things about work in Japan. At first I thought my family are just workaholic but then I have realized that it is a cultural thing. I’m seeing it now in a different perspective, so when my brother is going home late from work while I visit them for a vacation, I don’t take it personally. 😄
Right on point Paolo. Impressed you cut it down to 10. Some notable mentions If I may; Best not to be efficient to the point you outperform your boss. Meetings aren't idea sharing or brainstorming. Wait to bring up suggestions in meetings about the meeting of the meeting you just had. Learn to use a fax machine, and any other outdated form of communication or correspondence without suggesting an easier or more modern way. Begin with 'お疲れ様です' for every co-worker, mail, memo, message, inter office phone call several times a day. Best not to decline an invitation from your superior to attend an after work gathering. One may say it's best to work with them and not for them.
Before I started my short-term (six months) work placement in a (granted, mostly Americanised) Japanese company, I made sure to educate myself on the work culture and etiquette. I was terrified of doing anything wrong. I understood that as the newest member of the team (even if only part-time) it was expected of me to be the first to arrive and the last to leave.
Would you like a video on why americans dont like working with Japenese people? 1) They are very abusive and practice human trafficking 2) They blame all mistakes on forgianers and never say sorry 3) they pracice ethnic cleansing and. are very very reacist 4) They have no respect for values , cultures and people's personal life 5) they think its ok to piss on peoples bed 6) they show up when no one wants them 6) hey steal from children 7) they always think they are your boss when they are not 8) well 8 is reason 8 -- all the reason no one wants japense co workers ever!
There's no way i could work in Japan. I agree with points 6,7 + 8, the rest nope, i find it weird that colleagues would notice if you went to the toilet more often than them, what if folk have a weak bladder/upset stomach?
@@colinmathie2710 If you watch this video, you'll notice it's Hou Ren Sou. You need to tell your boss or co-workers in advance that you have a weak stomach.
@@colinmathie2710I have seen how many times you have gone to the toilet these past months… and I am disappointed. Expect your internet to have issues for the next year as punishment.
This is very accurate. I studied and worked in Japan for 7 years, 4 years spent in university and nothing would have prepared me for Corporate culture as an African. It’s really intense but took all the learnings and many years later still comes naturally.
I can absolutely be on board with many of the cultural norms supporting the team, but the bathroom breaks norm hurts to hear. If you want to be a successful team member, you have to be a successful human being first. Neat video Paolo!
Clearly he means people disappearing to the bathroom multiple times a day obviously to avoid working. I don't see how this wouldn't be annoying in the US.
There are no rules, if they were, they would pay overtime, state the correct schedule on the work contract etc. The only rule is : "Give your life for a company that does not respect work law, blame the coworkers for your despair about that - not your line managers - and hope/pray we will not throw you away like everyone we do after you turn 50 and your age stands out a lot compared to the rest of the team".
Way too much stress, that’s why my sister a therapist treats lots of tech people also life is too short to not take vacation and take care of yourself and have your company respect your off time. I give 100% when I’m at work I’m from NYC and I took a trip to Egypt and my supervisor called me while i was there, the nerve!!! I now work for myself and I’m actually in Japan right now love the country the people the culture but I guess I could never work here.
It sounds much like certain sectors of work in the USA actually, especially for salaried/exempt managerial-level staff in them. (We get staff positions that aren't managers but are classified as such just to have tasks delegated without the power or budget or pay!) Corporate work is often like this due to something unexpected: greater size means more communication (and in turn, communication to rehash or confirm communication) just to transmit info (even before getting into any meetings-as-politics and communications-as-assessing-motive), so the efficiencies that should come from size and specialists get eaten up. There are techniques for mitigating these problems but I've only ever seen them used in one single sector! Mainly because they're indispensable there.
I would not be able to work like this unless it was a co-op or other incentive structure for the whole team. Seems like you,and the team, have to give a lot for the company for what's beginning to be (for young people starting work around now) not much in return.
@@MA-go7ee Salaries are pretty low in Japan... What's the point of having a soul-crushing job that drives young workers to suicide? Not much of a job, eh?
I had experienced all these for the long ten years. It was hard because I always tried to prioritize myself and my own plans, they even let me go home for three weeks very year. But their attitude behind their masks was different. They only used me as a capable worker. I could finish all the amount of work during the working hours and only short time I stayed for the after hours. I was trying to show that you could fork 9-6 and finish all the tasks but they preferred to stay till 8-9 in order to show that they were diligent workers. It was continuing struggle even the company worked for the international markets and had several foreign staff, the company itself stayed the original Japanese company with millions of crazy difficult to understand rules.
My brother worked in japan for a few years, his summary was a lot of paper shuffling not a huge amount of doing and waiting for the boss to leave so they could. Then again it was a USA company and he is an aussie
I have watched other videos about Japanese work culture. They have said it’s about appearance; not actual more work done. So ppl stay late but just because it makes them look good; they aren’t going above and beyond. But this is a symptom of the biggest issue.
Amazing video. That explains why Japan can be so clean. Love how the kids are being taught some of the important manners and values to become a more considerate individuals. I do find some of the unspoken rules to be a stretch due to its collectivism culture. It is good to be considerate to others, but it is also important for self-care. Thanks for sharing. It shed light on understanding how the Japanese can maintain high levels of standards.
No wonder the birth rate is declining. When you're forced to be more committed to work so you're boss can buy another Porche or your collective team mates happines, you won't even have time to take care of anything else or even find a partner. Some of those are common sense around the world, but jesus christ, i don't think i would ever be able to live in Japan
Yeah! This is no way anywhere in any shape or form can be considered a work-life balance. This is all about keeping others happy, No wonder why individuals feel so depressed.
I constantly try to explain this kind of thing to people who say they want to live in Japan. They NEVER believe me. Not only that, but there are laws in Japan that are harsher towards foreigns. There's also the fact that Japan can be a very lonely country. Not just for foreigners, but also for natives. If it's hard for native Japanese people to make friends outside of work and school, then it's more than likely even rougher for foreigners who most likely don't understand the culture because the most exposure they've gotten to the culture was through anime and manga. Japan is amazing when it comes to visiting as a foreigner. It's not as great for living there as a foreigner, especially if you're a weeb.
Well, you nailed on issue right there. People need to stop wanting to live in Japan because they see some silly anime. Sort of a childish thought process.
One thing I didn't see here but that I do hear a lot about is hierarchy. From what I hear, questioning the opinion or orders from someone with higher status is really not done, even if they are obvious mistaken or making a poor decision you're expected to fall in line. Is this indeed still a thing in Japan, or has it improved somewhat to the point where feedback from lower-ranking employees is actually accepted or even encouraged?
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Damn I always wished to visit Japan. Their discipline is great and everyone should follow. Thank you for all your videos. Keep it up please upload more as possible. So you can educate us westerners 😊
That's not a japanese thing, that should be the norm in all work place. Be considerate and do a good job.. that applies to any race.
hate, seems like a strong word. unless you, Paolo hate working with foreigners, that's understandable.
I don't like working with foreigners eithrr😅
Paolo-san: definitely one of your best videos for understanding the work culture in Nihon. Yoku dekimashita !!
In Germany, the company is held liable if you do not take your paid vacation, so the company may actually force you to take it within a given time-frame.
Sounds about right don't you think?
I love it
European countries seem to have a better work-life balance.
siiiick
Big W
So basically the most important thing about your job it's to keep your coworkers happy, even if it means not giving quality time to your family or yourself. There are many things I admire about Japan, but work culture it's not one of them
And of course this can lead to your mental health spiraling and eventually suicide if you cannot get a grip. It doesn't help that there's no Saviour and only idols galore
And never complain to your manager about the things that the company is supposed to do, either contractually or legally. Obviously it is your coworkers fault that you have to stay until 21:00pm to finish something your manager overpromised, or yours that you are not capable enough to reach your manager's expectations of you... There is no way out of that despair than numbing everything you feel and think until your life means nothing, even to you :(
@@MrAdminaras This is what i'm hearing. If your manager is overdemanding, its YOUR fault. I'm sorry but WTF??? No way in hell would this fly in any western country except the US where the result is being fired because of at will employment.
Japan is great for visiting, but god damn you really need to be your own boss to not go insane working there.
It's absolutely toxic. A job is a job, I do my 9-5 and whatever comes up, is tomorrow's problem.
If your deadlines cause you to work past your work hours regularly, it’s because someone else like a manager is failing to give out appropriate deadlines to clients. You can talk about not wanting to cause trouble, but it’s ignoring the systemic issues that system creates causing managers to consistently feel pressured to crunch people.
Ironically, that violates the "don't over-promise" rule. :P
@@tuorofgondolin8235 "rules for thee but not for me" - managers
Exactly this. If it's once in a while, whatever. But regular overtime is a failure of management to set reasonable expectactions and overworking their employees to actualize their mistakes.
Imagine thinking that working exactly the hours you're paid to work and not a minute more is "entitled". That's what gets me.
I've been to Japan 17 times, my first being about 15yrs ago. I realised VERY quickly that I LOVE Japan - BUT - I would NEVER live there nor work there. It's an amazing place to visit.
Same I've been there for twice for a month each. I’d love to live there if I could still work my job in Chicago. There work culture isn’t for me
@sebastianusami lmao
@sebastianusami work/life balance is way off. It's not about the work ethics of people around you - it's about the expectations and unwritten rules.
