After staying in Japan for several years, I gradually got to know some Japanese companies and found that compared with other countries, Japanese companies have quite a maverick tradition. By summarizing these strange phenomena, people can learn more about the Japanese national character.
The first strange woman drives an elevator for a man.
The first time I went to work in a Japanese company, I felt very much like a foreign company in China in the early 1990s. Because the female employees of Japanese companies are all young women in their twenties, and those in their thirties are rare. They dress in fashion and behave appropriately, giving people a feeling of vigor and vitality.
The author was puzzled at first, but it took a long time to understand that it is a common phenomenon for female employees in Japanese companies to be younger, because Japanese women have a tradition of not working after marriage, and female employees in their twenties and sixties generally "retire with honor". Before Koizumi's government, as long as the wife was a housewife at home, there were hundreds of thousands of yen of "housewife subsidies" every year. However, due to the serious shortage of labor in Japan in recent years, Koizumi's government cancelled this policy. In addition, with the gradual improvement of Japanese women's education level and the influence of some foreign companies in Japan recruiting married Japanese women, female ministers and managers have begun to appear in Japanese companies today.
But this can't change the tradition of unequal status between men and women in Japanese companies. Men are regarded as the golden beam of Japanese society. In Japanese companies, if there are male and female employees taking the elevator at the same time, it must be the lady who holds down the elevator button and smiles politely. The man arrives first, and both sides are natural.
Men have more natural advantages in distribution and promotion. For male and female employees who enter the company at the same time, the salary of male employees is often tens of thousands of yen more than that of female colleagues. Female employees mostly undertake clerical work such as secretaries and cashiers, and rarely enter the departments involved in the lifeline of the company. If they want to be promoted to management, they must work harder than male employees.
The second strange Japanese English became the standard.
The company where the author works is a multinational company. Because of business needs, English is the prescribed office language. My Japanese colleagues can write business plans in English and generally get high marks in some English proficiency tests. But they are all "dumb English experts".
In a company conference call, almost all Japanese employees were silent, and they couldn't understand the contents of the meeting without an interpreter. More interestingly, they have quite a problem with the author's English pronunciation. A Japanese colleague told me that my pronunciation of the word "railway" is "Ori", and the correct pronunciation should be "route". In other words, my pronunciation is "Saiying", while my Japanese colleagues think it should be "Saiying Drum". A Japanese friend told me that many Japanese learn English with "Katakana" letters to mark the pronunciation of English words, which forms "Japanese English" that can only be communicated among Japanese today.
However, just when I called my American colleague, I tried to correct my Japanese colleague's pronunciation. A Japanese colleague said earnestly, "We are in Japan now, so when you speak English, please follow Japanese pronunciation."
The third monster sang a "sad" song before work.
If there are more enterprises in China, Japanese enterprises will be more "polite". In order to strengthen the cohesion of enterprises, Japanese enterprises should hold a formal and serious "ceremony" of awarding prizes, paying New Year greetings, resigning and changing jobs.
Most Japanese companies have a "Korean ceremony" when they go to work, and everyone has to attend. The employees stood together to listen to the training, applaud and shout slogans to show that the work is about to begin, and everyone is full of energy. After work, many companies have "evening gifts", and employees should stand still, listen to the words of encouragement and thanks from the boss or sing the songs of the company. Finally, the boss said, "You have worked hard, and I will continue to rely on you in the future." The employees replied, "Please take care of me, too." I dismissed and went home.
The author once visited a big Japanese company with a foreign boss, just in time for the "evening gift". The company's enterprise Song was personally approved by its founder. In order to show the hardships of starting a business, the melody of the song is full of tragic feelings. As soon as I entered the company, I saw the employees standing silently listening to the "sad" song. The foreign boss's face immediately showed pain: "It seems that we have come at a bad time, and an important person in their company has just passed away ..."
For the training of new employees, Japanese companies mostly adopt the method of "sleeping together", which is equivalent to the closed training of China football. During the closed period, all kinds of "gifts" are indispensable every day. Because of special training, the employees of Japanese companies are experts in "etiquette".
The fourth monster volunteered to chip in for a drink.
In addition to courtesy, Japanese companies have more parties. Party, in Japanese enterprises, does not have the nature of personal feelings, but is often an organized activity for Japanese enterprises to enhance employees' feelings.
Usually around Wednesday, the clerk of the company will send a notice to the employees who want to participate in the activity, explaining the reason and time and place of the party, and will also attach a map of the restaurant. On the surface, this kind of activity is voluntary, but in fact, non-participants will be regarded as heterogeneous. So every weekend, Japanese restaurants are always full.
