The Japanese Working Culture
 

Hi everyone!

I'm very new here, in fact this is my very first post!

Anyways, now I'm in my final year in my studies and I've accepted a job offer to work with a Japanese company based in Tokyo, as an engineer starting from May of 2009.

Whenever I told my non-japanese friends that I'm going to work in a Japanese company in Japan, a lot of them gave a lot of bad impression about the working culture in a Japanese company; like how stressfull and hard it is.

The problem is, they have never worked in a Japanese company before! but they still made these comments. I knew Japan is famous with 過労死 (Karoshi - death from over-work) but I think this is not the norm.

I just want to know whether there are anyone who is working in a technology-based Japanese company, preferably as an engineer? I want to know the 'real' stories about how does it feel to be working in a Japanese company.

The Japanese company that I am going to join is going to be the first company that I am going to work for after graduation, so I really have zero idea on how a normal society's working habits are.

よろしくお願いします　（- - ）

http://www.japanforum.com/forum/gene...rs-rights.html

Nyororin is the expert. She lives in Japan and has a family there.

AlphaDuck is not. He doesn't speak Japanese and has never been to Japan.

This should help.

wow thanks for the fast response!

I'll try to absorb those information slowly...

do you work in Japan?

I used to, but I try and visit every year...

ive work for the past 8.5 years in a Japanese company as a software design engineer.. what do you want to know specifically ? 4 years of which is in Japan..

first what kind of an engineer are you?

waah senpai !

i'm doing mechanical engineering right now and when i enter the company next year, probably they are going to send me to PRODUCTION (生産) or perhaps DESIGN (設計). that depends of my training.

what i want to know specifically is the working culture as an engineer in a japanese company located in japan. please do spend the time to share your experiences!

additional note: i spend 1 year in tokyo to learn japanese, then another 3 years in nagano for my diploma (mechanical engineering) and now i'm in my final year of my 2-years program bachelor's degree (also in mechanical engineering) in akita.

training will be in tokyo for a year and i requested to be transferred to one of their plants in nagoya after training.

right now i'm focusing on finishing my thesis on time so that i could graduate without any problems

I wouldn`t really say I`m an expert by any stretch. It`s not as if I`ve actually worked as an engineer in a Japanese company.

My husband, however, is a head SE so I do have a fairly good idea of the atmosphere. (Plus, when he can`t find anybody in house to do the work he brings stuff home and makes me do 入力 :P )

If you`ll be working in Nagoya, paths may cross as he`s sent all over the place.

You will be fine. Gaijin in skilled trades get special treatment.

If you are a US citizen and intending to work for more than one year in Japan, I highly recommend Form 8802 in order to exempt yourself from Japanese taxes. Here is the link, Foreign Certification Requests - Form 6166

does he come home late every night? i do hear a system of compulsory overtime, but that can't be too hard... i hope...

nagoya is just perfect for me. still a big city but not too crowded for me :)

well i guess i'll be fine, as long as i don't expect for special treatment :)

wow us citizens got tax exemption? how fortunate!

i'm malaysian by the way and i don't think my government is strong enough to have such policy implemented.

I haven't worked in a Japanese company, but for 6 months last year I worked with a Japanese company and their engineers. I'm a mechanical enginer and my company builds tooling and automation equipment. I worked with their mechanical and manufacturing engineers.

In general their work habits aren't any different than US engineers. If you have something that you need to do you work as long as you have to. If you don't you go home at 5 or 6.

During an early design review we were a little behind in the agenda but we left at 6 because there was enough time the next day to cover everything. We actually finished that next day a little early.

At several later design/schedule meetings and during the install process they were generally at work until 8pm or later. In this regard I didn't see any difference between US and Japanese engineers.

The largest difference I saw was in the very regimented seniority and the way it was expressed. Their head engineer would occasionally ask one of us for some information. When we gathered that information we couldn't go back to him, we had to talk one of the younger engineers and they would relay the information. Additionally, senior engineers would often ask younger engineers to deal with menial or secretarial tasks.

