Work-Life Balance in Japan

Working in Japan is often referred as mere a attraction, besides its economical stability.

People work longer hours than any other countries on this planet, and

they work for incredibly detailed "quality" (let us call it). 

Although it depends on industries and firms of which you work for, 

people work generally 10-12 hours or more. It tends to evaluate the someone's work

by the length of hours worked instead of the content itself.

Cultural background (of self-sacrifice) has something to do with it, maybe.

However, when you look at the data, Japan is not so much of "the hard-working" country.

This article explains how intense the work situation is in South-Korea.

And it seems to have very similar characteristics of "old" Japanese work-environment.

I used to think, that Japan's work environment is bad. Yet given the statistics,
it may not be true. Of course, it does not make it easy by any means. 

I have seen so many westerners who work harder than Japanese.

As Sheryl Sandberg's article suggested (she leaves the office at 5:30), 

it is not easy for people to walk out of office early anywhere anyhow 

(you have to make up for it, if you want to stay or go up).

One thing that I can ask for Japan's work environment is that to open up doors to young workers.

In Japan, where society is well-structured and seniority is the main factor to determine the position in any organization,

it is very rare to get a responsible position (e.g. manager, director etc) in 20's or even 30's.

In a traditional organization, most of C-level slots are filled with50 to 60 year old veterans. And those traditional firms are often the first runner in the industry.

Perhaps this is a good way of managing a matured organization, but leaves a very little space for younger generations. 

Overall, I would like to summarize that 
work-life balance in Japan is not solely bad; it is stable and there are options.
However, it is extremely hard for young generation to find a space where
he/she can fully explore the potential to become a leader. 


The risk of becoming a leader in Japan will be described in upcoming entry.


Cheers!