What is the Work Culture in Japan?

Japan is prevalent in community, perseverance, and diligence when it comes to working. You’ve seen many articles written about overtime, late night work parties and the importance of putting 100% into projects. 

Working in Japan is no small matter. From the time of their birth to the time of their passing, Japan is ruled by the collectivism of action, consequence and nuance. But we also have to ask…why are they like this? Is it culture-based or a cultivated system perfected throughout history?

I’m a foreigner living in Japan. I’ve seen my fair share of salarymen eating lunch together. The beautiful perfection of women showing off their new seasonal items. The smiles on the faces of employees distributing tissues in 35 degree weather. Even the construction workers who work from dawn to dusk. 

I’m always in awe of these people. I think to myself that they must really like their job. But the questions I have to ask is:

Why are Japanese people so hardworking?

It starts from childhood. Children are taught about the basic rules of societal collectivism from kindergarten to high school.  They learn how to get along with friends, how unity is priority through actions such as cleaning together. Each week a team leader is established who is the impromptu assistant teacher. They inform the others about the schedule this week, helps the teacher in worksheet distribution and writes down names of students who misbehave. This creates an environment where tiers are respected and tasks are completed. Students get the sense of responsibility and power when it comes to classroom harmony.

This goes all the way up until adulthood. 

Unlike most countries, the adolescent ratio doing part-time jobs is significantly lower. This leads children to be less knowledgeable about societal expectations outside of school. Japanese part-timers tend to be in their early 20’s-30’s. Teenagers are discouraged from work to focus more on education. So, young adults out of college have no idea how to navigate the outside world. In school, it’s controlled, but outside there are so many more rules to follow than just: follow the leader.

So, when it IS time to enter the job market, most young adults are not completely prepped for it. And on your first day, you are already expected to know these rules. 

No one teaches students how to suck up to the manager. No one teaches them that tattle-telling can get you in trouble. In the formative years, students are praised for having a black and white mentality. In a company ruled by politics, black and white is a fallacy. 

So after university, the young adults finally get a job and it’s not what they expect. They have to cram as much information as they can within the probationary period. This includes pouring a glass with both hands, buying their co-workers souvenirs, always bowing their head to clients. They are regarded as a tool for the sake of company harmony. The company’s success is the main emphasis, and not the people working inside. 

Japan also has a beehive worker mentality. This can spiral and lead to overwork, mental fatigue, and guilt for taking pleasure outside of work.

They start off extremely strong, trying to prove that they belong. Another cog in the machine. Over time, that mentality becomes more of your personality. You become the same as everyone else. You see your seniors working overtime, so you work overtime. You copy every nuance, every societal rule, every standard, and soon enough it becomes as easy as breathing. Over 60% of salarymen feel guilty for using their paid time off. It later became the law to have at least 10 days of your 20 to be used within a year. 

When newer hires arrive, you teach the same as you were taught. The same rules that apply to you, now apply to them. It’s a cycle where no one questions about it, it just becomes a part of expectations.

So yes, Japanese people are extremely hardworking. But either its passion for their work, or simply an expectation when entering the workforce is yet to be determined. But I find the latter to be more true in my experience in Japan. They do it, because it’s expected. 

How many hours a day do Japanese people work?

Japanese law states that only 8 hours a day (equivalent to 40hrs a week) is allowed for both blue collar and white collar work. However, studies and analysis still shows that a majority of the workforce go over the 40hrs labelled as overtime or (unpaid time). This averages 2-3hrs after normal working hours, creating almost 60+ hours a week with 15 being overtime. 

The average varies depending on the industry. But there still is an overwhelming gray line when it comes to work hours, with people still having their work phones on late into the night. 

These companies are called ‘black companies’ or ‘black industries’. They exploit employees into working more than they should for the sake of work harmony. This unfair treatment can cause an abundance of mental strain and low productivity. In extreme cases, ‘karoshi’ or ‘death from overwork’ can occur caused by stress, sudden heart-attack, stroke or suicide. 

