I`d never heard of the term Salary Man prior to coming to Japan, now i hear it and often refer to it all the time, infact i am one. A Salary Man basically describes a Japanese businessman aged between 25 and 50 living a very typical existance of long hours at work, long hours at play.
Living in a city like Tokyo i can totally relate to it, Tokyo is driven by routine. Whether it`s catching to train, working or socialising, everything is planned and executed by intervals of 1 minute. As a lover of routine it`s great, although even for me i sometimes find it frustrating to be driven by such a time managed life. I kid you not, when i say, i see the same people day in day out on the train, at the station, in the same seat on the bus, the list goes on. I don`t think they notice me as much as i notice them, especially the cute girl who catches the 7:15 and looks better in a skirt or dress than she does jeans, but i digress.
My schedule is repeated day in day out with nothing spontaneous about it, but i still love living in Tokyo and i busted my first few `public un-alcohol assisted` Nampa moves on the return journey the other night, the result was less than ideal, but it made for a good laugh.
When i came across a story about a character called Takashi it spooked me as to how close it is to real life, the life of many Japanese in Japan and indeed at times, alarmingly close to my own life. Like i said, i love it in Japan and wouldn`t have it any other way at the moment, read on to hear about our hero Takashi-san and a recap of his busy week.
Takashi’s diary – week 10
By Peter Sidell
Hello! My name’s Takashi, and I’m a salary man. Each week I keep a diary about my life. Here’s what happened last week.
Monday: wake up at 5:30am. Train at 6:30. Start work at 8:00. Finish at 9:00 (pm, not am, ha ha). Drinking until 11:50. Last train at midnight. In bed at 1:15am.
Tuesday: wake up at 5:30am. Train at 6:30. Start work at 8:00. Email from Katushya re: love hotels such a teaser! at 2:17pm. Unable to concentrate due to sordid fantasies. Finish at 9:00 (pm, not am, ha ha). Drinking until 11:50. Last train at midnight. In bed at 1:15am.
Wednesday: wake up at 5:30am. Train at 6:30. Start work at 8:00. Finish at 9:00 (pm, not am, ha ha). Conspire with co-workers to spike Yoshinaga-san’s beer with colossal amounts of tequila. Drinking until 11:50. Laugh at Yoshinaga-san staggering around and molesting the ticket machines. Last train at midnight. In bed at 1:15am.
Thursday: wake up at 5:30am. Train at 6:30. Arrive at 8:00, but Yoshinaga-san is off with a cold. Start watching Youtube office prank videos at 8:05. Email from Katushya re:dinner on Saturday ooh yes and her favourite perfume, Eau de Rita. Finish at 9:00 (pm, not am, ha ha). Drinking until 11:50. Last train at midnight. In bed at 1:15am.
Friday: wake up at 5:30am. Train at 6:30. Start work at 8:00. Monumental reprimand from Yoshinaga-san for entire department. Finish work at 11:50 (pm, not am). Last train at midnight. In bed at 1:15am.
Saturday: DAY OFF! Lie in until 6:05. Train at 7:00 for office outing to Chiba World of Staples. (OK, but not as good as Tralfamadore last week.) Buy souvenir staplers, then have lunch at ‘Maison des Staples’. Meet Katushya *peck on both cheeks* at 5:30pm. Ask about her email re: love hotels at 6:15. *slap on face* Meet Yoshinaga-san at izakaya at 6:20. Drinking until 11:50. Tearful drunken reconciliation on platform. Last train at midnight. In bed at 1:15am.
Sunday: massive tequila hangover.
So there you have it, a typical week for a Salary Man, for any doubters out there, i`ll be happy to diarise a week of mine early next year when i return from Xmas holidays, you`ll never refer to your own life as repetitive again!
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haha! i’m so surprised you could discern one girl’s outfit in the trains. it only means their daily routine really has a pattern. and same with you for having to notice them.
i have been working for japanese people too so i’m familiar with that term, salary man. i have one colleague whom the japanese refer to as high salary man. hahaha
Many of my students admit working from 0830-2100.
I ask them why the F#@K they work such crazy hours. (I don’t say F#@K but I do give them a look of shock)
Usually they just moan about how busy their company is.
Then I tell them about how I used to work 0830-1700 in Australia, and would be out the door at 1701.
