Ten Myths About Japan and the Japanese: #10 - Work
What the Japanese would like you to believe:
The Japanese would like the world to believe that they work punishing hours and are, as a consequence, extremely productive.
What is actually true:
Sitting at a desk for 10 - 12 hours staring at the computer screen is not akin to actually accomplishing something. The average Japanese salaryman does not accomplish in 12 hours what a western businessman accomplishes in 8. Same situation with Japanese students, but we'll come back to that in a later post.
The Midnight sight of a stooped shouldered, slow moving salaryman is not some poor sod finally free from his day at the office trudging home, but rather is, 99% of the time, a drunken sluggard who left work between 5 pm - 6 pm and has spent the last 5 hours either at the 5th drinking party of the week or at a hostess bar where he spent between ¥5000 to ¥8000 per 45 - 60 minute period to have a Panpan sit at his booth and tell him she doesn't think he is going bald and that she likes his tie.
The Japanese would like the world to believe that they work punishing hours and are, as a consequence, extremely productive.
What is actually true:
Sitting at a desk for 10 - 12 hours staring at the computer screen is not akin to actually accomplishing something. The average Japanese salaryman does not accomplish in 12 hours what a western businessman accomplishes in 8. Same situation with Japanese students, but we'll come back to that in a later post.
The Midnight sight of a stooped shouldered, slow moving salaryman is not some poor sod finally free from his day at the office trudging home, but rather is, 99% of the time, a drunken sluggard who left work between 5 pm - 6 pm and has spent the last 5 hours either at the 5th drinking party of the week or at a hostess bar where he spent between ¥5000 to ¥8000 per 45 - 60 minute period to have a Panpan sit at his booth and tell him she doesn't think he is going bald and that she likes his tie.