There are even companies in Japan that will help you resign from a job. This is because leaving these companies is extremely difficult, and causes reputational ruin in the eyes of the industry you work in. You will have a hard time finding another job in the same field, and would have to find a different field or work in another city.

Work Culture in Japan vs. America

As a foreigner coming into Japan, it has been a culture shock navigating the cultural norms related to work.

In Japan, they are guided by strict rules. Regulations often prioritize the system or tiers of completion and not the result itself. They must do things in a specific way and any delineation can cause reprimand or suspension. Creativity or thinking outside the box is only afforded to those in senior positions or someone with a creative role 

In other countries like America, a job is not the mainstay of their life, they don’t live to work. In today’s America where work culture is mostly just trying to get through the day, there is  almost zero emotional affiliation. Just another check on the ‘things I need to do’ list. A common term for someone who does the bare minimum at their job is a newly coined term called ‘quiet quitting’. This means someone who is passive at their work and sees it as just a means to an end. They can neither get promoted, receive work bonuses, or no incentives to achieve anything higher than their goal. 

America prioritizes individualism, competition, and productivity. It’s a dog eat dog scenario. Loyalty to a company can disappear if another job comes along with more benefits. You can resign at the drop of a hat if your manager wants to achieve un-achievable productivity goals. Competition for promotion is extremely fierce, and can lead to long hours, toxic work environment and an unstable work-life balance.

In Japan, the company and the workers are in unity. America is separated through company and workers union. This difference makes work satisfaction in both countries have completely different meanings. As mentioned previously, Japanese companies are hard to quit, because it can impact the company’s reputation. It is better to have workers who know and understand the company than employing someone new. However, American companies do major fires in quarterly’s because of finance cuts and work stagnation. It is viewed it as ‘out with the old,  in with the new’, which causes work instability and low productivity.

I find that both of these work cultures are extremely problematic. Both need a cleanse or re-configuration in order to make both the company and employee happy.

Work Culture in Japan for foreigners

In the past 10 years, there has been an influx of foreigners coming into Japan seeking work opportunities. Whether it be as an ALT, welfare, customer-service, construction, IT, or as an influencer. As there are so many different jobs with different related work assimilations, it is hard to deduce the difficulty in work culture between them. However, as it is universally acknowledged that Japan’s work culture fits into the collective mindset. It can be hard  for foreigners to understand how the mindset works unless they have lived in Japan for a very long time.

In the beginning, within a  1-3 year timeframe, many foreigners tend to leave because of the work environment. The difficulty in assimilating can make working 10x harder than the average worker.

Seniority is a big thing in Japan. Although other foreign countries have something  similar, countries like Japan and Korea take it up a notch. You are expected to respect, dumb down, and be a pushover for the majority of your co-workers  and bosses. So, foreigners must learn formal speech, reading the room, nuanced or even passive-aggressive initiations.

Many times over, Japanese companies tend to view foreign workers as not ‘lower’ but as ‘cannot do better’. So foreigners feel exploited, unappreciated, and sometimes downright disrespected. 

However, there are many cases in which foreigners do thrive in the work environment. Creativity and innovation is only awarded to those at the top, but many Japanese companies like to hire foreigners because of their modern idealism, trend marketing, and abundance of ideas that can boost their sales, goods, or services. Many companies who want to bring in the youth, tend to hire foreigners for these jobs.

Another  job that is in high demand is English teaching. Being an ALT tends to yield more stable employment.

Also, with the flexibility of work responsibilities, ALT’s don’t need to be too strict when it comes to work politics, as long as they provide sufficient work. 

Overall, Japan will probably not change its views on its own work culture, but steadily there have been statutes in place that help prevent the exploitation of workers. Also the combination or global unionizations spreads more awareness of workers rights. As a foreigner, I have seen that Japan is on a steady decline in innovation. I hope that in the future, the work culture improves.

Blog written by Stephanie Chu Yang Heu