Here's a question I have for people working in Japan. In the video I said that "If you're a full-time salaried employee, you don't normally get paid for overtime". I believe I was wrong in saying this. A couple have people mentioned that you do get overtime, no matter your status, or that a certain amount of overtime can be written in your contract. I'd like to hear more about how overtime works and perhaps it really depends on the industry and company. I know that some companies have a kind of grey area where people do work overtime but they don't officially record it. I also believe, that if it's official overtime, like the boss asks you to work for a specific reason, that you would get paid overtime. Would love to get more input on this.
Varies, most people I know are at a set amount of overtime in a fixed contract. That means if they do, say, 30 hours of overtime they still get paid their base salary, anything over that, gets counted as overtime.
In my company up to 20 hours of overtime per month were included. This had to explicitly be accepted by the employee however. Recently we changed to a flex time system in which all overtime is payed, at a rate of 1.25. I also interviewed with other companies in which the amount of included overtime hours was much higher.
In US trucking you work 70. No vacation, no holiday, no pto, no heath care, gone months at a time. And if you're not driving you're not being paid at all. Japan is actually much easier.
@@nee-grow thats good if you really are on vacation, but you are not. No healthcare, no holidays, no nothing, gone for months at a time, driving till there is no more road. I really dont think thats a vacation you thought it to be
Impressive quality and professionalism with this one! The time and dedication really paid off. RU-vid's algorithm doesn't really reward time consuming "quality over quantity" kind of work, so I can definitely appreciate this type of content, as well as all the Patrons with great taste supporting this channel. Keep up the amazing work! The only grudge I have is that you didn't tell about the long version immediately. (Although, I guess "short version" implies it. I got so excited and immersed I didn't notice.) I would have watched that first.
Work in Japan, for me. When working for foreign french manager, 80-110 hours a week, with threat of getting fired and losing visa. Having to work weekends, losing holidays. When working for japanese director, working 40-60 hours and getting talked to nicely. A few friends had to stoo eating spicy food because too many ulcers, or losing hair, ... Overtime pay changed over the years. 2005-2008 I wasnt getting paid for it. Afterwards I was able to get rest days or paid for nights and evenings.
I'm Mexican and I think there are a lot of similarities in our way of working... We also work long hours and stay after hours to keep on working most of the time :/
The very omnipresent "repression of self" seems very apparent. From the hours to the suits like she mentioned. And the constant stress and conformity is relived by very hard drinking into the early hours. Thats a deadly cocktail (pun kinda intended X3) and the "Work longer IS harder" mentality is definitely a bad one imho. As they arent so much focused on work as LOOKING like your working hard. And thats a very big loss in productivity. However some pluses is how much the company pays for you. Like health, transportation housing AND hyper security? Thats a sweet deal. Overall I say its an extremely mixed bag and Id day few in the West outside of maybe like NYC or London would be able to really cope. But things are trending in the right direction is great. Maybe kinda long (super sorry!!) but this was very interesting and a topic I talk about with a Japanese friend and a western friend who wants to move there one day. Back into the internet ether I go!! Woosh
I work as a visual designer in Massachusetts, USA. I show up at around 9am, and leave between 5 and 5:30pm, and am out by 3 or 3:30 on Fridays. As i'm in a creative field, there's a lot more flexibility in what I do and my say in projects than other fields. I also have the option of working from home a lot too, If i choose. But i tend to go in anyway, because my commute isn't bad at all, and I'd be more productive in my work space work load varies too, as sometimes clients don't get back for a while, or you're waiting for more work to come in, so it's kind of a crapshoot. Overall, I'm very pleased with my work/life balance
many companies do that to fake the working hours and avoid the government's punishments, their workers still work in the darkness and leave til midnight or even more
v p Depression is very common with Japanese workers. Many don’t realize it but they have it. Some do know they’re depressed but they don’t get help because they think depression is “fake” or they just don’t have time to deal with it. It’s a sad reality.
@@Metal-Joker Mad Men is about an advertising office, isn't it? I think there's a dorama with advertising setting. It's about 4 men who cook together every week after their job in an ad company. I don't remember the title tho.
If you like the people at your work and socialize more with them, your workplace will probably become more enjoyable for you, I think that's what they try to achieve.
Jeremy I don’t hate my coworkers at all. one of them is actually a very close friend of mine for over 10 years. My point is work shouldn’t become a mandatory social event. I want my life too
Most stupid thing for me is to stay up late at work and actually don't get anything done, I mean staying at work just to be there, what a waste of time....
exacly where i work if i get my work done in 3 hours then i can go home fore the day or if i do the work for the whole week in 2 days and can take 5 days off
It's the illusion of being hard working that some people like. Not actual hard work. There's a fundamentally disconnect between workers and what their job actually does, and sometimes people genuinely feel like they are making not much of an impact on society.
That is actually a myth. “Long hours” is subjective based on culture. Based on Scandinavian perspective Americans works long hours, based on Chinese and Japanese perspective Americans do not work long hours. The most successful people in society in fact works the longest hours.
@@macho6596 and the japanese are the least productive of the G7. Also the suicide rate (karoshi) shows me the people who work the longest suffer the most really.
It's kinda the same effect here in USA. We'll have multiple meetings every day just to "status report" what we're doing/did, which just burns time we could be actually getting stuff done.
@@GrandMoffJoseph last year August until January, I did my internship in San Diego. and I was surprised by how many meetings they had every day. Here in the Netherlands, you don't have that many meetings. And if you have them, you want them short
For 2 years I had to endure 6 hour meetings from 7:15am 5 days a week! Then on Saturday I had to meet my work colleagues and boss at 6am to RUN! We even had an Olympic medalist marathon running coach! It was seen as ‘team building’ and training of my mind............
i would never do that with my old manager!! ever!! hmmm but if it gave us insight about each other i probably would!! :) i know i am contradicting myself i hated a lot of the things he did but i think if we understood each other better we would have gotten along great!!
