Question What is the reality of conditions in the Japanese workplace in 2023?

[Belkov]

It is starting to become a cliche that with the plethora of horror stories throughout the internet that the Japanese workplace is a toxic atmosphere to be in.
However, there has been another narrative that is slowly appearing that work conditions are slowly getting better there and that the horror stories we have been accustomed to is only happening in certain sectors like Finance and hospitality where similar, although not as excessive, working conditions are seen in other parts of the world.

I would like to ask the question as in header what is the reality of conditions in the Japanese workplace in 2023?

 

[musicisgood]

First most companies would prefer you to work 6 days a week 8 to 10 hours a day
Second there is actually no loyalty anymore in the corporate structure of the company that you may work for
Third your mom and pop type of businesses are thriving and people know that the only obstacle about working for one of a mom and pop stories that if you work 30 40 years unless they sell you the store and you retire and you're what they called Japanese pension will be no more than about 65,000 yen a month this is current and I happen to know what I'm talking about.
Fourth you end up working till you drop in this country which is not a bad idea as long as you can put balance between happiness your life situation of enjoying the country that you live in and not get addicted to your work because once you're addicted to your work the years go by so quickly day after day week after week month after month year after year and you realize wow I'm already 67 years old and I haven't taken a vacation in 30 years last time I went was to Maui in Hawaii. But this is surely a fact and I know I know some people that live this type of lifestyle they work they live for their work.

In conclusion if you come to Japan I would suggest you start your own business I would not really and put money in the bank because it's not really that beneficial I would buy some land and a few things that you should grow is peaches grapes blueberries anything that pretty much grows on the vine or a tree it's very less maintenance and very seasonal . To grow vegetables is which I have the experience is nice it's really nice but the fact that it is when the season is harvested everything drops in place everything drops in price so you actually are going to ask yourself why am I doing this I'm losing money which is very true I mean I just shocked about 50 pounds of potatoes and then I end up giving them putting them in bags for the church members yeah I grew too much I couldn't sell them that was my hope but I ended up giving them to the church members a month ago

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[Lothor]

The situation probably has improved in Japanese companies. There is less overt sexism, and people are aware that power harassment is a bad thing, though the law of the jungle still applies in small companies and some large companies. The government gave a clear signal about what they thought about workplace bullying when Matsuri Takahashi was bullied and overworked to her suicide at the age of 24 in 2015 while working for the huge advertising company Dentsu. Her mother kicked up an enormous fuss, and in the end the company was fined just 500,000 yen and nobody was held responsible for her death. I could tell you some horror stories about my own experiences, but I'd prefer to keep them offline - suffice to say that I'm very glad I no longer have to visit a Japanese office.

 

[johnnyG]

deleted

 

[Belkov]

Thanks for all who had posted.

It seems a shame that things haven't improved for ordinary Japanese people in the workplace which like everybody in the world, form a large part of their lives.

I wonder given the changing demographics that is occurring in Japan with it's aging population that things could change?