@sebastianusami Entirely agree, especially in US government jobs.
My great grandfather visited Japan in the ‘40s.
He didn’t like it much.
They probably liked him less though 😂
Thanks for the information. My only issue with this is
1- Japanese people themselves complain about these work conditions (some to the level of suicide)
2- for a country complaining or fearful of the decreasing population, it’s counterproductive to think the birth rate will pickup when people hardly have time to build families or relationships due to their extreme work demands (hours)
That is a major point that people tend to neglect. The Japanese hate their work culture just as much as we do.
This is why fresh perspectives are useful. Left to their own devices, Japan with their working culture will cease to exist. They must adapt or perish, and having foreigners who can help bring about change is key
@@kaitanuba Tthat's exactly the problem with Japan. The Japanese hate their working culture just as much as we do. However, in western culture, as a whole, when something becomes outrageous and we disagree with something, we tend to protest, complain, strike, etc. When something happens in Japanese culture that they hate, they always just say, 仕方がない or "It can't be helped"
I totally agree. As much as we foreigners admire Japanese culture, it is important to keep in mind that the Japanese way of life is not sustainable from a demographic perspective. It needs to change in some way, sooner rather than later.
I wanted to comment similar comment to yours, Paolo showing examples of how Japanese work environment is toxic, in some of his points
My wife is Japanese who worked in offices and retail for many years. After working in Australia for a year or two, she one day turned to me and said "There's no F'King way I could ever work for a Japanese company ever again".
Yup, what she said
Same statement from my Osaka and Waseda friends in Oregon/Vancouver, "No Freking way I go back to those old men" their words
Yes agree... My korean and Japanese friends are also said the same thing. They love Australian working culture. We have balance between work and personal life. If we are saying that we are busy, that is nothing compared to japanese working culture. When I travelled to Japan, the train station was still busy at midnight.... Unbelievable 😬. No time for family or personal need. But I heard, although they work long hour, the result is the same productivity as in Australia
i worked at Japan for 3 months then I realized there's no f*cking way I would work in Japan again. But seriously, working in Japan is a shit
My friend worked briefly as a junior architect in Miami, Florida. He then started working for a Japanese company back in Tokyo (he is from Japan, we met at university here in the colonies). He worked for maybe 3 or 4 years but developed Major Depressive Disorder. He took a year off to recollect himself, became fully licensed and works for a smaller start-up that is very successful in 3D animated safe workplace videos where he has to design the workplace environments using the same techniques as architecture. Essentially, he gets to develop small film productions and utilize architecture (the two things he loves most). He said the ethos for workplace manner is a very good blend of Western and Japanese culture: fantastic teamwork but awareness of personal needs. He hasn't had any problems since.
I *know* I could not work in a strict Japanese company!
I think Japan can get to you in general, its an oppressive feeling after awhile...that strictness.. combined with the insane advertising barking at you when you go shopping etc
All the reasons lead back to “it’s not respectful towards your team” but the question is if the workers have self respect. The fight for workers right in Europe was not a matter of personal advantage, but it made the life of everyone better.
Yeah, European workers rights came about through protest, strike, unions which many years ago, often lead staring death through the barrel of a musket. Whereas 1930's Japan still had the majority of everyday people working almost like 'serfs'. It was only after WW2 Japan inherited some semblence of workers rights from the west, and thus never went through it's own struggle to fight for it, meaning most wolf roll over and continue to be abused by the company that employs them.
I'm a foreigner who works for a Japanese company in Japan, among many other foreigners, and pretty much every foreigner hear behaves like it's a company back home. Because that's what the ***Japanese GOVERMENT*** wants. The Japanese government realizes Japan needs to change, people need to start having kids, start having lives, and the only way to do that is to break company oppression.
yes as a japanese american, i can say that home grown japanese have no self respect and would rather walked all over than speak up about their abuse.
@@lukehulm6819 are you some kind of american libertarian interested in forming an ethnostate? grow up. worker's right benefit everyone unless you're a billionaire or have no idea what you're talking about.
@@327legoman plus you see rich countries with high standards in labor rights, people have kids because they can afford it not only financially. Because having a child won't mean being excluded from society or anything, because people know there is a safety net etc. Good examples are Scandinavian countries and France. In Japan if going home early is seen as being egoistic towards your colleagues, so you have to be egoistic towards your family?
@@fritzjackson4336 Ya this psycho took arguments about union organizing and went off on how much he hates immigrants and wants to shut the border. Complete psycho post. Stay on topic. Worker rights are way higher in countries that embrace an adversarial relationship with corpos. Its not really up for debate.
I worked in Japan and Korea for a bit and both countries are somewhat similar about their work culture. While I understand where it's coming from, I believe that it creates an unproductive environment in a greater scale. There were so many days in both Japan and Korea in which I already finished my work hours ago and is just forced to sit there and appear busy so that I don't offend my co-workers or my boss by leaving "early", which was my actual time to clock out btw lmaoo. It's a waste of time. And when looking at the current issues plaguing both countries (high suicide rates, aging population, low birth rates...) you have to take in consideration that perhaps, this unnecessarily strict and heavy work load is taking a toll on your people and should be changed.
🤓 🤓 🤓 🤓 🤓 🤓 🤓 🤓 🤓 🤓 🤓
In my experience with Japanese companies I've worked for, it's not always the case. For example, if I finished my assigned tasks by 2 p.m., I would typically use the remaining time to prepare for new proposals or projects. This resulted in achieving better outcomes than my colleagues and enabled me to advance more quickly. So, it's also essential to consider how individuals utilize company resources.
@@gotakazawa408 you misunderstood the posters sarcasm. His normal clock out time would be considered early because of unnecessary time frames. Nothing wrong being done with a required task before it’s time to go home and spending the remaining time to prep for future projects. Everything wrong with expecting people to give up their free time to meet an absurd deadline. Not occasionally but all the time.
I agree with the OP about what is ailing Japan.
@@gs-pd5ox Of course, his experiences are undoubtedly true based on his perspective. I am also aware of such issues in Japan and Korea. However, I don’t think it’s appropriate to generalise these issues as problems of the entire country. In Western work culture, I often see the notion that work equals sacrifice. While I agree that working overtime for unnecessary tasks is unreasonable, it’s also true that Japan’s work culture, which views work as a way to contribute to society through the company’s success, has produced excellent products and services. Have you never benefited from such products or services? Although Korea and Japan may seem similar at first glance, perhaps you could take a closer look at the current economic situation, stock markets, and corporate performance of each country. Even just comparing Samsung and Toyota reveals significant differences.
@@gotakazawa408 what’s the point of perfecting a good or service if your society goes extinct? I have personally never been to either country although I have plans to visit both next year so I can only infer based on external information. There needs to be a middle ground. I myself have had salaried jobs and put in the occasional 7 day 70 hour week. I have also left on a Wednesday stating very confidently that I won’t be back until Monday and will not be counting against my PTO so fire me if you don’t like it. Never been terminated yet. You have to prioritize you occasionally. ‘The group before me’ mentality in every waking aspect is obviously unsustainable.
If you want to avoid all the bad stuff while still learning the good (like cleanless and respect) and still work in Japan, look for a job in a company that is aiming to go global and that has lots of foreigners already employed, in particular in IT. I did this for about 3 years in Tokyo and had a blast working in Japan. Of course some of the work culture was still there, but it was mostly the good stuff, in a weird merge with western work culture. Had awesome work-life balance, dressed in jeans everyday, took all my vacations, but also learned tons from my japanese and foreign coworkers about team work and respect, or even cleaning my work cubicule constantly. I think all cultures do offer good sides of things, and our western work cultures also need to learn a lot of things from Japanese work, such as amazing team work.
How can cleanliness and courtesy be qualities parallel to over self exploited culture？not mentioning that those good manner is an outcome of strict boundaries with others.
I will be working in a French company (as a French myself) in Japan starting february 2024. Work is in english and with a lot of foreigners. When i was doing the interview the manager told me "people here take 4 to 6 weeks of vacation in a row to go back to their home country and visit familly" and having heard everything i did about japanese work culture i knew i needed to get that job. Just gotta hope everything goes well afterwards.
This was so nice to read. Glad you had that experience. I was lucky enough to do a temp job in Japan at IBM. It was a short time but you could feel the team huddled nicely around me to get my feedback, seemed like a good feel.
That sounds like the best of both worlds. Glad to hear places like this exist in Japan.
may I ask how much vacation you got? Here in Austria, 25days/year is the standard. (I've heard the Japanese take less than 10days per year on average.)
This seems like a total nightmare to me. If I had to do so much overtime in my country, people would either think I'm really inefficient or that we are severely understaffed. It's also insane that you are supposed to care more about your colleagues than your own family!!
I agree. The prioritisation of work over family is the biggest deal breaker for me. The best advice I was given by university alumni that worked in scientific fields was "Companies are not people. They cannot care about by definition, so you shouldn't care for them beyond your own needs". Even the most workaholic person I have ever met said this and he was still a devoted family man.
Also, I'd say laziness promotes creativity. Work smart, not hard.
I'm the opposite. I don't get why people would care about family they see all their time over their duty to perform.
@@donnyjkimball What does "perform" mean to you? Does it mean to produce high quality work? If so, I hope you know that doing unpaid overtime all week has a negative correlation with work quality. Well rested workers produce higher quality work with fewer errors.
