Being indignant about cultural differences and job expectations won’t get you anywhere when you’re working in Japan. You have to come to Japan knowing that things are going to be drastically different than they are back at home. Here is a little series for you, highlighting a few main differences between working in Japan and working in your home country.1. In Japan, you will work overtime.
One difference between working abroad and working in Japan is that in Japan, working overtime without being paid is just an expected part of the job. A huge amount of overtime is illegal, but it’s quite normal to stay 15 minutes after work or to have to tidy up the workplace (cleaning the washroom sink or vacuuming once in a while). This doesn’t bother me at all now, but it did when I first arrived because I wasn't used to it at all. I come from a country where you’re paid by the hour to attend going away parties and staff meetings. Of course I was indignant at first, but that’s just how things are here. Whining about occasional overtime work or acting stressed and angry is just going to make everyone else think you’re a crazy, selfish brat. Remember that if you don’t like how things are done in Japan, you don’t have to stay here.
You’ll also be frequently asked to have dinner or go for drinks with your colleagues. Of course, you can decline but if you don’t occasionally say yes, people will think you’re unfriendly and won’t trust you as much as they would if you go out with them sometimes. Staff meetings also frequently run overtime. The best thing to do in these cases is be flexible about your time. Again, whining about it or acting stressed and angry is just going to make everyone else think you’re a crazy, selfish brat (which you probably are if you’re going to make a huge deal out of sitting in a chair for an extra 15 minutes). It doesn’t happen often, so take a deep breath and relax or you’ll look like a big, dumb baby.
The next post is about office gossip in Japan.
5 comments:
Great, Julie!
I am your blog's big fan for months now and I can't miss the oppertunity to comment when I saw our Russian Cheburashka! I even have not read the post yet!
Wow! I've heard he is popular in Japan, but did not expect to come across him here :-)
Now I am up to reading the posts
My current job is a support position and considered "exempt" so I am expected to put in any amount of unpaid overtime when necessary. My first job was in retail though and I distinctly remember that I hated staying late. That was mostly because of the job though. If you like what you do then it probably is not a big deal.
For someone considering teaching abroad can you provide any tips? If you’re not fluent with the language will it pose many hardships?
I think your post about the "15 minutes overtime" is true when we talk about teachers or maybe some other jobs. But it's definetly different if we talk about f.e. salaryman, except you take 13 hours a day as "average workload", then you're maybe right with 15 minutes overtime ^^ When I was in Tokio I often talked with a japanese girl about her future plans and work. She works as a "freeter" in a hostel. She told me that she's hardly seen her father, when she was young. His workload was 13 hours a day at 6 days a week. sometimes a 7 day week. This is a common thing for most japanese kids, she told me. All her friends with a "decent" job, are joining the workforces with the same amount of working hours.
If you are female you can also marry and live your live as a dedicated mom (which is still quite common).
She doesn't want to become like them an therefore she still works as a "freeter" and is pondering in which direction she could steer her live...
Fifteen minutes overtime? You have to be kidding. I'm lower level grunt in U.S. corper bond company. I wake up at four A.M. and find myself behind my desk at five. If I make it home before nine P.M. I'm lucky. My brother-inlaw is a computer programer, and shares an apartment with over dozen other people just so he can claim an address.
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