Japan’s Corporate Culture and its Effects on Working Hours And what they expect in return is loyalty and hard work. The company offers you lifetime employment. It refers to white-collar workers who show exemplary loyalty and dedication to the corporations they work for. This is a colloquial local term used in Japan. Japanese School ChildrenĬhildren were raised to believe that the ultimate goal is to become a Salaryman. Many in Japanese society felt that working for such prestigious companies is the true mark of Japanese excellence. They went head-on with major western corporations and won. In the 1960s, Japanese companies were competing at the global front. As you can imagine, the state tapped into this manufacturing history to rebuild the nation. There was already a culture of organized production too. The country also had a very robust military-industrial complex that was used to support the war effort. This meant that it had to put a huge percentage of its population at work. Japan also had to pay war reparations to the Western Allies. The country was faced with the unprecedented challenge of rebuilding its economy from the ashes. The nuclear attacks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to its surrender. This dedicated work ethic continued even after the Second World War. Soon, it emerged as a major global power. Under the slogan “Fukoku kyōhei”, the country significantly expanded its industries and military. Japan, at the time, was experiencing rapid industrialization and militarization.

This can be traced back to the early 1920s. The idea of hard work is something well enshrined in Japanese work culture. The long hours associated with Japanese work life are not a coincidence. Japanese Work Culture and Its Influence on Work Hours The aging Japanese population is also increasing the working hours in the country. A culture of loyalty and hard work in corporate Japan is one of them. Japan’s working hours are influenced by several factors.

Compare this to the United States where only 11% of employees work 50 hours a week. The OECD estimates that on average, 22% of all Japanese employees work more than 50 hours a week. A 2016 government survey found that over 25% of all Japanese companies demand 80 hours of overtime each month. Japanese labor laws dictate that employed persons should work for a maximum of 8 hours a day, or 40 hours a week. Well, in this post we look at Japan’s working hours. However, the issue of long working hours has overshadowed their brilliant achievements. Regular annual meetings between the two countries' finance ministers have been suspended since 2016 due to disputes over wartime history.īut last month at a summit between South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol and Japan's Fumio Kishida, the two neighbours promised to put aside their difficult shared history and said they would work together to counter regional security challenges.įinancial markets will likely pay close attention to whether the finance ministers will discuss resuming a bilateral currency swap arrangement - one that had served as backstop against any potential currency crisis but which expired in February 2015.Japanese people are globally renowned for their strong work ethic, hard work, and ingenuity. 'It is significant in that it will be the first step toward reviving regular bilateral meetings,' Choo said, without elaborating. They will meet on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) annual meetings, due to be held in Incheon, South Korea May 2-5, although other details have yet to be decided, Choo said. South Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho told reporters during a visit to the United States that he has agreed to meet Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, according to a media pool report. SEOUL/TOKYO, April 17 (Reuters) - South Korea and Japan's finance ministers will hold a bilateral meeting early next month for the first time in seven years, heralding closer cooperation in economic policy that has been hampered by diplomatic conflict.

Japenese work timer