In VietNam , not only workers is also forced to drink also their friends do that ,if you don't do as they said , they will probably say something hurting your pride . Especially , men is the most suffering from this
Japan is basically the exact opposite to Norway. Here, we don't use formalities and we all greet each other with first names, even when talking to the manager. A usual working time is 7-15. It's not usual to stay a minute more than the time you're supposed to. Vacation can be up to two month during the summer, and weeks during Christmas and Easter holidays. Worker rights is highly respected by everyone, corporations as well.
Yeah, I agree, the exact opposite: Japan: "Mineral fuels including oil: 1.6% of total exports" Norway: "Mineral fuels including oil: 57.2% of total exports"
@@edwardslavov2935 Most oil and gas export revenues are placed in a pension fund, not used to pay for stuff like education or infrastructure. But the petroleum industry most probably has a profound impact on the economy nonetheless.
Japanese work culture sounds like a soul crushing nightmare :( beautiful country to visit, great food, beautiful architecture, etc but working there seems terrible 🥴
I’m not an extrovert. I go to work, I do my job, I look forward to going home at the end of the day and eating food, being lazy, watching tv. I can’t even imagine working 60+ hours a week AND then having to hang out with other co-workers. I’d be so drained.
Same, me too. I had to fake smile all the time, fake on being nice all the time. It's not that I'm an Evil person or something, but it's just that I like being alone for most of the time. Well an exception for those whom I already close with/ known well with, I can talk with them for hours, be my self, and not be tired in the process.
I'm the same way. I haven't entered the working sector yet, but it's only a matter of time, and I very much value my personal time to be myself over working, even though I'll need to work in order to enjoy any of that in the first place. I can only imagine how hard it is for soo many in Japan. If I could have my lifestyle choice over there while still doing a respectable job to cover these expenses, it would be a dream come true.
What's the point of life if you are just going to spend every moment of it in an office making someone else rich? I'm really so thankful that I live somewhere where there is good life-work balance.
sounds like my job lately (specialty construction trade). out of state companies have flooded into the area lately but they didn't really plan ahead so right now there's literally too much work for the number of licensed tradesmen so its driven the wage rates sky high. This sounds like a good thing but its developed a completely self centered mentality where people will quit their job in the middle of the day without notice and go work somewhere else for as little as a 2% raise. I had to work a ton of unpaid overtime just trying to get a job finish for the last couple weeks because 5 people quite, none of whom gave any notice, they just didn't show up for work. I'd like to have a good work/life balance but right now my industry has developed a culture of zero loyalty, back stabbing, and a Pre-Madonna attitude. It doesnt help that alot of these big corporations have weird hours since sometimes they're in different time zones so they honestly expect to be able to get ahold of you all hours of the day and night. I personal favorite of mine was a guy in New York who liked to call 7 or 8am his time, 3 or 4am my time and he had a regional superintendent here that would make calls after 5pm our time so we effectively had to be on call between 3am and 10pm.
That's probably why japan's suicide rate is so high. They go straight from all the pressure of trying to do their best at a university to a soul sucking corporation that doesn't allow them to have a life. I can't imagine living my life mostly to serve some company.
Japanese work life balance is similar to American work life balance...meaning, very little of it. Only EU and perhaps a couple other countries (Australia?) people are able to enjoy 4+ weeks vacations a year etc. In the US you even loose your health insurance if you loose your job so it’s even worse than Japan in some ways.
Once I had a chance to chat with a Japanese client who worked for a European company. When I praised the traditional Japanese work ethic, he simply told me Japanese no longer had that spirit but 'prentended' to still have it by staying late at work. Per what he said, people working at a normal Japanese company usually dawdled in the morning kind of still recovering from the late last night drinking party, then took long meetings or cellphone calls in the afternoon without doing any actual work. Only after the sun started to fall down to the horizon did they began to set about their real work. So the long work hour is due to the total absence of efficiency. My client also told me this was the reason why he preferred to work for a European compnay to a Japanese one.
What you said doesn't surprised me at all. It's the working norms nowadays in any companies or conglomerates, many spend lots of time playing and yanking on their handphone instead of the real work...
I have lived in Japan for 4 years. Believe me it is very stressful working in Japan. It's a very good country for a vacation but not for work imo... If you ever think about working here in Japan, I suggest you to re-consider. Not only you have to blend with the homogeneous society here, but it's culture too. Japanese working culture is totally different from the rest of the world. One of the most common thing that most of the foreign workers have trouble here is unlike most of western countries where you can go home after you have finished your job or when it is the end of your shift, you can't go back if your SENIORS HAVEN'T FINISHED theirs. They would say something to you if you do. Or they might not say something in front of you, but behind you. Edit: I know that my English is far from good. So if you can speak English properly and you are not from any English speaking countries, congratulations.
Common fault in East Asia. Because East Asian countries lack their own resources, need to import commodities, and the proportion of international money market is very low.
@@ewgegkeugrwug1739 you do know that commodity rich countries are the poorest in the world while the richest countries tend to have the least commodities. They call it the resource curse in economics
@@NGE0001 Well, you can see Canada, US, Australia and Nordic countries. Their living condition is very high. Of course, some oil countries are poor because of ethnographic characteristics.
@@ewgegkeugrwug1739 high income per capita countries by wealth are resource poor. Asia, South america, Africa and the middle east are resource rich (not just oil) yet are the poorest places in the world
Marianne There’s too much to write on this subject so I’ll try and be brief. In a nutshell, I would say that I’m an easy-going, non-assertive and compliant sort of person but even with my docile personality, I’ve found that you’ll get back-stabbed and looked upon as “weird” for making mild suggestions. You are not meant to question anything or have ideas and it’s as someone else said, it can be a very grey, sombre and demoralising experience. You MUST conform and the politeness is... I’m sorry but it’s fake. Great place for holidays; a fantastic country and you’ll find the cuteness and hospitality overwhelming but working for them is another ball game altogether.