@@adamblance_nihongo would totally disagree with the premise that you can really do anything impactful only working 8 hours a day. 10-12 is almost certainly necessary...
@@donnyjkimball If you work a job where you can actually do something impactful that may be true in some cases. But at least half the jobs out there are not that. Look at any org chart of a company, about half the positions are on the lowest rung of the ladder, and about another quarter are in mere technical functions the company needs to operate, but that are not part of their business model (HR, IT, janitors, cleaning staff). In those kind of jobs, you don't do anything "impactful" by definition. You just exchange your time for money. Which is not very satisfying, and should be balanced by a fulfilling personal life.
And by the way: In Germany, a number of companies is running on a 4-shift system. They have seen that the performance of their production workers drops off significantly after 6 hours of work, so in order to improve rejection quotas, they limited work hours. Talk about "impactful"....
I’ve worked in a Japanese corporate environment as a non-Japanese for all of my professional career. These points are all fair, but the reverse is also true. If the foreign staff ignores all of their own cultural expectations to conform, most will quickly become very unhappy at work. A balance is needed and any company hiring international employees should expect some cultural differences. If an office expects complete conformity, it may not be the best match for either.
Pls can you say me what your work and how do you became a worker on Japan ?
@@13trix63get a degree and learn 日本語
@@JigglypuffTutorials how smart is this answer. A big applause for this answer ! You know the world is not so easy? Pls don’t make comment if Nobody ask you thanks. By the way I have this two things.
By that logic Japanese people and westerners are incompatible in a work setting and therefore foreigners should not be hired.
@@13trix63 Did you just forget that you asked them how they became a worker?
as a foreigner, i've worked in several japanese companies and have found that I have not been able to adjust to the working culture or would ignore the rules as long as i kept my work deadline. watching this confirmed that a japanese work environment is not necessarily for me. the best way to live in japan imo is to be your own boss, somehow. control your own work environment, what and how you do things and whatnot. other than the work culture, the infrastructure, delicious food, relaxing onsens and everything else is pretty great.
U ruined Japan with your presence, you gainin.
yea only way i'd live in japan is if I had my own work-from-home business.
@@koolkat123EXACTLY!!!
But you need an company to sponser your visa right? So how can a foreigner start a business, if he is not a permanent citizen of Japan.
@@koolkat123 Same for me, I am lazy and messy person, I would love to live in Japan to learn the language and dive into the culture
Being half Japanese and seeing all my cousins children not want to work for corporate companies, get married or have children are directly related to this work culture. Never seeing a parent, never being together for dinners, missing family events has made them not to want to have children go through what they did. This is Japans problem that they need to fix. Family matters. Women need careers but they need to feel that they can get married and have children. It’s a mans work ethic.
This was my thought. Some of these concerns don't seem 'Japanese' but more universal in that we should be mindful of others in the workplace. But rigid rules that have people staying overtime when work is finished, not using their phone, ordering specific food, not going to the toilet because your colleagues could get mad at you ...? Wanting a balanced life is not entitled behaviour and I can understand why your family members are struggling right now.
America went through a similar problem that is somewhat still underlying. In the early years, let's say 1930-1960, there was an overall understanding that "the company, is the people, without the people, there is no company", and so companies looked after their employees. Somewhere in the 1970's/1980's, this mentality changed to a company being looked at as an all-powerful inanimate object that would accept 0 accountability for anything. It was a "protect the company name above all else" mentality that demanded loyalty from the employees but gave none in return. This toxicity still continues today but has lightened up some, due to employees realizing they need to put their own needs first.
It will unlikely change till its too late. Japan government has never been known to be proactive and often doesn’t make changes until its too late.
It's sad what you see happening with your cousins children goals. Not having a family nor a career practically means ceasing to exist.
You mention, that women need a career: for me It's practically the same as saying, that taking care of the home and family is not a career in and of itself. Do you see what I mean?
But my point is, that the minds of a whole population are being played with, their life priorities replaced, to suit foreign goals.
Why I say so? Because it is not in Japan's interest to have all of these rules. Yet Japan keeps sticking to them fanatically.
This needs to be recognized, the culprit identified and dealt with.
Interesting perspective. I feel people should not cheat themselves of the experience of raising children. Even if it means moving to a cheaper small town and settling for some kind of side hustle income. Children are more important than career!
As a British person, I think what fascinates me the most is: in Japan, it's very shameful to want to go home rather than ensure the team meet the deadline. In the UK, it's shameful to stay behind after work and make the rest of your team look bad by trying to do more work than them. You are expected to think about your team's personal lives as well as what they have come together to achieve as a team. Again, relating to individualism vs collectivism.
I see these as both collectivism, just that one is about collectively caring about your coworkers personal lives and the other, their work performance.
Never understood that. I work hard to make achievements as team, and no one appreciates it, they think I am being selfish, and I want to appear good to my boss.
@@yaz519 And that's why they are mad jelly.
@@lainiwakura1776 never thought about that. Just makes me exhausted, and don't really want to work hard, since no one else does.
@@yaz519 You're likely only doing it to avoid conflict. Try it. Rehearse the event first, and several possibilities, from terrible to amazing. Then you'll have a lot more confidence to actually just not try hard anymore... Its actually easier! This is called fear-setting.
Once you get to the real event, you've already played it out enough to handle a lot more potential outcomes, and with less suspense, anxiety and compounding neurotic thoughts. You already did that in the practice portion! Easy!
Work life balance is definitely an area Japan could improve on. Depression and stress are real.
Stress is the result of poor planning, especially headcount planning. Stress reduces productivity.
I couldn't do it. I 100% agree with the respect and consideration of your co workers and working as a team towards a goal. Still a firm believer in the military training I received of "If you're early you're on time, and if you're on time, you're late."
But, I refuse to put a company ahead of everything else. The whole idea of long hours for the sake of long hours just doesn't set right with me. I'd rather put quality ahead of quantity. When I'm at work, Ill gladly give 110% if the job needs it to get done and get done right, but I refuse to live at work, especially if it's staying "just because".
I'm 10 to 15 min early at my job pretty much everyday. Get my stuff sorted and put away then I'm go go all day but when it's time to leave you better believe I'm going. Unless it's something that absolutely has to be done then ok fine I'll stay but I'm getting paid for it. Know your worth or any company will walk all over you.
I feel the same. I'm usually at my workplace at around 7.50am (official start time is 8.30am) purely to avoid traffic and to answer emails and Sharepoint requests before I start the day proper, but at 5pm, I am out the door quicksmart. The pandemic has taught a lot of workers (myself included) that excessive work hours are not OK. Even though I was one of the fortunate few that was able to still have a job during the pandemic, I was driven to excessive hours and ultimately mental fatigue. If this is what's expected from working for a Japanese company, then 'no thanks'.
Which is unfortunate, because I love the Japanese culture in general. It has so much to offer that other countries just simply do not have.
No one on their death bed is going to wish they worked for more.
Humanitarians, aid workers, charities, doctors all probably wished they worked for more
@@mohammedhussain6749 Yeah more money not hours dude.
@@XMissGX no wishing they helped more people
@mohammedhussain6749 I had a job rescuing people with a Helicopters in the ocean mostly for 20 years. I learned from my mentors. You absolutely can't save everyone and never be hard on yourself when things don't go as expected. Too many people in those business are their own worst critics.
So you really think nobody ever sat there and thought I wish I was more focused and accomplished more? Somehow I think you're completely wrong.
I worked in Japan and Korea as well. I realized that I didn't match well with the work culture in those countries. I understand the importance of doing work correctly, and not burdening a team, but there is a limit to how much overtime I will do. By the end of my time working in Asia, my limit was zero, so I thought it was best to leave instead of forcing myself to be there.
Have been to Malaysia?,if no, try work here and you will get more time to relax.
good on u
@@Anonymouse007 Malaysia is a mixed bag bro. But I do believe it is a good thing for foreigners to experience 1st hand the cultures of covering for your co-worker when they go "solat" or prayers.
As a non-Muslim Malaysian myself I do say it did not start off comfortable to me but over the time ...... holy hell, when I go help out in event without Muslim, I just automatically become conscious about personnel rotation to cover for "toilet breaks, smoking break, tea-time, lunch break, pangsai break, vape break" etc & at everyone at closing was like.... "how come this time there's no complain? Especially when everybody also manage to took their fair slacking share?"
It was at this moment I truly understood, there's no such thing as "solat impacts productivity". Its just how you manage it.
I’m going to quit my job in the company I worked for three years , simply can not stand it anymore
I think Japanese workplace is not a fair place to be in .
It's a massive culture shock for the Japanese expats at my company when they get assigned to the US Branch. The relaxed nature and "results over presence" mindset we have over here sometimes conflicts with what they've grown up with.
A lot of my Japanese school mates eventually migrated to America.
I remember several times when they started freaking out that people were leaving before the boss did. "Yoshi, work is over at 4:00. Anything that needs to be done can wait until morning."
@@H37P5kY57 Many of my Japanese friends who obtained green cards in the United States are now eagerly gathering information about returning to Japan.
In the United States, you can be easily laid off without just cause. Isn't it a bit of a culture shock that people can still feel at ease in such an environment?
My wife is Japanese and we live in Africa. She told me that she can never go back to work in Japan.
