Finally the weekend is here, time for rest, relaxation and some free time. Since coming to Japan I have come to the realization that I am slowly becoming what people here refer to as a Salaryman. This transformation is taking place slowly and its not visible if you take a look at it from a daily perspective, but if you look at it from the monthly perspective you can see the changes. When I first came to Japan I was deeply rooted in the Gaijin side of life in Japan, easy work, short working hours, very very low productivity. Then came the collapse of NOVA and that lifestyle of the Eikawa Expat has all but gone the way of the Dodo. Now to survive in Japan as a Gaijin you need to get a real job, with real responsibilities, or you just cant make it here anymore, unlike with NOVA most people cant just chat with Japanese people as a daily job and make good money off it and enjoy life here in Japan. As a result about 80% of the people I first met when I came here have gone home, most of them had been here for a while and saw that it was the end of the easy life here in Japan and from then on things wouldn't be as easy, and it made more sense to go back home.
When I first came here to Japan, I had it in the back of my head that I was using NOVA just to get over to Japan secure things here initially and then look around for business opportunities. Japan being the 2nd largest economy in the world must have had something that I could get my hands on. After researching and burning through my contacts here in Japan and elsewhere, I did find my calling here in the Land of the Rising Sun. Advertising. By linking my contacts in Canada and my contacts here in Japan I was able to find a new market for a company in Canada and for my contacts here a great service that all parties will benefit from. So since I started working on that my working life has taken a dramatic shift and the transformation to Salaryman has begun.
The first change that is noticeable is how many hours I spend away from home. Before it was an average of 5-7 hours out of the apartment at work, now its jumped to sometimes 12 hours away from home. The other change is in my dress code, now I am wear a suit daily. I have worked in the corporate world before but it was in Canada and in Qatar. In Canada I was with Industry Canada, our Ministry of Industry. There the dress code was like all Govt jobs, business casual. In Qatar it was with the Danish oil giant Maersk. At Maersk I was in the IT dept and our dress code was also business casual, but this was mainly because of the heat of the desert and no body at the company wore suits, it was just as common to see a Thobe (traditional Arab long tunic) as it was to see khakis and a button down shirt. Now here in Japan its the uniform of the Salaryman I wear daily.
Another change I have noticed is that I pay attention to things I never really cared about before, namely Business Cards. Whenever I get new cards or Meishi as they are known here I pay close attention to all the details of the piece of paper, the weight, the texture, the writing font, if the text is raised, the colors used, etc.... Often I get Meishi Envy, particularly when meeting higher ups in a company, as there is hierarchy in the type of meishi you get at your company, the higher up you go the better your card. It gets heavier, different textures, and often your name will be raised off the card in a regal manner.
I have also begun to notice that when meetings are carried out the seating position of the people at the table or boardroom has a lot to do with the position of the person in that particular chair. The Alpha of every party must be seated dead center. I found this confusing at first as I would often sit anywhere on the table and then would be invited to move to the center of one side of the table and the translators and advisers would sit around on both sides. However this really seemed to apply to the first or second meeting, then you can know how you are perceived by the other party. It seems if they like you they will ask you to sit next to them as you discuss details, which is strange as you are talking to the person to your left or right and your translator and adviser will be across the table. This happened with one company and it seems the CEO seems to have taken a liking to me and my company, in his broken English he said he was very impressed that our company is jumping into one of the most shark infested waters of one of the most cutthroat industries (which is Advertising in Japan). He said that most foreign Ad Agencies stay way clear of Japan and the fact that we are willing to commit and fight the locals at their own game shows that we are very confident in our services and products and that is a great selling point to potential clients.
Getting into the corporate world of Japan is quite the culture shock but once you get into the groove its a lot of fun. Its highly rewarding and you get a great sense of accomplishment when you succeed at something here, if you can make it as a Gaijin in the world of the Samurai Salarymen, you can make it anywhere.There are many things that are changing slowly about me and will keep you all up to date on them. The transformation continues.......
No comments:
Post a Comment