@@superdog7476 I understand. Thanks for explaining. I agree with you, but I dont think its the same in every company, I am going to study science and work there, I hope its not the same in tech-development companies as you explained in your comment. Then Im fucked.
I had this previlege to sit & discuss on jobs & work culture with group of my japanese co worker , one of the guy burst down his tears , he said it's too much of a heirarchy & no freedom of opinion
I know hugs are a no-go in Japanese public but I so wouldve patted his back and maybe given a small hug. I hope he can find a job that's a lot less traditional or stringent.
@@larrysmith3959 And yet, we just watched a video of several people discussing they now work at jobs in Japan that have veered away from the old strictness (and most weren't self-employed/freelance either). There are such jobs, you just have to look and be patient (I'm sure such a unique work culture is in high demand so openings might not be common).
I'm from Australia and this gives me a better appreciation of my job here. I work 38 hours a week and in annually I am entitled to 9 weeks leave (45 days).
WHAAAAT!? 9 bloody weeks? Dude that really is too great. That puts I think the number here in the UK to shame. What job do you do? I'm learning to be a game artist but would also like to look at working in the animation and film sectors. Honestly though, I just want a job that I can also be very happy with and have plenty of personal time to live my life the way I want to. Australia and New Zealand feel like some of the best options for this, even though Japan keeps calling to me. LOL
@@danielwhyatt3278 i work in public sector. Not rubbing it in but on top of 9 weeks we have, there's option to purchase extra 4 more weeks of leave, which I did so in theory I'll have 13 weeks of leave this financial year. 😁 I used to live in NZ too and yeah, the leave is generous too but depending where you work.
@@danielwhyatt3278 Hi, so you sound like me... learning about all the cons of living in Japan and still wanting to just experience it just once. A piece of advice I would give you is, just equip yourself with all the skills you'll need for now: A JLPT N2 or N3 at least and learn more about the work culture of the specific sector you want to work in Japan. Having some prior work experience will help a ton. This way, you can have some back-ups you can use... just in case you feel very disappointed with Japan and want to go back home or to some other country. I've already started trying to monetize by Japanese skills, doing freelance translations or teaching Japanese through my native language (Tamil) to other kids, or for just watching anime (😂😂) etc-- just to make sure I don't end up feeling like I've wasted my time learning Japanese if I'm disappointed with my living experience in Japan.
@@abematey9786 Bruh...you should've mentioned it was public sector..😂😂. Cuz the private sector in my country is probably very low-tier but everyone knows the public sector just rocks in my country lol.
Just so people don't get the wrong idea and think 9 weeks a year of annual leave is normal in Australia, it's not. Australians are entitled to a minimum of 4 weeks of annual leave per year. In Australia, it's highly unusual to get 9 weeks of annual leave per year in either the private or public sector.
Ohh lots of familiar faces in the video haha. Must have taken a lot of time editing the looooong interviews but your efforts paid off because this video is 10/10!! Very informative and would be super helpful for people thinking about working in Japan! Otsukaresama, Greg!
internationally ME i recognized you !! You are the woman in the park.. i follow your channel !! Actually i followed you from greg vlog.. hehee.. when you, greg, shin and aiko (if i'm not wrong) in hokkaido.. ate azuki bean in a fish shape snack.. hahahaa lol
Would you believe it took me a year to make this? Well you shouldn't, because it really didn't. If I compressed all the time perhaps it was 2-3 weeks. But I did started filming this over a year ago and I could have technically published this last spring. I was so worried about presenting this topic wrongly. I also took so much time to organize and interview people, that I didn't want to rush this out; so it sat, and sat, and sat. The thing I realized is that I'll never be able to cover such a broad topic, whether in this "short" 30 minute version, or the hour long "full" version (which still meant that I cut 3/4 of the interview footage) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qrWkgVu2MHo.html. So, there's a lot of perspectives missing, I don't think this is the true picture of what working in Japan is like. The biggest gaping hole I see is that there are not enough blue collar type positions represented. I would also say the generation that is about to retire or who are recently retired didn't get a voice, but I chose the bubble in the 90's as the line to draw in the sand for talking about present day working conditions. It's difficult to find Japanese people to talk about what their current job is like, because who would want to say the wrong thing and perhaps lose their job over it? I think the people that did appear were genuine in what they said, I don't think they were being over positive or negative. Most of the people I interviewed were talking about former jobs and not their current ones. However, I think if I were to randomly and anonymously interview workers about their current jobs, I would have been able to get a fuller picture. And a little plug here. This type of video is really the direct result of my supporters on Patreon. There's no way I could put this amount of time into a single video if I wasn't getting that external support. So thank you Patrons! If you want to become one, you can do so at www.patreon.com/lifewhereimfrom. Whether you work in Japan or not, I'd love to hear about your work experience is like.
Life Where I'm From OMG IM EARLY IM SO HAPPY THAT YOU POSTED RIGHT NOW CAUSE I REALLY WANTED TO WATCH YOU BUT IVE WATCHED ALL THE OTHE VIDS KEEP UP WITH THE AMAZING WORK I LOVE YOUUUUUU
I am glad I found this comment before I got too far into the video. I'd rather watch the long version. (Time for bed here!) Before I forget, thanks for all your work on it, and to all who agreed to be interviewed. We understand that it's a huge topic. No one expects a fully comprehensive treatment of the issues in 30 minutes, 1 hour, or even several hours!
Life Where I'm From I’m a new subscriber, and I am so impressed by your videos! Sweet, insightful, educational, fun... great filming quality and editing. Your hard work and passion shows! Thank you for sharing with us. :)
One difference I notice is that, in the U.K (England), you will still go out drinking with your bosses - but because you WANT to and enjoy it, rather than doing so because it's expected.
if my boss kept me out drinking until 2 or 3 and then made me come in at 8 am (like the woman mentioned in the video), i would think he's a god damned moron and i'd have zero respect for him in the future. such a stark contrast to anything i've dealt with here in usa in the past.