Number 2 seems funny coming right after number 1. If the employees can't get out on time, it's because the company is either overpromising on what they can deliver in what time frame and has to force overtime to meet their promise or all of the employees overpromised their skills and therefore can't meet the assumed standards of the deadlines in the industry.
This. Exactly. Also, 3 - it is difficult to establish when the work for the day is done. The extra poor management skills of Japanese PMs put usually too much work load on the teams - actually they tend to commit for 110% in order to deliver 100%. Met many companies and coworkers working this way. Thankfully Im out of that s...t and switched to an international company.
Japan sounds like it has the worst Managers ever
Shit this really eloquent. Mind if we chat 😂
@@r1kk4t0ky0 Because they tend to promote just based on seniority.
it's worse in America, cause these folks brag about working 90 hers a week... that shit's ridiculous. They have to have multiple jobs, just to make it. Maternal/paternal leave sucks too. Vacation time is rarely paid... is it really that different?
I think there is a point where being considerate of others to the point of being inconsiderate of yourself and managing your own wellbeing becomes toxic and dangerous
I think it is the example 😂 even I rolled my head when watching it.
This is so true!
Thus, the massive suicide rate in Japan.
I lived and worked in Japan for 4 months. I also noticed they are not very efficient people. They take super long on unnecessary tasks and customs. They also work late just for the sake of working late and bragging on how hard they work. I also lived and worked in Germany for 6 years. Germans provide the same quality work for much less amount of time, and insist bravely on using all their free time. They are super efficient and can do a lot in a small amount of time. I found both cultures providing the same amount of quality work but completely different means to get there. You should also have mentioned about karoshi in your video, which is dying from overworking.
I totally agree with you.
They literally just pretend to work or sit there doing nothing until they see everyone leaving. There will literally do this for hours or even half the damn day. It’s ridiculous. Whatevr my hours are that’s what I’m sticking too. I will always be early or on time. And when the clock strikes the end of my shift I’m gone. Whatevr you think of me is your problem not mine.
That's like my current job. IT for a school system. Our boss is a micromanager/workaholic. I can get the job done in roughly 4 hours. Depending on work orders submitted. She always insists on working a full 8. She'll suggest busy work for us to do. Completely pointless tasks. Luckily, we're salaried so she can't really do much about it.
Like you know anything about a country 4 months.
@@yo2trader539Knows more than you do after you searched through Google for 10 minutes.
Yeah - my experience was... The people in Japan were in the office all the time... but actually didn't do very much work.
Probably not a surprise - if you work 12 hours a day you're not going to be doing good work.
My Japanese husband absolutely hates working for Japanese companies 😂 so much so that he’s self employed.
Yay!!!
I hope you help him.!!!
But wait... if he's Japanese and self-employed, then he's working for a Japanese company!
Well, everyone's different, right? I think it's perfectly natural for some people to prefer running a ramen shop over working for a big corporation.
As a European (Dutch), I would be a very poor fit in these Japanese offices. :D
I have no ambition to move to Japan, but my work is in international relations, so I occasionally work with Japanese counterparts. Thanks for the video! It's always good to know a little bit more about other cultures.
The "always be on time" rule seems a bit strict, however. In the Netherlands, we also think it's disrespectful to be late, but we'll understand your tardiness if your car breaks down or your child gets sick or something. That's life on Earth. You're not superman.
I'm late all the time. I give no fuk about it. Sht happenz.
Dutch as well. The funny thing is about half of these would work very well for me and a lot of Dutch people. For example nr. 8, being on time, is very much a Dutch thing to the annoyance of most expats here. Number 1, 3 and 5 also work well here, and nr. 7 to an extent as well.
However the other half (2, 4, 6, 9, 10) would go down very very badly with pretty much anyone Dutch. And of course I'm biased but I think at least a few of those are actually the reason Japan is in such an economic slump.
I guess I'll move to Netherlands. German Working Culture is quite a bit toxic with single parents
@@gorkipork4112I don't think so. Maybe your employer is.
I am from India, and I have worked for a short while in Japan and the Netherlands. To be honest; Netherlands and Europe seems to have a much better work system. "Work smart" was the motto. Finish your work by 5pm, have a drink with your colleagues and hop onto the tram by 6pm. The rest of the evening is for the family. Whereas in the Japanese company I worked at, you are not expected to leave until your supervisor leaves. So if the supervisor had family problems and did not want to go home, you had it!!
It’s basically toxic work culture. Don’t make a mistake about it, their work ethic and dedication is a big part of their success as a nation. Truly a global superpower for such a small country. But work life balance is also important, most countries are even transitioning to 4-day work week to reduce burnout at work
Lazy worker😅
@@rossdelano7603No one on their deathbed ever wished they spent more time working. ✌
Maybe in the past this way of working helped them. But as jobs shifted from manual labour to high level thinking, this obsession with working long hours actually hinders productivity and innovation. It's why Japan is falling behind.
japan is not a super power anymore .
@@hunterhayes8028*points to reccession since the 90's*
Remember folks:
Just because the work culture is "normal" and "common sense", doesn't make it right. Especially when it negatively affects your personal life.
That's why Japanese have a word for "death from overwork". Giving your life away so your boss & company can get rich faster and actually glorifying it and thinking is a proper idea. Absolutely ridiculous.
It wouldn't surprise me if at least half of those "unwritten and hidden cultural" rules were actually introduced via propaganda by some japanese companies at some point to form their own perfect, obedient workers.
That’s more of a problem in korea
I think they have an “overwork be hurting your health & shortening your life” slang phrase that translates to “your liver is gonna explode.” Taiwan has a ‘work culture’ that involves being at work all the time. Confusingly, it doesn’t correspond to getting work done or doing a good job: you’re just supposed to be there all the time. Similar to your Japanese “answer your messages right away,” that exists, too. I once caused trouble & seriously annoyed my boss by not answering an email right away, but it was because I had back-to back work meetings all day. I wasn’t supposed to be checking my email during these prioritized, primary, work responsibilities, but nobody thought about that: I did a “disrespect” by not answering the boss right away…
Death from overwork is not just a problem in Japan. It is happening all over the world. In the 70's and 80's, Japan bashing started in the US as Japan became an economic superpower.
And at that time, the liberal media in the West put negative words about Japan such as tsunami, Karoshi and Hikikomori into English. This kind of Orientalism was successful, and even today, many Westerners stereotype Japan as the place to go when it comes to suicide. In fact, the suicide rate in the U.S. was higher than that in Japan in the statistics of the suicide rate in 2022.
@@user-qm7jwUS suicide rate is higher but not because of over work.
I know a family that the father is American and his wife is Japanese. They met in NYC when she was working out of the US office. They decide to relocate back to Tokyo when his son was born. After about 8 years in Japan, his wife wanted to go back to NYC, so they could have more of a family life. When she was in Tokyo, she would not get home until at least 8pm or later and would miss seeing her son before he went to bed. She said the number one reason she wanted a transfer was the long hours and not seeing her family. Now they are a lot happier living on Long Island, where she gets to see her now 16-year-old more often. It seems like Japan has a very bad work/family dynamic.
That was one of the good things about the pandemic
It's not specifically a Japan thing. It's common across many Asian countries as well, where parents work long hours and return home only to find their children already in bed. Japan just has it the worst. This is why some Asian countries/cities are top of the world in productivity and efficiency, but also at the same time have the worst stress levels and suicide rates.
@@SylvSGI remember reading the exact opposite. Some Asian countries don't make the lists of being the "most" productive because there is a false equivalency between hours worked and productive hours. Vis a Vis being present at work (aka the appearance of work) is more important than being productive at work or actually accomplishing something.
Yup, very poor work-life balance. This is why working Japanese people are miserable.
@@ahrubik exactly there are so many hours you can be productive in a day and resting can increase your productivity too
When I watch Paolo's vids I love them, click like, and say out loud "I would never work in Japan unless I opened up my own company".
Let's flip the script: Reasons why foreigners dislike working with Japanese.
1. Time-wasting meetings with no follow-up action
2. Lack of digitization and poor understanding of IT
3. Responsibility is spread across so many people that nothing gets done and no one can be held accountable
4. No flexibility to adapt to reality
5. Ho-Ren-So causes items to get stuck in the chain-of-command and nothing gets done
6. Making a fuss over irrelevant details while ignoring actual issues
Too freaking true all of these points
Well, at Swanson in Solon Ohio (NOT a Japanese company), they had a 40 minute meeting about boogers on the bathroom wall. Time wasting meeting happen everywhere.
@@elzoog Japanese take it to a whole different level though.
It's very respectable for people to care about their coworkers and how their absence can effect the group as a whole.
However, it is very foreign to me to say that the group is greater than my wife and family. Maybe it's because in the US, I don't really have a allegiance to my company because they could drop me because of a bad quarter of sales or something like that.
Yeah I’ll never have loyalty to ANY company ANYWHERE.
Yeah, I think we can gain quite a lot from it if we maintain a balance between individualism and collectivism. Having work-life balance, but also have the consideration for co-workers and to emphasize collaboration.
Corporations here in the US would LOVE to have that type of work-culture
It used to be that in Japan you would be with the same company for much of your life. Quitting was pretty rare. The opposite end of that is that you work really hard.
It's worth pointing out that in Japan firing or laying people off is usually the very very last resort. Companies receive more loyalty because they _show_ more loyalty.
In the US it's a straight business deal. We pay you as long as you're what's best for the company and then we drop you. And in return I work for you as long as you're what's best for me and then I drop you.