And how I work reasonable hours in Japan and they don’t.
I tell them to quit their jobs and find something with reasonable hours. So far 2 students of mine have quit and are MUCH happier.
I try to work hours closer to what i did in Australia and only on the odd occasion when required will i work stupid hours, often its just not needed and there`s not a whole lot of productivity at 9pm at night.
Yeah, not productive indeed. I think a lot of the 0900-2100 is just to show what a good worker someone is.
Pretty stupid if you ask me.
OMG! here I am at my usual time reading the same blogs in the same location of the house…… oh.. I live in Japan so I guess thats ok…..NOT….. please help me break my routine!!!
Hey Paul, you are living in Japan, isn’t that good enough for you?
Contamination,
I love living in Japan, I dont like that I have fallen into a very specific routine… I guess it’s all driven by the train timetables we all keep such a close eye on. If I owned a car I am sure it would be very different, but then I would miss my big beers on the romanc car everynight
If you owned a car, you would find that you’d be frustrated with the traffic soon enough. I loathe driving in this country.
why are these salaryman stay back so late??!! Are they really that busy?
The Japanese love meetings, it’s not uncommon to get a meeting request for 8pm > 9pm like i did last Monday, the guy that organised it frequently sends emails sent after 10pm. Busy? not if they were to organise their day a bit better and cut down on unneccessary meetings.
There’s mant other reasons why the Japanese spend long hours at work too, the distance they travel, they social expectation, the fact that many live in a dust box there’s not much incentive to go home early, it’s work, then out drinking then home to sleep it off ready to do it all again the next day.
Doing the same things each day eventually causes it to get into your head LOL
-Mike
It is interesting how so many of us are attracted by the routine and pace of living and working in these busy Asian cities… I could have keep living peaceful life in Europe, but no, I moved to crazy Hong Kong 14 years ago
Many similarities to what you have described… But I am trying to only have one day a week spoiled by massive hangover
How very true, as much as i pull a few beers during the week i essentially keep it tidy cause it makes for too long a day the next day. I actually keep things pretty tidy Fridays too as i`m so tired from the week. I love a beer Saturday and always have a few but the thought of wasting Sunday plays on my mins so i actually overall drink and play up less here than i did in Australia. Seems to me many Japanese do the same, they have massive weeks and then actually relax / recover on the weekend.
This post brings back memories. I was a military brat growing up and took the trains often. Suits and ties everywhere! As you said, these guys do party equally as hard as they work. I used to live on the 12th story in a japanese community. My very high up stand point gave me the opporunity to witness man drunk business men agruments and fist fights. I’d also see drunk business men fall off bikes like Evil Kanevil. At first I would laugh myself to the floor, but it started to happen so often that it became a part of the scenery.
Planning for each minute! here rarely I find someone planning with unit less than 15 minutes (among those whom I know!! for disclaimer
).
public un-alcohol assisted Nampa moves –
That is a post in itself…
It sure is Nathan, i might wait until the results are a little more worth reporting though!
Never have i embarked on something as hard as that (within that domain of course), introducing myself and going through the pleasantries on a packed romance car, with the 2 blokes in front laughing at my beginner Japanese. All in all she was fine with it and at least i’ve had a crack at it, more to come as my Japanese improves. The difference a few beers and dimly lit bar makes, is totally under rated in my opinion, anyone who says they have trouble chatting to girls in the first place need only imagine how much harder it is in another language!
Malaysia is becoming like that also. Sleepy after work and take a nap in the LRT on the way back.
It`s an easy habit to get in to that`s for sure.
I must be a ‘Salary Man’ – our Sundays are exactly the same! Haha, I visited Japan for the first time in January. Tokyo is by far the most unique city I’ve ever seen!
Strangely, I never saw anyone as relaxed on the trains as that man – everyone had tense faces as they silently texted on their mobiles.
Glad you liked it and yeh, not an uncommon site to see people plain faced madly texting on their phones, it`s an addiction.
Just dropped by to say thanks for bein’ interested in the PhotoHunt – look forward to seein’ your inspired ideas =)
I’m interested in putting a Japanese flavour to it each week, should be fun.
Sarari man. Cmon Neil, pronounce it the way they do!
Hahaha! Great post… I’ve just subscribed to your feed