Actually very often you go because you should... theoretically you have a choice, but in reality you don't. I work in a big corporation in UK and workday of 10-11 or more hours a day is a norm. Many times I worked 14 hours a day and sometimes weekends. My contract says 7.5 hours daily, so... but this is what is expected of you
It's like you spent 90% of your life in the office. You might get a good salary, but you won't have time to learn new things or enjoy your life while you're young.
From the late 1990's to 2012, I made lamps for a Japanese company. They were an international company and I was contracted to build for the US market. Their US office was run by an American, a German, (males) and a Japanese office manager (female). The office manager was very competent and, of course, was the primary connection to the Japan headquarters. The American died, and after a while the German left(?). The office manager ran the US operation for a while, and I saw my orders increase quite a bit. But.... Then the headquarters brought in a male Japanese manager who knew NOTHING about marketing or sales (he was a bean counter). My orders dropped dramatically -- and then the "Great Recession" hit and everything went to hell in a handbasket. My personal feeling is that if the female office manager had been allowed to continue to run the US operation, they (and I) would have survived the downturn.
I worked in Japan for a long time and last year I finally decided to leave. I was very scared to quit my job and my Japanese comfort zone. It ended up to be the best decision I've ever made. My work situation improved dramatically in Europe, especially because here I can have responsibilities and people trust me. I am not seen as a foreigner (which I am since I live in Germany but I am Italian) but as an employee expert in his field. In Japan, I felt nobody really trusted me because I was a foreigner. Finally, here I don't have to work long hours unless I believe it's necessary. Overall I am much more satisfied and not stressed or frustrated like I was in Japan. I think the main problem in Japan is that people don't take any responsibility, all the company is a unicum and free thought is not encouraged. You have to follow the rules to make the system work.
@45superscott Japan is definitely an advanced country but it has a lot of problems when you consider society, work, and human relations. I believe it's difficult, if not impossible to make a ranking. What I can say is that the quality of my life improved a lot once I left and I heard a lot of similar experiences.
Hence why Japan’s economy excelled in the electronics manufacturing age and is dying in the software age. Free thought is vital to a company, even big tech companies, hence why Facebook and Google tries to maintain a start up culture as much as possible to encourage ideas and innovations.
I'm Japanese and have worked both in Japan and Europe. In Japan people tend to work as a team, which is sometimes more easy going. I personally felt huge stress working in Europe because I had to take all the responsibilities by myself, which meant if I were not productive the chances were I would lose the job. Probably Japanese working system is more like a socialism that all workers are equal, whereas European system is based on Individualism that you can work as you want, but have to take all the responsibilities. Ich denke, beide haben Vorteil und Nachteil. Das Problem in Japan ist vor allem, wenn die Manager auf niedrigem Niveau sind, läuft das ganze Geschäft schief.
Of course people would ask. I think this is the complete list of Media used in this: → Wakakozake → Kantaro the Sweet Tooth Salaryman → Love that makes you cry (いつかこの恋を思い出してきっと泣いてしまう) → Tokyo's Women Campaign (東京女子図鑑) → At Home Dad (アットホーム・ダッド) → The Big Short → That 70's Show → Boyz II Men - It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday
The first media clip at 1:52 threw me off... I really thought for a moment that you actually went and filmed the office inside some company's building...!!! 🤣🤣🤣 Like they'll let you...! 😂🙂But obviously, I later realized that you placed media clips interspersed in your footage... 🙂
I'm from Australia and currently live in Canada. Over the last 10+ months of being here, I can confidently say that Canadian companies expect employees to put in overtime without pay (office jobs) while all my life in Australia, I've taken work-life balance as granted. In Australia I don't remember ever working past 5 pm, while I have had days in Toronto where I'd work till 7-8pm just to finish some of the daily tasks. In saying this, I do appreciate this video as I'm currently interviewing for a Japanese startup and this video definitely gave me good insights into what to expect working for a Japanese company.
I really like the path you are taking with this channel. The first video I saw, was the one about the japanese breakfast. I continued to watch your videos, because of your adorable kids explaining japanese "topics". I kept watching because of the good footage from "places of interest". And now you put out more and more videos about specific topics (not necessarily aimed for tourists) in japanese culture and really go deep in the materia. By now this is the only channel I know to provide such a good insight and I really enjoy it!
wow...that's is one STRESSFUL JOB. it's like the workers don't get to have a life at all. what bothers me most is the drinking after work. it's just waste of time. they should have use that time to spend with family and friends.
Yepp. And the Japanese government scratches their head wondering why they have a declining birthrate. It puzzles me that it took so many decades for changes to start taking place.
For Japanese people work is life, thus the friends are derived only from work. So if you have any friends, they're from your job anyway. But I agree, it's a very inefficient society in my opinion. But a strict, gentle-like and clean one.
Worked for a Japanese company for 12 years in Australia. Going to Japan for work was a huge cultural shock... The meetings nearly killed me. 4 hours in a small hot room drove me nuts.
I worked for Japanese company briefly and it drove me nuts too. we were building an office for them and they wanted us to use all metric parts even though all building materials in the US are based on Imperial measurements so we had to special order everything from Canada which caused massive delays and cost way more. There isnt even a huge difference and didnt impact the company in the slightest, the just refused to use anything but metric for anything so refused to allow it.
I'm a postgrad researcher at a Japanese university. My professor, who's Japanese but has worked in many countries all over the world, often discreetly complains about the stiff, restrictive mannerisms of the Japanese workplace. He complains about having to attend 2-4 meetings every day "for no reason", the long hours which he feels are unnecessary and does not add productivity etc. He's the sort who likes to enjoy time with his young family, engage in outdoor activities and distance running, and once admitted that he sometimes drives to a park that is an hour and a half away from the university just to clear his head after meetings.