It would be a very one sided relationship indeed to show Japanese level loyalty to a US company. And similarly a US style employee isn't a very good deal for a Japanese company.
Reciprocity. It matters.
Here is my tip for foreigners wanting to work here in Japan (been doing it for many years):
If you want your life to be:
- miserable
- harassed
- work overtime for free
- ruin your personal relationships
- end up "karoushi"ing yourself like a true traditional Japanese salaryman.
yeah go ahead and follow the "rules" in this video.
The first thing is, that not every company (as mentioned) and not every Japanese person, even in strict companies follow those, this awful work culture is changing little by little.
The reason why you can't leave until you finish your work and you have to overwork for the crazy deadlines is because of two things: 1 - Bad management, lacking the ability to negotiate properly realistic deadlines. 2 - The company is taking advantage of the work culture and making their employees work overtime to be able to deliver fast, a lot of times for free (Minashi Zangyo)
My advice would be to work by the boundaries laws, and regulations set here in Japan, anything other than that is NOT REQUIRED AT ALL. Yes, I will sometimes work during the night on emergencies or work that can only be done during late hours (I.T.), but I will not work overtime if it is caused by bad management. I will most definitely not prioritize work over my family and friends.
If your coworkers hate you for it, let it be like that, and if the environment is not great, just find somewhere else with a better work culture.
I love this channel but this is such a bad-taste video in how it was brought, like giving the idea that if you come and work in Japan you gotta follow those... you could've brought up the same topic while just comparing the working cultures of abroad and Japan, without giving this terrible advice.
Agree, definitely a bad-taste video - it only encompasses the negatives (to foreigners) without mentioning things are slowly changing. Last time I worked in Japan I recall the govt introducing measures to combat this toxic work culture. It's slowly becoming less toxic, and if it doesn't - Japan is shooting itself in the foot.
I don't ever plan to work in Japan, but this was an interesting and informative video. Thanks. :)
I don't think I could ever live in Japan because of the work culture. I think it's wrong to value your work life higher than your personal life. It's silly to not expect someone to take their vacation. And it's straight up dumb to have people stay later than their schedule, but freak out if they're late. I absolutely don't believe in being late, but I'm not going to want to stay late either. Have the time they are screwing around anyway, because they know they are going to stay late anyway. I'm all for being considerate and working as a team, but there is a limit to everything and the Japanese don't seem to have that limit. That's why I believe they are unhappy as a country and their suicide rate is so high, they have no work-life balance and they have too much pressure on themselves to conform and please others. I love Japan, and despise parts of their culture. Being selfless, considerate, and humble is an awesome way to be, up to a point. You should also care about yourself more than they do in general.
They do the same thing in the USA that expect you to work and have no life and no health
Japanese culture is extremely similar to communism
For centuries, Japan had no other "holidays" other than New Year's Day, once a year.
Even the concept of "weekly holiday" is an import from overseas and is only about 100 years old.
It's no wonder that people don't get used to long vacations.
It's a just difference in values, so I think it's a bit too aggressive to say it's 'wrong'.
...Well, as a Japanese person, I can assure you that Japanese people are also fed up with it.
@@tyouseitounyuu You're right, I think 'wrong' is too strong. In my mind it's illogical, which seems wrong to me, but others might not see it that way. Time is either valuable or it isn't, the imbalance for me stems from that.
Yes Japan doesn't want you either
High standards aside, this imbalance in work-life really must one of the reasons why Japan’s population has been in decline for decades, putting the country’s future in jeopardy.
It’s interesting how the short term (in the life of a country) prioritization of the collective (teams for instance) might be the downfall of a whole country (demographics demise).
Good Point, i think the high speed capitalism of todays dont work well together with Japanese Work Ethic.
Sure, with this strategy they worked theire way up to the top in many Topics from the 80s to nowadays.
But it also may be that foreigners bring jealousy over Japanese workers when they see that they are working less.
So diversity has pros and cons.
So much truth in that!
I just wanna point out that Finland has one of the best work-life balance in the world and isn't doing much better in terms of birth rates. I think the problem lies far beyond that, although I'm not saying this isn't a factor as well.
Statistics show that Jpanaese married couple have only slightly less children than before, but the real issues is the number of singles has risen drastically in recent years. I guess one of the main issues is that it's become so convenient to live by yourself that people no longer feel the need to have a relationship?
@@krashme997 i think women are sick of the "women do the household and take care of the kids and men go to work for 15 hours a day and then come home drunk and scream at their wife"-narrative, like all over the world not just japan, but it's still heavily pushed there, but that also means that women have to work now and real talk: do you wanna come home and take care of a husband AND a kid (so 2 kids) after a 10+ hour work day which you have almost every day? with almost no holidays in sight except of golden week as well? and golden week seems like a horror to me if you wanna do a trip, because everyone has the week of it's gonna be so crowded, expensive and noisy everywhere. in japan there is no work-life balance, there is only work-work balance and the high suicide rate and the literal word for people dying from overwork (Karōshi) because it happens so often literally speak for themselves.
They had the same work culture when their population was growing though and as someone else pointed out, other countries with much better work life balance also reproduce below replacement rate.
I am Chinese currently living in 🍁 Canada. I have to admit that Japan and china both have similar workaholic culture and declining populations. I am very grateful to be given lots of freedom and trust at my work place here in Canada and people in North America generally just think work is to facilitate a better quality life, not the other way around.
One day Japan might actually apologise for Nanjing. But don't hold you breath.
Don’t you have a return order to fight against Taiwan - and lose 😂
@@DrJRMCFC Thank you, Mr. Nonsequitur.
Thank you so much for this video, I really value opportunity’s to learn about other cultures. Please continue to create these videos!
I think I have always had a bit of a maverick streak, it's likely I would do very poorly at a Japanese company. I respect the level of order and consideration, but this is on a different level.
My problem with their version of "order" is that it is almost all seniority based. Even if a junior may be more productive than someone slightly more senior, it's incredibly difficult for the younger worker to progress beyond someone that started earlier despite performance.
@@jkfangyeah that’s an honor base v. A merit base. Tradition over logic in some situations.
I think it is good to focus on the team more than the individual, but your own personal life matters more than a company. You are a gear. A replacable piece that can always be changed if needed by those in charge. Your health comes before a corporation's deadlines, but always do your best within the frame of reason. You only have one life and you need to get the most out of it, the way that makes sense for you. I work to live, not live to work.
But That's Japan, so your advice might exclude me from Japanese company.
@@angelsub9184 Then you have to ask what is more important to you: The company or yourself.
I worked in Japan for a Japanese company and for a foreign company. I wouldn't go back again. To them, spending hours in the office is the most important thing. You can be chatting away with people or doing less but you need to be there to "appear" a hard worker.
I heard as well that is about being there and being seen and less about being actually productive.
We hate you too, so please disappear, no one should come to Japan.
Great video, as always, Paolo. Having worked in Japan on and off since 1990, I can say that everything you say is correct.
This should be required viewing for anybody who wants to work in Japan.
Not being able to leave at your leave time is TOXIC
Would you like a video on why americans dont like working with Japenese people? 1) They are very abusive and practice human trafficking 2) They blame all mistakes on forgianers and never say sorry 3) they pracice ethnic cleansing and. are very very reacist 4) They have no respect for values , cultures and people's personal life 5) they think its ok to piss on peoples bed 6) they show up when no one wants them 6) hey steal from children 7) they always think they are your boss when they are not 8) well 8 is reason 8 -- all the reason no one wants japense co workers ever!
I can only guess that a strict work culture is what brought Paolo to leave a corporate job and become more independent on UA-cam. Point to the chat.
Japan is a great country to travel to, but it's a hell to work there and I have never had a thought to work there ever. (I am currently working in a Japanese owned company outside of Japan)
Would you like a video on why americans dont like working with Japenese people? 1) They are very abusive and practice human trafficking 2) They blame all mistakes on forgianers and never say sorry 3) they pracice ethnic cleansing and. are very very reacist 4) They have no respect for values , cultures and people's personal life 5) they think its ok to piss on peoples bed 6) they show up when no one wants them 6) hey steal from children 7) they always think they are your boss when they are not 8) well 8 is reason 8 -- all the reason no one wants japense co workers ever!
1:50 DO NOT OVERPROMISE AND UNDERDELIVER. Yes! Thank you for saying this! I’m working with some foreigners and always get trouble because of this. Promise just things you can actually accomplish. If you set a stretch goal and are trying to achieve it, we assist you. Both overpromising and underdelivering may lead your colleagues to overwork (which is a bad working culture you guys keep mentioning).
3. Is incredibly toxic. Sacrificing family for the sake of your company is tragic. Family is what matters the most. My boss/manager when I worked at Apple was from Japan. She 100% lives and breathes the Japanese work culture but in the US that did not mesh. She bullied me to the point where I almost ended my life. I had to report her and she was completely shocked. After 13 years I ended up leaving and got unemployment due to a hostile work environment. I have a couple of Japanese friends who have moved to the US and they said there is a lot of accepted bullying in Japan in school and corporate life.
Japanese work life has its pros and cons. The cons tend to outweigh the pros.
When I worked in Tokyo 6yrs ago the job I had was demanding & I would be at work till 10pm, sometimes 1am if we had a big deadline to meet in two days. I was single so I didn’t have family at home or worry about my own personal time.
What it taught me was how to be punctual, how to organise my time at work, how to be considerate in team projects, to be more vigilant in my work etc. it gave me a good work ethic that worked for myself.
However, when I got back home to NZ I had continued that same work ethic. But I also learnt being back at the time was how to prioritise my mental health at work, to not feel guilty about calling in sick, to not feel guilty about going on holiday (I had to stop getting gifts for people in my team 😂) to not feel guilty about taking a day off for a doctors appointment. I also learnt being back that I was burnt out.. but didn’t realise it so I had to take that holiday 😅
It’s not a bad place to work in Japan, unfortunately it just hasn’t caught up to the western ideas. I don’t think it will cause, for me as an individual and based on my own experience. It taught me my own work ethic. It took me coming home to start living life and enjoying it, rather than having that mentality of just working all the time.
However, Japanese work culture doesn’t teach you the signs of being burnt out or the lack of support when work is affecting your own mental health.
I’m from Switzerland and I couldn’t work in Japan.
We do have many shared values and work etiquettes but other points you made, would be totally unacceptable to me in the long term.
So in Switzerland we also value punctuality in general and especially in meetings, it is extremely rude to be late. But if your work starts at 8, you are not expected to arrive early to prepare your station on your own time, you start work at 8 which include the preparation time. You should also be honest about your skills and are expected to be able to do what you say. Submitting subpar work is also frowned upon, but we help new colleagues to become better during worktime. It is also polite to answer to messages quickly during work hours and to not use your phone for private affaires.
It’s impolite to leave a mess, but that is true for society in general. It is considered impolite to order something completely different, you wouldn’t insist on a coffee if everyone else just get’s water, but were are more lenient and acceptable of different circumstances and requirements.
I would not be ok with working overtime on a regular basis and every time something needs to be finished. We do sometimes work overtime in Switzerland if a deadline has to be met, but to me it is a sign of mismanagement and overpromise of the company, if your employees regularly have to work longer to complete projects. I also think it’s unfair of companies to take advantage of the peoples sense of obligation, teamwork and collectivism, which are admirable qualities. You should only be required to do the amount of work or the hours you are paid for.
This applies also to the other point that would be an absolute no go to me, to prioritize work above your personal live. Unless it’s a case of life and death, work is not more important than your personal live, it’s important to have a good balance of the two. Not taking all your vacation days and seeing it as a commitment to the company is stupid in my opinion. By going on vacation to relax and by taking time off if you are sick, you will be a more healthy, effective and motivated teammate at work. And if your co-workers are overburdened and strained by your absence, it just shows once again the mismanagement of the company and the fundamental flaws of the system at large.
I find it quite sad that workers are used to a system of compliance that causes them to see vacation as burdensome and causes resentment among teammates over such ridiculous thinks as taking more bathroom breaks than others.
In conclusion, I think it’s quite ironic, that the collectivist Japan and the individualist US for example, have such different cultural values over all, but end up with a similar oppressive work culture. I hope that in the future a good work-life-balance will valued everywhere.
And that’s why I’m working on my own business. The working life is extremely stressful here in Japan.
Thank you so much for this video, Paolo! As a Japanese Language teacher, I'm gonna share this with my students 🙏 because even when I have told them these things before, it will be so much cooler coming from you 😉
that's awesome. Thank you for your service!
I hope you reinforce to them that these behaviours are extremely toxic and should not be tolerated. The cycle needs to be broken.
@mik0186 ... I see the entitled mindset👆that Paolo was referring to...
Good video.
Sounds 80% crazy.
When it’s down to the level of having to order food and drinks I don’t like, it’s more than a bit much.
and then get told because you go to often to the bathroom from the coffee you got peer pressured in drinking !
@@MrAdminaras Yeah that part where your can't even pee more than your peers if not they don't like you is very over the top.
Work culture? In brazil we only have anti work culture.
Siempre hay un brasileño para hablar mierd4s de brasil. Por qué son ton idiot4s. Apoyen a tu país, caraj0. Sos brasileño. No hay nadie de Sudamérica ou europa acá criticando su próprio país
Wow that really helped me see how prideful I am. Thank you! I'm still a fan of prioritizing my family over work though.
I definitely couldn't work in Japan. I take all my days, and I leave when I'm supposed to. Weirdly, I see it as the same reason the Japanese do so: my team should see that it's ok to leave work and go home and not work 2-3 hours after. My colleagues should understand that as a team we're better off when we take time for ourselves and our families and not "the boss".
I couldn't work in Japan because Japanese work culture is utterly toxic. It's not about the team. It's about the boss. It's not cultural, because this work culture is a recent phenomena post-WW2. It's one used to get those at the top more money.
work culture sounds dystopian af
It really is.
Japan is one the best countries to visit
but it is one of the worst to live in.
It does. I really do admire how so many business owners in Japan pour their soul into making great products/services for people. I love how tight-knit the work culture is and how willing people are to help others…
But to me, letting a coworker work themselves to death is the ultimate act of selfishness. I’d rather have a work culture where people don’t feel like a burden taking a day off than one where they must carry all their coworkers feelings and lives on their shoulders.
Sadly I agree with you. I live and work in Japan and people literally work themselves to death because of expectations and the need to deliver the best product every time.
Sounds indoctrination is excellent and starts early.😅
@@Daneelwiggins if teaching kids how to be respectful and not become little brats or hooligans I guess some countries need to from Japan. They start early because they know that respect is a very important factor when it comes to the work environment.
Overworked, underpaid, harassed if they don't stay hours past their worktime. And this is supposed to be a positive? Clickbait title, obvious content, and no lack of circlejerk for the hellscape that is the Japanese workplace and dropping social life for the average japanese worker.
theres a reason why birthrate is one of the lowest in the world
Nowhere did he say that it's positive. He just said Japanese people hate it if you don't follow those rules.
Japan sounds like an amazing place to be a big business owner. They have somehow made their workers work extra hard to make them money by using the social norms to make them believe they are working hard for their coworkers and not for the owners. And by making their workers work so hard to be accommodating to their coworkers they have also minimized potential competition since people have less time to start their own businesses. Also, competing against your previous coworkers is not a nice thing to do. Japan sounds like a dream for companies that already are huge, especially if your main market is domestic.
Pretty sure their productive rates are bad
Amen
Preach!!
It’s fascinating. My family in Japan revealed the cultural differences. There is some wiggle room on the cultural norms. I spent a summer with the National Defense Academy and the wonderful cadets attending. While their military is strict, they are given wide latitude to excel. Living in a very strict environment yet being encouraged to think outside the norms was a great lesson. The business model seems like an unnecessary harness on their workers. Thankfully their military doesn’t follow that model.
Wow would love to learn more about Japan's self defense forces, sounds like you had a fascinating experience, you could make your own video!
I have a couple friends working in Tokyo and they tell me they are pretty much on call 24/7 via their cellphone even though their job supposedly has no such requirement. It must be fun getting at text at 10pm from your boss. With all the long work hours most Japanese put in, the declining birth date is no surprise as there is little time to socialize with anyone except co-workers--and this too is required. I'm glad I left Japan before the advent of the cellphone! LOL.
People are on call 24/7 everywhere. Doesn't mean you will get called everyday at all hours of the day and night. If your building at work blew up, they would call you at 11pm and tell you not to come into work.
@@Mwoods2272 What a moronic comment just so you can say "well ACTSHUALLY". In Japan you get fired for ignoring calls from work. Meanwhile in America I would ignore every call from my boss, co-workers, the office for years if I'm not on the clock and I got promoted several times.
Just because your work might call you to tell you something doesn't mean you're "on-call'. Being on-call means that you're expected to come in at the drop of a hat if needed.
I used to work for a US firm in Tokyo. It's really the same, when there is a business opportunity or an issue that needs to be resolved immediately, you will be getting calls 24/7/365. And the birthrate has nothing to do with work culture, because people have worked as hard in the past. It's just simply too expensive for many to have (many) children.
@@Mwoods2272no, not everyone, not even close
@@Mwoods2272 Not even close.
Damn. That sounds horrible, I’d love to visit Japan but living/working there sounds like a nightmare
Living here is great, but working is a literal nightmare. As a foreigner, you can’t win, you are always doing something wrong
Prioritizeing your work and company that dont care about you over your private life is straight up nuts, In Croatia here we do our work after we are done we go home and hang out with our family because family is no.1 work no.2, no wonder many japanese refuse to marry or date
This UA-camr has always been giving me a weird vibe as an orientalist instrument.
his wife and kid are japanese....wtf do you mean. lol. Hes also asian himself....he's filipino. Youre obv not asian then@@pf3311
@@pf3311From what I gather, Japanese do think like this but I would love to go and personally ask people if they prioritize work over family. This guy seems to present this as quirky Japanese behavior but if it’s true then there’s hints of a dystopian society in all this.
No there isn’t I have lived in Japan for over 20 years and I have loved working over here, he is giving a correct view
@@pf3311why watch him
Maybe it has changed, you said everyone order coffee. 35 years ago I worked in Japan with several business meeting/week in other offices. Every time we were served green tea, which I like very much.
I worked for a major Japanese company with Japanese expats over several Asian countries between 2004 and 2014 -. My Japanese colleagues and friends ( many) told me they were the luckiest Japanese workers -escaping this work culture as correctly reflected in the video.
