9/25/09
The ideal postwar Japanese was the salaryman.
At the age of 18, the course of one’s life was set. The choice to go to college or not to go to college, and to enroll in a college with a certain brand order, gave a rough idea of the size of the company and whether or not you would be able to get into a well-known company. The top one-third of the students were able to enter large companies. The subsequent career path was also generally predictable. Once in a company, the rules were based on lifetime employment and seniority. In principle, changing jobs was not allowed.
However, the trend of the times began to change around 1997. It became clear that even large companies were going out of business. It also became clear that large companies had not always been doing good things.
The past 20 years have been an era of exploration. The traditional ideal image of the Japanese is crumbling. Moreover, no alternative image has emerged to replace it.
What are the advantages of the conventional image of the Japanese? A stable life, salary and status that increases with time. The social environment has improved along with it (e.g., the ability to buy a house, higher status, more interesting work, better treatment, etc.).
However, there is something that has been missing from the traditional model. It was that one’s time and personal salary were not easily freed up. What is definitely lacking in the Japanese is personal free time. Once in a company, one’s time was almost like being entrusted to the company due to unpaid overtime work, reassignment at the company’s sole convenience, and other factors. More than a decade ago, there was a government official named Masao Miyamoto. He had studied and worked in the U.S., and he was a lone soldier who tried to break through Japanese workplace conventions, and he was left behind and bullied in various ways. He wrote books and appeared on TV, but what he was trying to do was to get some personal time for himself outside of work. His actions were causing problems here and there in the workplace. When he wrote a book about it, he was pressured by his workplace again.
Another thing that was missing from the Japanese model was personal money. The salary earned by working as much as possible was not much compared to other developed countries. This was partly because Japanese housing lasts only a generation because of earthquakes, while housing in other developed countries lasts a long time, and partly because of the high cost of land in a small country where people live in close quarters. However, another reason was that much of the money earned by employees went to the company’s buildings, capital investment for the next generation, and overhead costs. The symbols of this are such things as the long stays at the company because the company has the air conditioner, or the use of cabs and meals at the company’s expense.
Speaking of money, it is only in the past 10 years or so that weekly newspapers have begun to report on how much money individuals earn in their lifetime and how much it varies from company to company. In the past, the only information about money given to college students by the company they were applying for employment with was how much their starting salary was. There was no information about the money they would have at their disposal, nor was it something they were aware of.
In any case, people thought that joining a large company would bring them money, status, and prestige, and this was the reality. Most people had no idea how much money they would receive in pensions, insurance, and other benefits when they reached old age.
Thus, a major shortcoming of the Japanese model has been the neglect or lack of awareness of the most important aspects of life, along with health, which are time and money available to the individual.
The freelancer was a natural outgrowth of the trend to overcome this. Of course, there may be some who were aware of the above. However, whether or not they were raising the cause of wanting their own free time or wanting to find their own vocation, a trend emerged in which people were not afraid to change jobs. Also, parasites and NEETs are an extension of this trend.
Even graduates of Tokyo University are choosing to work for foreign companies or become lawyers because it is more profitable and they can be independent rather than becoming bureaucrats. For a while, there were young people who aspired to an entrepreneurial life like Holliemon.
The so-called baby boomers are those who have pursued and lived by the old model. Two thirds of them are those for whom it has been realized, and one third are those for whom it has not. What do those who have realized the model think about now?
Now that they have free time and some money, they seem to be living quite comfortably. Some are pursuing their hobbies, going to the gym, doing community activities, and giving their children and grandchildren spending money to support themselves. What many people probably realize is that they wish they had been able to do these things when they were younger.
However, the days when such things were possible are already over. Global competition is becoming more intense, the number of non-regular employees is increasing, and the gap between people is widening.
What is the ideal model for young people in the future? This is a question that is currently being explored, and some form will probably emerge naturally. However, in this day and age, the idea of pursuing a model common to all Japanese may be outdated. It may be that the true nature of human beings is to differ from person to person.
In any case, the theme of the ideal Japanese image is an issue that must be explored in the future.