Ppl who are watching this video more concern bout us than most of Japanese. We are not taking these problems such seriously... Thanks for being worry about us
The weirdest part is that they actually enjoy it. Japanese expats can't stand how laid back and "carefree" Western societies are. They think we're a bunch of pitiful slackers and they love to talk trash about Westerners among themselves.
US suicide rate (about 13) is not so behind that of Japan (about 15). And drugs kill more people in US (about 70k) than committing suicide does (about 40k) while Japan doesn't suffer from such drug issues.
Saleucami yes here in south korea its more stressful workplace. Im a drafting technician in architectural firm i mostly work 10 hours a day plus more if my boss has a project needed done asap. I sometimes work 14 hours if needed. Sorry about my bad english i hope you understand
As a Japanese, I’m so sad that foreigners give up living in Japan because of our working style. But, I think you guys, speaking foreign language can be hired by a company of good repute because Japanese companies need globally competitively !
Nintendo! I love their company. But with American way of life made me cannot work in Japan because we American don’t have the good that Japanese people do about working and etiquette.
@@koolarooo It's not that they need to change the way they interact with foreigners. They need to change the whole inner structure to meet modern day's work life globally. Their government needs to find ways enforce that companies give workers decent work hours and let them leave on time so they don't have work unpaid overtime. There's a lot to unpack and there’s a lot of room for improvement but you get the idea.
Have you seen Nippon Wandering TV? Great channel. Just walks around all over Tokyo and other places in Japan, no music tracks, the camera is not focused on the guy doing it (he never reveals himself or talks), really feels like you're there. ru-vid.com/show-UCIDTgYVs-rEHx-fE4qSPZhQvideos
Really? I'm here right now in Tokyo and I can barely walk down the road or go anywhere without cramming through ceaseless crowds of millions, there are so many people. Don't think this place needs more tbh, atleast not until the old start dying off.
@@nowayhosay50 thats another problem. Overpopulation, its a small island nation, traffics a nightmare its no wonder people usually take the train. Anybody who wants to move there try having fun with that.
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Glad I work in a Japanese company with almost none of these attributes. Flexible work hours, freedom to express your opinion, no forced drinking parties, considerable flexibility with vacation days, etc. It's the only company I worked for in Japan, but from what I've heard, this is common with a lot of other tech startup companies. I strongly recommend looking at startups if you're an engineer or want to work in such a field.
So the time between 5PM and when everyone waits for the boss can leave so they can leave too... what are they doing during that time? Are they working? Pretending to work? Openly just hanging out and goofing off?
I too experienced a Japanese working environment in Japan first hand and realized quickly that being hired or given a job is no compliment. If I ever lived in Japan I would rather be jobless and homeless. Luckily I do not live there anymore.
I love Japan, and I would love to live there...but I don't understand the work culture at all. I mean what's the point of working so hard when you can't enjoy life? if you even have to feel guilty even when you get the time off you are entitled to?!
I can't stand being micro-managed. I would be miserable working in Japan. I love my current job. I'm given a deadline to complete my work, and as long as I meet that deadline and produce good quality work, nobody bugs me. I do get some slack sometimes for not being as social as they would like for me to be, in a nice way, but that's just not me. My work is my work, my private life is my private life, and in the U.S. I'm starting to see a trend of employers wanting the work environment to feel more like a community, or church. I personally find it rather culty. I personally just want to do my job to the best of my abilities, and then move on with my life. The entire "drinking parties" mentioned in this video reminded me a lot of the movie "The Twilight Samurai", in which the main character was criticized for not going out to drink with the boys, instead he would rather spend his time with his daughters. I can relate to that a lot.
We're constantly being micro-managed like crazy by a dude who's been in "charge" for like 2 months although we were the ones who have taught him the job. Im so glad I'm getting out of here.
Hi, thanks for the video. I worked for 20 years in Japan and I am currently back to my home country (Switzerland). I worked for 2 Japanese companies and a Swiss company, where I had a regional position (Asia). Let me summarize the good and bad points of working in Japan (from my point of view of course): The good: - mistakes are more shared and more forgiven than in a western company - usually good team work - although life employment is disappearing, Japanese still don't fire as easily as in Western countries - although many Japanese do not know this, Japanese employees are well protected by employment laws - long-term vision and this is much better than most western companies, who are too focused on the shareholders and short-term results The bad: - long hours - poor work flexibility (like tele-working, which is becoming quite common in Western countries) - cramped working desks - difficult to take decent vacations - as a consequence of the 2 above: poor prof/private life balance - rather low salary - tend to have more and more temporary workers, which is creating a more precarious society - limited social benefits esp. for retirement (in comparison to Europe) - tax hell for higher salaries - not much incentive to be an entrepreneur - not relaxed enough, too formal, too serious! C'mon life is short enjoy your work too!
If I think about it, if you see a Western foreigner working in Japan, they almost always have a University degree. And it's very hard to stay here long enough to be on RU-vid if you're not working or not a student. Many come through teaching English, Chris Okano is a case of this, but besides him, he was the only English teacher.
I think it is very tough to get a work visa to be a salary worker in Japan unless you have a degree. However there are some other categories of work visa such as "skilled labor" to be a Chef if you have 10+ years experience in the cuisine of your own country. Work Visas in Japan can be tricky and the rules are always changing. Recently things are a bit more liberal, but still stricter than many other countries.
I worked for a Japanese game studio and I got yelled at in front of everyone for being one day late on a deadline I was not even aware was scheduled. Actually, the person that yelled at me was a westerner but I think he was speaking for our boss that was Japanese. Lateness in delivering what was promised had immediate consequences under Japanese work culture. I learned that lesson the hard way that day, lol.
This should be titled, "What it's Like Working in URBAN Japan" - Because, you know, Japan is FAR MORE than its cities, and Japanese jobs and workplaces are more than just office, clerical, and business related.