I feel truly sad when remembering many of those I worked with.
I saw dozens going back to Japan, with some not hiding it, they are going back to a live they don’t want anymore. One particular picture remains carved in my brain.The one of my Japanese peer . A picture of him opening the back window of the Fortuner, water in the eyes as he was put on deportation.
My overseas Japanese colleagues were funny, social, cheering - collaborative -visible. Today, only a handful is still on FB or social media. Seems the rest is all swallowed into oblivion.
I love certain aspects of Japanese culture - having worked for this Japanese company for 17 years in total but it ain’t all gold nor perfect. Kaizen
and do you enjoy working at your American companies where you get your lunch stolen, must clean the turd smears in the toilet left by the previous user in the employee bathroom, people on social media and taking private calls all day long during the work hours, people leaving on time but never finishing anything, chewing gum, loud talking.
The only thing the Japanese need to change is them taking all their days off and, if your work is finished, you leave at your due time. I also like the aspect of not canceling on your co-workers on short notice for bs reasons.
I've been in work places where work outing is scheduled months in advance. Then, same day, some entitled mommy will say, hey, I am not coming because I feel like it will be more fun to cook a family dinner tonight. What a piece of work!
And also, if you are child-free, in the cherished Western countries, get ready to only have a minimum lunch break while your mommies and daddies get to have 2 hour lunch breaks due to "the littles" and it's the norm to come in late and leave early. Yeah, NAH. I will pass. I am sick of entitled "family men/women" do the minimum, and always pick up their slack and be forced to even adjust when I go to a doctor's appointment because having had unprotected s** is so honorable, they now get priority that you can't even tend to your personal emergencies or urgencies because "you are not a mommy/ daddy." Your family is your choice. Be a considerate member of society, it's not my problem you chose to breed. Parents and grandparents are the most selfish and entitled people.
I know of some workers from Vietnam who have worked in Japan after studying there, and they have received some discrimination and verbal abuse from their Japanese colleagues. Hopefully, this is an isolated incident.
Racists exist everywhere 😂 I am sure SOME vietnamese workers verbally abuse foreigners too.
Japan is a cool place but a surprisingly large number of their older population is still pretty racist. And it's not just against Vietnamese people but basically everyone who isn't Japanese lol
Also happens to some Filipino workers, so it's not isolated case at all.
@@Ne0c225 As mentioned, racists exist in ALL countries
I can assure you that it is not an isolated incident. Japanese company working in other Asian countries for example in manufacturing plants, fishing vessel and offshore industry if they have enough japanese working in the company they will form a pack and would go as far as having separate table and lunch menu catered to them during lunch hours and rarely use local or even English language. But if there's only a few of them then they will try to blend in with the rest. I've experienced it first hand in two of the examples I've mentioned earlier in the beginning.
This is one of the most accurate and useful information about work and after-work culture in Japan. Anyone studying Japanese should realize even if you're fluent in Japanese, it's not enough to fit in, in fact, the more fluent you are, the more you are expected to uphold these behaviors. The part about expressing what you want to eat with your co-workers (or Japanese friends) after work is true. The rule is don't draw attention to yourself with words and behavior, but, a lot takes place behind the scenes once you are accepted and commiserating by bad-mouthing someone behind their back is also rampant, but you have to know how to read the air, to avoid becoming a target yourself. Even Japanese have trouble with this.
So...there's the truth. The workers, in fact, are slimy backstabbing cunts. The inscrutability and faux pleasantry is used to hide their deviousness. I get it. Not only are these work culture things rubbish, they are fascistic and petty at the same time. It takes some really fucked up people to drive that.
Basically, double standards.
Who needs real connections with their coworkers? Just make pretend ones where no one actually knows each other because their opinions and preferences are such a hassle for everyone else who also all have to keep their own opinions and preferences to themselves. That's not being a team, that's ignoring your team and burying everyone's potential happiness with a veneer of fake and meaningless work harmony.
I would never consider someone else's food or drink preferences to be a hassle unless they had tons of allergies, and in that instance I'd feel sorry for them having to deal with that forever when I'd only have to deal with it occasionally.
@@dreamingofmoonbeamskind words
Thank you for sharing .
So good to watch this as gives us understanding on what other culture's work ethics
For real
For Japan 🇯🇵
Would you like a video on why americans dont like working with Japenese people? 1) They are very abusive and practice human trafficking 2) They blame all mistakes on forgianers and never say sorry 3) they pracice ethnic cleansing and. are very very reacist 4) They have no respect for values , cultures and people's personal life 5) they think its ok to piss on peoples bed 6) they show up when no one wants them 6) hey steal from children 7) they always think they are your boss when they are not 8) well 8 is reason 8 -- all the reason no one wants japense co workers ever!
All of these sound like a good argument to not want to work in Japan. From the toilet breaks to the holidays, Japan needs to get inline with modern society and human changes in needs.
I wouldn’t say this is why Japanese hate working with “foreigners”, rather this is evidence that Japan’s work culture is toxic and I’m glad I do not work there.
The most ironic thing about Japan work culture is that it's counter-productive and Japan has hit the ceiling. Not only that, but Japanese government agencies know this already however they don't know how to change it without breaking the system.
My experience is that Japanese co-workers are always surprised (or feign so) whenever I accomplish anything. I feel more like a guest than a co-worker, and I've been on this job for 10 years now. At the same time, my advice is not taken seriously until a Japanese coworker presents the same, and only then is it implemented. It's not the most constructive environment and full of useless formalities that seem self-defeating.
Guess I'm very lucky that I'm only working REMOTELY for a Japanese company based in Tokyo. After watching this video, I'm now very comfortable in my own room 😂I love travelling to Japan, in fact we have a flight to Kansai tomorrow-- I will forever be😄 a tourist in Japan.
Edit: I must say though, this video has the weirdest vibe of them all.
Enjoy your trip! 😎
This is what i dream of. Remote work for a western company while living in japan. Best of both worlds!
These are the core principals that cause high distressing mental health. Even though it's in their culture, so is suicide. This is even without knowing if they are remunerated well, would love some info on this!
Most od the time, no they are not. Unpaid overtime is way too common.
Would you like a video on why americans dont like working with Japenese people? 1) They are very abusive and practice human trafficking 2) They blame all mistakes on forgianers and never say sorry 3) they pracice ethnic cleansing and. are very very reacist 4) They have no respect for values , cultures and people's personal life 5) they think its ok to piss on peoples bed 6) they show up when no one wants them 6) hey steal from children 7) they always think they are your boss when they are not 8) well 8 is reason 8 -- all the reason no one wants japense co workers ever!
I worked in Japan for a couple of years and my first company I worked for was considered a black company. So it was extremely strict and managers would literally berate or talk about you in ways that would probably get them fired anywhere else. However, the second company I worked for was more laid back and understanding, which was good. I really liked the second company I worked for. Overall, what Paolo said is true but sometimes it's not that extreme like it used to be.
Could you straw man an advantage to the black companies approach? Like perhaps it toughens you up and you quickly learn what your mistakes are so you don’t continue to make them?
I agree with your opinion based on your experience. Of course, "black companies" still exist, but it's a mistake to consider them typical of Japanese companies. Ultimately, it comes down to individual choice and doing thorough research on where to work.
Berdasarkan pengalaman pribadi saja...
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As an American who has worked for over 40 years in the engineering field at more than 20 companies (lots of contract work) most all the points are you made apply here as well. The only difference is it won't piss off your co-workers if you don't strictly adhere to every point you made. As long as your competent, maintain your focus on the job at hand, produce good work with minimal mistakes that get caught by your co-workers and visa versa, minimize personal business during working hours and respect others. Rarely will they ask you to work late but you do it voluntarilly to meet deadlines or to address unexpected deadlines. Most employers realize people have other resonsibilities outside the office and don't want to burn the employee out which leads to mistakes and poor productivity. My understanding is that the Japanese are expected to put in long hours and don't have much time to unwind at home after a long day at the office. Personally, I would not want to work for a Japanese company due to the strict work environment. Another issue is in Japan you are basically employed "for life" and moving from one company to another is frowned upon. It's been my experience that employees who have worked for the same company for decades tend to have limited experience not being exposed in different environments tend to have fairly narrow work skills and get complacent knowing they have seniority and are not likely to be "let go" due to mediocre job performance. I've heard of Japanese workers committing suicide due to the stress that can be imposed on them something which is unheard of here in the US.
This is also true in most technical fields, such as IT. The main reason for the stress is not the work itself. In fact, the U.S. actually has more productive workers (#5 currently). The main issue is psychological. Here in the U.S., it's like most countries in that it is socially acceptable for workers to hate their jobs and the rules as long as the work is done and they keep quiet about it while on the job. ie - we all hate working but we do it anyways. Then we complain after work about how it sucked. And all dream of the day we tell our bosses off and start our own business. :) So the stress has an outlet.
@@plektosgaming I'm sure there is a sizable number of people who hate their job especially if it's a "dead-end", repetitive one that pays low wages or has abusive management. But in most places I've worked, most people like their job (try being unemployed). If you hate your job, chances are you won't be very good at it which is something the boss will notice. I have no plans to retire and work my ass-off to help the company make money which keeps everyone employed. Start your own business! You'll be working twice as hard and may make even less money than then you were working for someone else. Its all about attitude. Remember, most everyone has to work if you want to live a reasonable lifestyle. I know plenty of people who don't want to work and are paying the price.
