The Japanese are known to be natural hard workers. When they work, they work with all their might just to give the best quality of service that they can give. But did you know that there’s a group of people who are considered to be the most hardworking people of Japan? Dressed in a navy blue or black suit and necktie whom you can commonly see inside the trains taking their nap or eating in groups at izakayas, they have been recognized as the backbone of Japan’s economy -- the Salaryman (Sarariiman).
WHAT IS A SALARY MAN?
It refers to someone who's working per salary, basically they are the white-collar job businessmen. The salaryman starts to enter the corporation right after graduating from college and stays with that company for his entire career. It is in their culture that becoming a salaryman after their education should automatically be their top choice of career. Those who will disregard this path is considered harming / lowering down their reputation.
WORK CULTURE
Leaving early in the morning to catch up the morning train, working for 13 hours a day for six days without getting paid for working past the official time and being the last ones to leave in the office, these are basically the work culture of a Salaryman.
The reason behind this overworking culture of the Salaryman is that they believe that if their bosses see them working hard, they are one step away to their much awaited promotion. For the unpaid overtime, Salary Man do not bother informing their employers about it. Besides it became a common thing to the workers to stay late without pay.
Japanese salary men live by their motto: Work hard, play hard.
As a result, they are regarded as the most stressed out group in Japan. The main reasons of their anxiety are: the daily stress of working for long hours, long commute, lack of sleep getting only four to five hours of sleep every night, and the fear of losing their job and not getting the promotion. Thus, the salaryman tends to die at a young age of Karoshi or death by overwork.
SWEET ESCAPE
To escape from the stress and demands of work, salary men go out with their co-worker after work once or twice a week and can be seen eating on public izakayas, drinking at bars or singing their hearts out at karaoke. Sometimes they go to public onsen baths to refresh their tired bodies.
In Japan, the Salaryman frequently receives pity stares and glances as they are working so much they hardly have time for themselves and to their families. On the positive note, they are the country’s economic army. Japan wouldn’t be a successful country as they are now without the hardworking and diligent Salaryman. They deserve an ounce of respect.
Banner photo by Gabriel Synnaeve. Licensed under Creative Commons.
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