I worked for a Japanese company as a part time employee for a summer job. It was the last time I would ever think about working in a Japanese multinational company again. I have a friend who says he knows how to escape the torture. He worked an an engineer in a Japanese company and never suffered. He was untouchable, he says. I wish I learned his secret. He did tell me the secret, but I could never master it (yet). So sad... 😢
You know what the sad part is? YOU can ONLY bet on that!! This woman has probably had 500X more baths than YOU have!! No lie....hundreds of times more. YOU, obviously, have NO idea how much Japanese value cleanliness!!
I wish that you could have let the Japanese people in the video speak Japanese. Even with the English subtitles, there are a few words and sentences that are incoherent. They must have had lots of things to say, but speaking the English language for this particular topic restrained them as everyone went "Nandaro/how to say..."
Yup i agree and i am kind of surprise that japanese can speak english clearly, because when the last time i was in japan , it's so hard for me to communicate with them whenever i got lost and asking for directions haha. Whenever i ask them, they just answered it in japanglish or their own english speaking style
Many Japanese do Sabisu work which is like overtime but not getting paid. basically working for free. All of them have a Strong sense of responsibility with the company. it gets on my nerves. crazy working environment. Not Freedom.
Before the Japanese economic crash of the 1990s, Japan WAS the way the USA WAS until about the 1970s. My father's generation in the USA worked a lot of unpaid overtime and they mostly worked at one company for their whole career. There was an unwritten understanding that if you worked hard and kept your nose clean, you would progress in your career and have life-time employment. Companies were loyal to their employees and employees were loyal to their company. Just like Japan Was. In the USA, that ended in the 1980's. In the USA starting in the 1980's, companies fired employees by numbers regardless of talent or contribution. That ended the Company-Employee loyalty culture in the USA. The same thing happened in Japan in the 1990's but to a lesser degree AND not surprisingly, Japanese employees are no longer willing to give their lives to the Japanese companies.
@@mossadismoslembtw1704 It's misleading to conflate the fertility rate with the birth rate. The current Japanese fertility rate reflects the passing of a generation in which families had 3~5 children (a boom). Japanese families are still having children. 1 million babies were born in Japan last year. By comparison 300,000 were born in multicultural Canada. Japan's population is growing 3.3 times the rate of Canada's. In an age of AI and mass automation having 1 or 2 children seems more prudent than having 5 children. Japan's population is levelling off to a more sustainable number and it's birth rate is actually shown a slight increase since 2005. japan-forward.com/mythbusters-foreign-reporting-on-the-japanese-population-and-birth-rate-reaches-a-new-low/ Show less
I lived in Japan as a kid and it is all about knowing how to behave and the code of conduct and also knowing how to speak correctly to people and I don't just mean correct grammar I mean the manner in which you speak to certain groups of people. If you can master this you are home free. For example when you toast with your boss make sure his bottle or glass is higher than yours and when you are presented with a business card follow the ritual so as not to give offence and multiply all this by 100, 000 and you will easily find your way. Good luck hahahahahahahahahaa.
Really informative video and great production Greg. Was happy to help out as I think this type of video is very important for all foreigners to watch before making the big step to work in Japan as it may be VERY different from your home country. For this very reason, I always insist people to start out as an English teach (so you don't have to spend so much time looking for a job that may be a lot harder to apply for) and test the waters to see if you actually enjoy Japan first. Japanese work culture definitely has a lot of things you will have to learn but that is also something very fun for some people (including myself) as it will help you 100% with whatever next step you may take if you happen to stay and work in Japan. Once again, well done Greg on the production of this video. Really enjoyed it.
I'm working in japan Over time working is common... There is no time even to eat lunch. I feel so stressful. next year I'm going to retire the current job
I worked in Japan from 1992 to 1993. Most of the statements I would agree with the people interviewed. However, the amount of work they are responsible to produce is lower than in the USA. We Americans actually work harder at the same jobs. When I worked as an engineer in Japan we had a huge support staff of draftsmen, test engineers, R and D engineers. When I worked at the equivalent job in the USA, there were only 4 of us doing everything including manufacturing, design, R and D and testing. Also, the statement about lack of vacation in Japan is deceptive. We had every Saturday and Sunday off. We also had "Golden Week" where the factory is closed for about 9 days. On top of this we had 30 days of paid leave. People bragged about not using all of the 30 days. However, this was much more vacation than I ever had in the USA. In addition, a lot of life chores are taken care of for you in Japan. I lived in company housing, which offered laundry service, a cook for breakfast and dinner. I never had to worry about laundry or cooking or grass cutting or any other chores. In addition, our company owned a ski resort, which we could stay in for about $10/day. We had paid transportation by bus or train, so no car was needed. We never had to do any tax returns. This was completely handled by the company. They would take out the proper taxes and we never had a file a tax return. They also have national health care, so they don't worry about insurance coverage. I saw a specialist at a hospital, got medicine for the flu and got an IV and stayed in the hospital once and the fee was about $100.
As an engineer in the US, I do agree with the part about the work of an engineer in the USA, at least for some companies. It varies, but I've had to put in over 70+ hours a week sometimes without a penny of overtime. Moreover an engineer was also support staff for the systems maintained and overtime was required with no OT pay; by the way the place that I worked for still works like this.
That sounds like the expat package no? Did all your Japanese co-workers have all those extra benefits like company housing? And yeah, doubt it's the same now.
As a japanese, I want to point out one thing. It is said in this video that if you work full time, the company won't pay you for over time job. Actually, Full time workers are payed for their overtime work. It is illegal for companies to not pay over time money. However, in the labor contract, companies can include some over time money in basic salary. So, if the labor contract says "we will include payment for 20 hour over time in the basic salary." the company won't pay you extra when you over time work is under 20 hours per month.
Sono tori - it's as you say. Zangyou/overtime is paid but I imagine some companies try to circumvent the loopholes as companies are apt to do. This is an interesting vid for me, Life Where I'm From. I worked in Japan from 2001 to 2003 but as an English teacher so only know Japanese workplace reality from my Japanese friends from back then. Omoshiroi no bideo :)
sou_ソウ salary workers don't get paid overtime here in America... you have a contract and get paid a certain salary wage no matter how many hours you've worked.