And because this is the first company you will work for, it doesn't matter what their culture is, you will consider it normal. ;) It is that way for me where I work.

that's a brilliant advice! thank you!

i guess i worry too much.

i think i should just stop worrying about people talking bad about a working culture that they've never been in, and go back to focusing on what is in front of me.

as long as i don't have to teach english...:eek:

The most simple funny, and truthful post I've seen in a while?

I'll submit yes.

I would say that depends upon the company - but as I wrote somewhere... Younger workers don`t want to live at work, so a large number of companies are eliminating compulsory overtime. It has been found that companies can actually make more money by not counting on this, because when they draw up the schedule - a day really only is 8 hours instead of 100% of the day. This means that when things are busy they can add time on in the form of overtime.

My husband comes home anywhere between 20 minutes after work is done to in the middle of the night depending upon how busy they are. It comes in waves of sorts. One week/month will be busy with him coming home around 12 most nights - the next will be slow and he`ll come home around 6:30 (regular hours are 9 to 6).

I`d say that most of the time it`s between the two with him getting home around 9 or so. But all his overtime is paid generously, and during light working periods he can take days off without any problem. It`s fairly common for him to work a bunch then take a few days off.

Nagoya is a wonderful place. I wouldn`t live elsewhere.

It depends. Some companies that are in financial stress, ask a lot to employees. New entrants will be given a lot of work even after official working hours. You should be prepared for it. Of course this depends on your supervisor. If you have a good one, he or she (mostly he) will try to take your workload a bit. But sometimes that is to be compensated going to a (or some time several in a night) drinking place (nomikai). Whatever it is, take this as an opportunity to know a new office culture. It will help you later on.

i guess that's the normal thing for any engineer working in any company. anyways, does working as an engineer, also falls into the category of 'salaryman' ?

i've been to nagoya only once, and its such a nice place!

although i don't smoke and drink, i'm already used to nomikai and frequently visited several izakayas with my japanese classmates and lab partners; they drink beer, i drink fruit juice. they say that they don't mind me not drinking with them... but i'm just curious. deep down inside, is it considered 'rude' to not join them drink? i don't have a drinking culture, so i don't really know.

Many Japanese don't drink, and it is not considered rude not to imbibe. But, unless you have an outgoing personality, you might not be invited to everything.

well that is weird because from my experience, it is actually hard to find a japanese (young males) that don't drink. all of my classmates from my previous high school (高等専門学校), drink beer like water. whenever there is a party, everyone drinks and i have to remind them everytime that i don't drink when they offer to pour beer into my empty glass.

i have been living in japan for more than 5 years now, so i have got used to this culture, and having to say it everytime.

「酒が飲めない人は付き合いが難しい」ってどう思いま すか？

My husband also doesn`t drink - or rather, at least not while out. He will have an occasional drink at home - but hates beer with a passion.

As long as it`s clear from the start, it`s never a problem. His co workers know he doesn`t drink much, but out of politeness he will accept one beer and take a sip after the 乾杯... And then order something else.

No one seems to think anything of it.

i'm glad to hear that.

it is really not a big deal when i'm with friends that knew that i don't drink; but when it is with the older guys, i felt a little uncomfortable when they started to ask why.

「何で飲まないの？おいしいのにね。。。」みたいな事 はよく言われます。

なんて言えばいいのか分からないのでは?　
「あ、そっか」だけじゃ冷たいしね

そういう見方もありますね！（＾＾）

でも、僕は
「あ、そっか」
の方がいいかな。。。

お酒を飲まない理由なんて、別に聞かなくてもいいと思 います。

「イメージ的にはお酒が強い方なんだけどね。。。」も よく言われます　（*.*）

seems like most of your question have been answered already.

remember that as long as you remain within the schedule of your task, there won't be any problem :D

experience, there are good and there are not so good, but its best if you get to try it :D

yes, thanks to everyone, my questions have been answered and my doubts have been cleared. working in japan is a good decision.

:)

studying in japan has been a great experience to be, be it good or not so good experiences. i just have to expect that the experience of being a gakusei (student) is very different from being a shakaijin (member in the working society).

right now, i just have to focus on finishing my thesis.

yeah enjoy your student life first. :vsign:
worry about the working culture when you get there. :ywave: