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Happy New Year!

I can’t believe today has come without having updated any posts on TKE! I’ve been on holiday since 22nd of December…so that means I’ve been free for nearly half a month! I was planning to do this and that but why anything has not done yet at this moment???? @____@

I know why, because I have been busy with social life; meeting up with friends, attending a seminar, visiting my grandmother in Osaka (haven’t posted about it either!) drinking, inviting friends, shopping, negotiating with my bank in the U.S (my bank account was regarded as unclaimed property due to its inactive state), replying to emails and greeting cards and etc. Now I have only today and tomorrow before I restart working on Monday. BTW, I will go drinking with my friends tonight…-___- oops…

This is a sushi plate I had at Midori sushi restaurant. I’ve never seen the restaurant without people waiting in a long line. It’s that popular in Tokyo. It was raining and very cold when I visited there with my father in December. While we were waiting outside of the restaurant (we went the one in Ginza) one of the waiters kindly handed each of us a disposable kairo to warm up. How nice!!

The sushi plate was priced 2600 or so and it was very good! I think the price was reasonable considering the quality, and I am convinced that’s why people line up!

I’ve got to go….
I have no idea if I can really continue on blogging in 2013.
But even if I have to stop it, you can feel free to email me!

I wish you all the best for 2013!!! ^__^
Kirin

===*advance notice*===
I’ll go visit my grandma in Osaka next week and will blog about my shopping, eat-outs, and general experiences when I return to Tokyo!
===(^_^)(^_^)(^_^)===

I still wonder what the best balance is between life and work. But anyway, I’ll write up freely like a diary.
I’ve worked for a domestic company (that means Japanese company) for the past…nearly 6 months or so, and unexpectedly it was such a FUN experience to me. I made a few good friends from work, which was not easy when I was working as a freelancer (as a house renovation planner). Those days, my ‘friends’ were more likely to be friends for benefit. We met for exchanging useful information for work or to share knowledge or experience of work. That was fun while I was engaged in the work, but our friendship was over when I quit that job. I noticed then that there was no reason to meet up with them when I have no more renovation work to share with them. Also I clearly noticed the friendship was based on benefit and without the topics about work, there has not been any particular topics that I feel like talking about with those friends. That was not a genuine friendship, after all…

Although I was shocked to see how company employees are working, it was yet, a fun experience as a whole. Japanese firms are unique in some ways, especially when they are compared with American or even European ones. There are pros and cons for every aspect, but one of the good points about Japanese companies in general is that a whole company is just like a family. Employees are like one big family. That’s why senior workers will try to educate junior workers. They are willing to help the followers to learn, grow up and contribute to the company, even if they sacrifice their own time or work.

Unlike western companies, Japanese companies are still having difficulties in dismissing their employees, no matter how the western culture has affected our society in some ways. Long time ago, we had no idea of dismissal in Japan, thanks to life-time employment system. It’s been said that life-time employment has been dead and we also have to be prepared for layoff, but as a matter of fact, regular employees are relatively protected from dismissal except for some special cases in Japan. If an employee does not do something really stupid, he will probably keep employed till his retiring age.

I believe that such culture and climate of Japanese firm definitely help generate family-like and friendly atmosphere in the office, especially when it’s relatively a big corporation like I’ve been working for. I really felt comfortable interacting with almost every co-worker in the office. (The bad aspect of such company is that people still think working long hours is greater than working efficiently or complete the work before the fixed hour.)

My job contact with this company is to be terminated, and my next job contact will start from January and it’s a Japanese venture capital company. I think their culture is very different from the current one. My working hour is shorter because I wish to stay more time with Pi-chan and do something for myself at home.

Now I’m thankful to the company for what I experienced in the past 6 months. 10 years ago when I was working as a company employee, I really hated that. That’s the main reason I started to work as a freelancer. But now I find myself more flexible, generous, and thankful, which is why think I no longer feel hatred, anger or irritation. I even feel a bit sad for leaving the company in a few days.

It was because I changed that irritation could have become appreciation? Have you experienced something like this?

I’ve been working as a translator for a Japanese IT (information technology) company since June this year, even though I’m such a computer-illiterate person. lol Anyway, it just happened and my translation work doesn’t really require something technical so much, and even if it does, I can always ask around the engineers to get the exact image.

So my point here is that I’ve got a chance to see inside　of a Japanese IT industry.
I’ve worked at a few Japanese companies so far, but I’ve never ever seen that employees are working day and night almost without sleeping!! In fact, what’s happening in the company I work for now is that delivery deadline is close and employees are staying up (over-time work) till midnight or even till 3 or 4am next morning and then start working from 9am again next day (already the same day!) .

Some male workers are working overnight for 2 days and 2 nights. I’m so shocked to know that. I couldn’t believe what I heard and what’s more, it was even shocking to me that those who are compelled to work like that say it’s how it is and they don’t feel anything about that! I wonder how could such working condition be taken as granted and approved!? (FYI, the company I work for now is a large corporation that every Japanese person from children to the elderly definitely knows its name.) I wouldn’t be able to accept that if I were the worker who had to work like that. I mean, if it’s my own business and my own project and I want to do it overnight with excitement, based on my own will, that would be possible but being kind of forced by a boss and doing this every now and then as a matter or course is just no way to me!! (T___T)

I told this story to some people including my husband and again I was shocked how most of them said that it’d be normal in Japan. I still feel shocked today.

BTW, I found this graph from Expedia Japan how difficult it is for the Japanese to take paid holidays. The graph shows in gray how many paid holidays were given yearly (in 2012) and how many of them were actually taken in red. I remember a German girl told me before that it was normal in Germany to have 30 paid holidays besides some sick leaves. In Japan, we have to use paid holidays for sick leaves. I don’t know if sick leaves are given aside from paid holidays in all of the other countries in this graph. If so, that should be also mentioned to illustrate how our working situation is outstandingly miserable!!

As you can imagine, this company is not doing something illegal. The workers working extra hours get paid extra. This is how the Japanese workers defend the deadline to the death. There’s imbalance of employment in our society that such workers are working like a horse while many people are jobless. Work sharing has never worked out in Japan.

I wonder…would it be normal in your country as well to do over-time work till 3 or 4am and start working for the next day from 9am again and do such from time to time when deadline is close? I can’t believe most of Japanese workers think it’s normal, but what do you think about that?