Some in here mention how hard its in their own countries to work and sure it is, BUT - you still don't want to work in Japan, trust me. Just enjoy Japan as a tourist or language student. Its not only the crazy work hours, non-paid overtime, forced drinking, not being allowed to stand out or say your opinion etc, its the overwhelmingly depressing atmosphere that maybe hits the hardest. Most work places in the west are also depressing, but Japan is on another level. Might be fun for the first couple of months but I would guess that 90% of all foreigners who attempt to work in Japan quit after a while because of this. It just gets too depressing after a while.
How can anyone be productive after working long hours, take very little vacations and attend drinking parties after work. It makes absolutely no sense AND to claim one can be productive on top of that, he or she are lying to themselves and others....
People literally drop dead in the trains due to exhaustion. They have a fund for widowers and children whoes fathers died from being over worked. Japan is just weird and terrible on so many levels.
then again this only applies white collar work in japan, ive heard blue collar work in japan is more laid back sense there's not as much of an expectation of image, just fix the toilet and be on your way.
I haven't watched the video yet. But when I was in Japan in a 1 month trip, what I felt about it was pretty dreadful, I love Japan and the culture, but when I was there I got such a grand culture shock, I remember I didn't know If I like it or not. Everything is chosen for you already, when you set an alarm, you can expect Google maps to be almost perfect, you'll wake up at a certain hour, you'll walk exactly the minutes Google tells you, by one side of the sidewalk, follow the colored train station lines, stay in one side of the stairs, always walking fast so you don't slow down other people, board the same train, with people sleeping in the morning train, and people sleeping in the afternoon one, always serious, not many voices or noises made, not even on the station, nor while riding the train, only the noise of the announcer of the stops. Then you get to be reminded in the train (fairly often) that you should grab yourself from a bar because the train can stop any minute if anyone attempts suicide, also advertising of golden Friday, a Friday every month, where employees are allowed to leave work early to grab a beer with coworkers, just to be told by locals that that is failing since Japanese just stay at work and overwork. I don't know, I feel life is hard in Japan, you can see all the education, respect, and culture which everyone envy around the work, but I feel it comes at the cost of the humanity of the society. There's so many moral rules (because most are not even rules), I feel people restrict their behaviours a lot to meet society expectations. It's rough, I loved the country and still love the culture, i grabbed a lot from them and I think I grew as a person doing some stuff they do and thinking a lot like they do, but it's easier when you live in a country where you can choose how to be or take a break from it, or don't feel so much pressure from the society.
ICharlyl totally agreed, I went to Japan 4 times as it’s close to china . The most shocking if rather difficult for me to settle is that ppl just being too cool and polite 😂, they seem to restrict their real personalities to go along with social norms. Girls almost wear the same coats , same dark colors, same lovely tones . And the shops are closed at 8pm 😢😢😢. Having said that , I still love the country, and there are many aspects that need to be learned from their disciplined culture
ICharlyl i have never been to japan.. but i have japanese friends and been in a relationship with japanese once. I agree with most of your opinion.. they always think what people think about them.. they always want to be perfect in front of everyone, which led them to depression.. that is the only think i feel bad about when i think about it.. because they have many good things too just it's too much i think.. we are just human..
ICharlyl They dress the same in similar suits with same colors, they walk towards the same direction like ants. When they bumped into you, they didn't notice and continue to walk. Practically like robots. Some even gave me that nuisance look if we tourists walked horizontally instead of vertically and slow them down. Most run to chase for trains when I walk at normal pace. I was like seriously!
Yi Yao Yes, most Japanese are courteous and polite but that scare me sometimes in which I feel they surpress their true personality and feelings. That is what I discovered during my first trip. 2nd, 3rd and 4th trips after that, I don't think all are truly courteous, maybe on the surface, yes. But if you spend longer time in different part of Japan, you will know what I mean. They are cold and lack of warmness. They are not open and friendly towards outsiders. Except for the people I met in Hiroshima. They are genuine and down to earth people. They lead very humble and simple life. They are curious with visitors and they asked questions. I love Japan for its cleanliness and fresh air. I also took my own trash back and dispose. Their inventions are great. They are smart people.
I grew up in Europe and now live and work in the US. In America it doesn't matter who you are, you have an equal opportunity to become successful. I find American work ethic stronger than European, maybe not as extreme as Japanese. I thing the best thing about working in the US is the opportunities to make you dream reality. Perhaps the worst thing is limited PTO.
I think this type of lifestyle is very common in East Asian countries. Since a kid they’re motivated to persue a “good paying job” as they think it will equal happiness, but in reality the happiness is in doing what you love. The problem is in Asia the jobs that people love for example mechanic or engineer, are considered low in the society. I live in Australia and I know this information by research and my fellow Japanese friends. They want to stay in Australia as they earn 5 times what they earned in Japan and working half the time with 36 paid annual leaves plus public holidays and pension money. They tell me that they use to live to work but now they live for themselves and enjoy life as much as they can. For anyone moving to japan, be ready to be working long hours and overtime without pay as you are paid in salary not wages. Thank you for reading.
Not really, it's similar to Korea, but not the big neighbor China, the working culture in China is far more relaxed than Japan and Korea, although it's still not as good as in the US.
Sayng that engineer is considered low is like your life is also considered low, just to earn a degree in engineering is so hard. Luckily i graduated from my hellish college life, though this is my passion.
I quite my 8-5 job almost a year ago. Realizing that although everything was good, from salary, working environment, and co-workers, I don't want to spend half of my life there. Now, working as a freelancer, things are uncertain. No longer get monthly salary, no benefits, etc, but I live stress-free life, have more time to do my hobbies, traveling, etc. I just can't imagine going back to work in small cubicle space.