@@donuthole7236 But that's the thing in Japan. The business environment crushes individuality and worker stress is high. AND you aren't allowed to ever complain about it.
@@plektosgaming True statement. In Japan, the group or organization comes 1st, the individual comes last. As much as I respect the Japanese and some of their culture, it's not a place I would want to live. No place is perfect, even the US, but there is no place I would rather live. I hear so many people here in the US bash their own country, but they would be cling to the ground underneath their feet if you tried to get them to move elsewhere. If they do after a while, they want to come home. Not everybody, but most. I do admit our society is going downhill with all this woke crap. Life was so much better here 20, 30 years ago.
@@plektosgaming Bitching about the job is not the same as hating it. It's the same thing as with marriages: as long as you still get emotionally worked up about things, it means that you care. Swearing is the soul's way of taking a dump ;)
The title could be "Why Japan has the worlds highest suicide rate" and the video would make just as much sense. 😬
Recommend doing a quick fact check before posting definitive statements like this...
That would be India. Try again.
The US has a higher rate than Japan.
Sadly I think it's true. People in the US argue we're pretty much slaves to work for nothing, but yikes. Though the US could definitely benefit from learning teamwork again rather than me me me.
Unfortunately for you, the suicide rate in Japan is not that high anymore.
I’m glad how Paolo enumerated all these things about work in Japan. At first I thought my family are just workaholic but then I have realized that it is a cultural thing. I’m seeing it now in a different perspective, so when my brother is going home late from work while I visit them for a vacation, I don’t take it personally. 😄
Right on point Paolo. Impressed you cut it down to 10.
Some notable mentions If I may;
Best not to be efficient to the point you outperform your boss.
Meetings aren't idea sharing or brainstorming. Wait to bring up suggestions in meetings about the meeting of the meeting you just had.
Learn to use a fax machine, and any other outdated form of communication or correspondence without suggesting an easier or more modern way.
Begin with 'お疲れ様です' for every co-worker, mail, memo, message, inter office phone call several times a day.
Best not to decline an invitation from your superior to attend an after work gathering.
One may say it's best to work with them and not for them.
Sounds like absolute torture
Before I started my short-term (six months) work placement in a (granted, mostly Americanised) Japanese company, I made sure to educate myself on the work culture and etiquette. I was terrified of doing anything wrong. I understood that as the newest member of the team (even if only part-time) it was expected of me to be the first to arrive and the last to leave.
Would you like a video on why americans dont like working with Japenese people? 1) They are very abusive and practice human trafficking 2) They blame all mistakes on forgianers and never say sorry 3) they pracice ethnic cleansing and. are very very reacist 4) They have no respect for values , cultures and people's personal life 5) they think its ok to piss on peoples bed 6) they show up when no one wants them 6) hey steal from children 7) they always think they are your boss when they are not 8) well 8 is reason 8 -- all the reason no one wants japense co workers ever!
What line of work do you do?
There's no way i could work in Japan. I agree with points 6,7 + 8, the rest nope, i find it weird that colleagues would notice if you went to the toilet more often than them, what if folk have a weak bladder/upset stomach?
Agreed. Having a bad day like that is just fine as long as they don’t take advantage of the hospitality.
@@Sandman2007 The toilet thing is just weird.
@@colinmathie2710 If you watch this video, you'll notice it's Hou Ren Sou. You need to tell your boss or co-workers in advance that you have a weak stomach.
@@liatris1000or else what ? they have no brain to figure out ?
@@colinmathie2710I have seen how many times you have gone to the toilet these past months… and I am disappointed. Expect your internet to have issues for the next year as punishment.
This is very accurate. I studied and worked in Japan for 7 years, 4 years spent in university and nothing would have prepared me for Corporate culture as an African. It’s really intense but took all the learnings and many years later still comes naturally.
I can absolutely be on board with many of the cultural norms supporting the team, but the bathroom breaks norm hurts to hear. If you want to be a successful team member, you have to be a successful human being first. Neat video Paolo!
Clearly he means people disappearing to the bathroom multiple times a day obviously to avoid working. I don't see how this wouldn't be annoying in the US.
Most of these norms arent even unique I think, just more strict than in the rest of the world.
Foreigners are never taught any of these rules. What do they expect? At least give us a heads-up
日本人も誰かに教えてもらうのではなく、周りを見て学びます。
しかし、あなたの言う通り異なる文化圏で育った外国人にそれを求めるのは難しいと思います。
@@なぜか人参それはあまりそうじゃないです。確かに自分の文化は空気を読めるけど社会によって教えられます。
絶対に外国人相手にはそれができませんよ。
There are no rules, if they were, they would pay overtime, state the correct schedule on the work contract etc.
The only rule is : "Give your life for a company that does not respect work law, blame the coworkers for your despair about that - not your line managers - and hope/pray we will not throw you away like everyone we do after you turn 50 and your age stands out a lot compared to the rest of the team".
That's why Paolo made this video to give the heads-up lol
@@kodzuken1016anything helps right?
Way too much stress, that’s why my sister a therapist treats lots of tech people also life is too short to not take vacation and take care of yourself and have your company respect your off time. I give 100% when I’m at work I’m from NYC and I took a trip to Egypt and my supervisor called me while i was there, the nerve!!! I now work for myself and I’m actually in Japan right now love the country the people the culture but I guess I could never work here.
I love this. I was in the Army and a lot of this is how we are. Unit before self is very much a mindset.
Working in Japan means sacrificing your own personal life period. It’s a modern day slavering system they own you
It sounds much like certain sectors of work in the USA actually, especially for salaried/exempt managerial-level staff in them. (We get staff positions that aren't managers but are classified as such just to have tasks delegated without the power or budget or pay!)
Corporate work is often like this due to something unexpected: greater size means more communication (and in turn, communication to rehash or confirm communication) just to transmit info (even before getting into any meetings-as-politics and communications-as-assessing-motive), so the efficiencies that should come from size and specialists get eaten up.
There are techniques for mitigating these problems but I've only ever seen them used in one single sector! Mainly because they're indispensable there.
I would not be able to work like this unless it was a co-op or other incentive structure for the whole team. Seems like you,and the team, have to give a lot for the company for what's beginning to be (for young people starting work around now) not much in return.
this kind of ethic doesn't go well with capitalism culture so that's why it's now at an absurd point.
What employees get in return is generally a job and benefits for life.
@@MA-go7ee Salaries are pretty low in Japan... What's the point of having a soul-crushing job that drives young workers to suicide? Not much of a job, eh?
@@MA-go7ee ahahah yeah sure. what they get in return is called "No life" dude.
@@MA-go7eetroll
Imagine working yourself to the bone for a company that couldn’t care less about you. Also lol this video makes working in Japan sound like slavery
I had experienced all these for the long ten years. It was hard because I always tried to prioritize myself and my own plans, they even let me go home for three weeks very year. But their attitude behind their masks was different. They only used me as a capable worker. I could finish all the amount of work during the working hours and only short time I stayed for the after hours. I was trying to show that you could fork 9-6 and finish all the tasks but they preferred to stay till 8-9 in order to show that they were diligent workers. It was continuing struggle even the company worked for the international markets and had several foreign staff, the company itself stayed the original Japanese company with millions of crazy difficult to understand rules.
My brother worked in japan for a few years, his summary was a lot of paper shuffling not a huge amount of doing and waiting for the boss to leave so they could. Then again it was a USA company and he is an aussie
I have watched other videos about Japanese work culture. They have said it’s about appearance; not actual more work done. So ppl stay late but just because it makes them look good; they aren’t going above and beyond.
But this is a symptom of the biggest issue.
Amazing video. That explains why Japan can be so clean. Love how the kids are being taught some of the important manners and values to become a more considerate individuals.
I do find some of the unspoken rules to be a stretch due to its collectivism culture. It is good to be considerate to others, but it is also important for self-care. Thanks for sharing. It shed light on understanding how the Japanese can maintain high levels of standards.
No wonder the birth rate is declining. When you're forced to be more committed to work so you're boss can buy another Porche or your collective team mates happines, you won't even have time to take care of anything else or even find a partner. Some of those are common sense around the world, but jesus christ, i don't think i would ever be able to live in Japan
Yeah! This is no way anywhere in any shape or form can be considered a work-life balance. This is all about keeping others happy, No wonder why individuals feel so depressed.
I constantly try to explain this kind of thing to people who say they want to live in Japan. They NEVER believe me. Not only that, but there are laws in Japan that are harsher towards foreigns. There's also the fact that Japan can be a very lonely country. Not just for foreigners, but also for natives. If it's hard for native Japanese people to make friends outside of work and school, then it's more than likely even rougher for foreigners who most likely don't understand the culture because the most exposure they've gotten to the culture was through anime and manga.
Japan is amazing when it comes to visiting as a foreigner. It's not as great for living there as a foreigner, especially if you're a weeb.
Well, you nailed on issue right there. People need to stop wanting to live in Japan because they see some silly anime. Sort of a childish thought process.
One thing I didn't see here but that I do hear a lot about is hierarchy. From what I hear, questioning the opinion or orders from someone with higher status is really not done, even if they are obvious mistaken or making a poor decision you're expected to fall in line. Is this indeed still a thing in Japan, or has it improved somewhat to the point where feedback from lower-ranking employees is actually accepted or even encouraged?