Leisure Comes to Japan

Japanese working less and partying more

Summary: This is continuation of the Japanese corporate organization study. I started off with a perspective on the Japanese corporate restructuring and potential scenarios for the future of Japan. Then I provided a brief outline of the history of modernization of Japan. I also alluded to the transition underway in Japanese business and society. Then I discussed how the Japanese employers are reconsidering traditional compensation systems and replacing them for young workers with more performance oriented models. After that I pointed out all the new trends in employment and labor and how this is upsetting the traditional corporation. That has led to redefining of the employer employee relationship in Japan and I have argued that Japan is at crossroads. That is why I discussed the case of Pioneer Electric Company that failed in efforts to become more efficient and profitable because it could not layoff workers. Subsequently I went into the details of the Japanese management system, how it developed, and why managers behave the way they do, followed by the highlights of Japanese management principles and history of the Japanese management system. I also provided insights on how the life time employment system came to be in Japan. I followed up with a summary of the changes in Japanese companies and I discuss why Japanese appreciation for leisure is changing work environment.

Leisure is something new to Japan. There is no Japanese word for leisure and so they use the English word (written as leza in katakana). While younger Japanese are comfortable with the concept of leisure, those who worked hard to rebuild the post-war economy find it hard to change.

The difference in attitudes towards work and leisure between older and younger employees is pronounced, according to research by the Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living (HLL), the research arm of Japan’s second-largest advertising agency. HLL found that changing attitudes to work are steadily undermining the foundations of lifetime employment. The workaholic older generation is giving way to middle-aged mercenaries who are no longer so blindly loyal to their employers. Meanwhile the younger generations seems to be more interested in leisure than in work.

Continued: How do young Japanese feel about work

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