Myth: Japanese People Love to Work

People waiting in the early morning rush to work

Perhaps many of you out there have heard of how Japanese people work 14 hours a day, and how the idea of a vacation is to camp out at the office. How they love to throw back a few beers with their boss after their 14 hours of work, and then head over to karaoke until dawn.

Maybe you've heard about how convenience stores sell business shirts and ties for those who couldn't make the last train home. Maybe you've seen articles like this one that talk about how Japanese people are known to die from overwork.

There is the belief that the Japanese still uphold all samurai-like customs, making it an honor to serve their employer until their death.

I obviously can't speak for the entire nation of Japan, but I can speak about what I've heard and experienced while I've been here.



What I have discovered is that Japanese people hate to work. They hate Monday mornings as much as anyone else in the world does. They complain to me about how much they hate having to work. I'm not just talking about the younger generations; I'm talking about everyone. (Maybe they complain to me because they figure I won't go tell their boss.)

A lot of Japanese people I've talked to have faked sick at least once since they began working.

One guy said, "The best excuse you can say is that your eyes hurt. There's no proof that what you're saying is true so you just have to go to the optometrist, they call it stress and give you eye drops, and you get the day off."



Time after work is as sacred to them as it is to anyone else in the world, and they all loathe having to spend that time with their co-workers and bosses at bars and karaoke joints. The problem is, they say, that if they don't go then they'll look like they're not a team player. It's a war, and if you aren't showing your loyalty to your team then you will be cut.

They are the unwilling recruits; the soldiers who roll their eyes and sigh heavily behind their commander's backs.


The problem is that Japan doesn't seem to know how to do it any other way. Either that or companies just don't want to shell out the money for things like overtime and extra workers. The word "exploitation" comes to mind.


I have a friend working in a big corporation in Japan who explained the system of working in Japan as this:

"What the company does is overwork you to the point where you don't care about paying the rent anymore; you want to quit. So then the company says to you, 'Oh, you're working so hard. Why not take a few months off?' So you get those few months off to put back together your sanity, and then they overwork you to the break of insanity again. It just goes on and on like that until you can hopefully retire."

Companies in Japan don't care if you have a family waiting for you at home; they don't care if you wanted to have at least a hobby outside of work: If you aren't working those 14 hours then you aren't showing how badly you want to be an employee there, let alone get a raise. And God help you should you get fired.