PROS FOR WORKING IN SWEDEN - In the workplace: Typically 5 weeks payed vacation. 8 hour work day with no expectation of overtime. Overtime at work is usually compensated for either with money or time off. Generally ok not to do any work at home after hours (i.e. ok to shut off phone, don't answer work emails) but this varies between companies. No salary first sick day, but from 2nd sick day up to 80% salary even when you're home sick. Overall generous retirement plans. 480 DAYS OF PAID PARENTAL LEAVE PER CHILD YOU GET - Society in general: Free education, even university level. Almost free healthcare. Almost free daycare. Almost free retirement homes. Great public transportation. Great infrastructure. Generally early adoption of new tech. High level of democracy. Low corruption. Low crime. Best tasting water you ever had right out of the tap in every home. Career opportunities for women (you see women in leadership positions at all levels, e.g. parliament 45% women). Almost everyone speaks decent english. CONS FOR WORKING IN SWEDEN - High taxes. High prices on products in general. Even higher prices on select products (e.g. gas, alcohol, tobacco) because of additional taxes. Really hard to find housing in the bigger cities, and when you do it's expensive. Swedes in general are kind of reserved so can be hard for foreigners to make Swedish friends outside work. Everyone speaks english so typically takes a lot of work for foreigners to learn the language. Lots of informal unspoken rules in the workplace that no one will tell you if you overstep
More or less the same in Norway, except prices and taxes are even higher. So we tend to go to Sweden on a day trip to shop for tobacco, booze and meat. I think the parental leave is a bit lower here, but still quite high. We also have really good water here.
I have to correct you. Retirement homes are expensive, very expensive in Sweden. Only reason grandma could afford it was because she sold the house. I have after relatives that could only afford it because they were two, he could give money to her.
Depends on the sector in Sweden. I get phoned and emailed out of hours, work most weekends with absolutely no overtime, generally clock 80 hour weeks. Workplace expectation to not take your holidays.
I can't say exactly what the rule is for Sweden because the laws are often very similar between Norway and Sweden, but not always the same. However I do know that there are companies in Norway that do that too, demand overtime beyond what's reasonable and what's allowed by the law but they are breaking the law and will get fined and asked to change if someone reports it. Some overtime is legal to demand here, but it's always compensated with time off. It might be an idea to look in to the Swedish workers laws to see what they legally can demand, in case they are breaking the law? :)
@Salvador Luna how would you live there without working there? They are pretty strict about visas from what I hear so most freelance work wouldn’t be an option.
I am single, Graphic Designer in Germany working 8 Hours a day 5 days a week. I have enough money to afford a 4 room apartment. Enough money to afford any hobbies I like. Even though according to foreigners like Americans our Tax cuts are "huge", I am glad with what I have here. I can't imagine living in any other system. Japan sounds like people live their life to work, rather than work to live their life. I try to work just enough to enjoy life. I find the mentality of "be a hard worker" kind of stupid. Nothing in life is chasing you or anybody.
Thumbs up. Your tax cuts might or might not be huge, but a good part of them go to things beneficial for society, like actual infrastracture, healthcare and education, and not military expenses.
Work is not the only thing in life you can be ambitious about.Just because people don't follow the "being a hard worker" philosophy, doesn't mean they don't have ambitions. And being a hard worker in life and in Japan does also not mean that you are ambitious. I would even say that most people in Japan are not ambitious but rather live in a "cage" of Working Environment. So If you would ask people who live in a country like Japan, If they really work so much because of ambition, they would say no.
Absolutely fascinating video - I really am glad that I watched it! Thank you very much for putting it together & thank you to all of the people who allowed you to interview them.
my contract in a japanese company is only 3months and no guarantee if i'll be renewed or not. my agent said it's the standard in japan - they give you 1 year first then ask you if you want to continue after that 1 year they will give 3 months and then offer you another 3 months and then 3 months as long they like you, you will have only 3 months contract. nowadays to say that the employer will guarantee your job for life is false, not anymore, especially if they don't like you. i have a non-japanese friend who was hated by our japanese co-worker and evaluated her so unfairly that they did not offer her another 3 months contract. my other non-japanese co-worker finished his contact and wanted to go home as soon as the date in the contract arrived --- was considered a resignation, they forced him to hand-over a resignation letter. I remembered him saying, "only they have the authority to end your contact not us, they made my life a living hell just because I want to end my contract" the other non-japanese co-worker but a pregnant lady who wanted to file for a benefits or something---my company made her life a misery that she also ended her contract. well, enough said..many people will not believe me anyways because they adore japan so much like me until I started working here.
I'm an American who started as an English teacher in Japan in 1984, but worked my way into a foreign corporation and stayed in Japan until the mid-90s. At a leading tech company, all non-managerial staff got overtime pay, but as was normal, they really didn't any meaningful work. We instituted a new rule within the HR department that you could get paid overtime, but only before 9am. Our overtime costs went to zero and there was no loss of productivity.
Great piece. I didn't realize we were so similar in work ethics. Now as an older person I regret not taking vacations and time away. Companies are no longer families, at least for 30 years...thanks
Japan is amazing for a vacation and to enjoy their culture for a few months. But working there (esp as a woman ) is terrible. No matter how amazing and experienced you are, you are measured by your age. Too much of time is spent in detail vs actual results. No particular perks or knowledge gained. Come for a vacation, not to work
@@jqueryrocks ooohhhh nooooo, what would happen if the world's birth rate dropped? How terrible it must be to work with the population already born....
@@rebeccacole6954 mainly because pensions nowadays are kind of ponzi schemes where younger people pay for older people's pensions, especially in Japan.. other than that it's all benefits though, I mean japan has 120 million inhabitants, they could use some population shrinking
@@rebeccacole6954 ooohhhh nooooo... ever thought that the population already born is AGEING?... meaning that they will soon be out of labor force... meaning much more pressure on the welfare system... meaning much more working hours for the younger labor force, and more poverty, and more homelessness, and more crime, and letting immigrants in to fill the gap, and this and that, until Tokyo starts resembling Chicago and the once great nation of Japan becomes a hell hole.