This kind of activity seems redundant, but it is extremely important for the Japanese. Japanese enterprises pay the most attention to collectivism, but Japanese interpersonal relationship is relatively indifferent. Drinking, singing and partying have become good ways to connect feelings. Japanese people will tear off their masks when drinking, and employees who have no contact with each other will become good colleagues after drinking. But this kind of activity is beneficial to the company, except that the company will not pay, but colleagues will pay for it themselves. A friend of mine who works in a bank said that he spends 50,000 yen on entertainment every month.
There are also some Japanese employees who like to go out and drink alone until midnight. This is a way to reassure the family. Because in the traditional Japanese concept, overtime is the embodiment of being reused. If the husband comes home early, the wife will worry that he is worthless.
The fifth monster, Sanqi, doesn't wear black socks alone.
In Japan, there is a strict tradition about the dress of company employees. Wear a white shirt, black shoes, dark tie and dark suit, and then cut your hair to 30% on the left and 70% on the right. This is a typical image of Japanese white-collar workers.
The hairstyle of Sanqitou is very important. Some people joked that the Japanese underworld is also a white shirt and black suit, but the hair styles are varied. If you only look at clothes and don't look at your head, it's easy to think of the "violent group" as an engineer.
But in the eyes of foreigners, dressing up inevitably gives people a sense of formality. But the Japanese have a special love for suits and ties, because in the eyes of the Japanese, such dressing is a symbol that he belongs to the backbone of Japanese society.
In addition, in traditional Japanese companies, the left front of employees' suits must be stamped by another company. Some Japanese company employees don't wear black socks. Because the pronunciation of "black" in Japanese is similar to "pain", wearing black socks is considered to bring bad luck.
The sixth monster eats and talks without stealing the limelight.
These rules and regulations are still superficial, and the hierarchy within Japanese companies is the most prominent strange phenomenon.
When meeting Japanese companies, superiors and subordinates should say hello in different languages. Therefore, it is necessary to quickly judge the level of both sides. When you eat at noon, you should act collectively, and when you are seated, you should arrange the person with the highest level in the middle. When eating, everyone should speak in high and low order, and they should not steal the boss's thunder.
Ordinary employees seldom innovate in their work. After the speech, the leader usually asks, "Do you have any questions?" This is purely a cliche, and few Japanese employees come out to ask questions or express their opinions.
In addition, the boss works overtime, and the subordinates can't leave first without special circumstances. I used to be very idle, surfing the Internet in the company after work, and it was not until late at night that I found that my subordinates were sticking to their posts and "working overtime".
The Japanese talk about "rules" everywhere.
In fact, some strange phenomena in Japanese corporate culture have penetrated deeply into the traditional Japanese "type culture": everything follows the rules of Fiona Fang. Adjust your words and deeds and adapt yourself to this social norm.
Japan's "Japanese culture" is actually the product of traditional Japanese society. In the edo period, people were divided into scholars, farmers, workers and businessmen according to their status, and under them they were "filthy" and "inhuman" Although the identity system was abolished after the Meiji Restoration, it was a top-down reform, which was promoted by a junior samurai. Although great changes have taken place in society, great changes have not taken place in the field of moral consciousness. In social life, the traditional relationship between superiors and subordinates still exists. For example, "Tea Ceremony" and "Flower Road" have a family system and are inherited. Despite the changes of the times, the relationship between the upper and lower classes in its society has not fundamentally changed.
In such a "cultural" society, everyone acts according to his own identity. As long as you abide by the requirements of society for your role, then you will live comfortably. Japanese parents rarely instill "great ambitions" into their children. They invest more in their children's education by obeying the rules and cooperating with others.
In Japanese culture, the Japanese feel very safe. Although the times have changed, there are still a few wage earners who quit for high salary after one or two years.
The advantage of "T culture" is that all the rules are clear. Even how many gifts you should give when your colleagues get married, Japan has general social rules. According to the distance between relatives and friends, the whole of Japan is not much different. Obey the rules and people will not be tired. Less responsibility, less burden; High position, heavy burden. Moreover, if something serious happens and the token can't run away, you may have to apologize. That's the rule, too.
The Japanese wash clothes in the bathtub.
I have been in Japan for a year. During this period, the reporter fully felt that the Japanese people's awareness of water conservation has penetrated into all aspects of life. Toilets, bathrooms and kitchens are full of water-saving equipment. From schools to museums, the popularization of water-saving knowledge and the education of water-saving awareness can be seen everywhere.
The bath water is connected to the washing machine.
In family life, the Japanese also pay great attention to saving water. Japanese TV stations have broadcast some water-saving programs, introducing how to save water from a small place in daily life. For example, after washing vegetables, you should pay attention to turning off the faucet first, and then put the vegetables away, instead of turning off the faucet first; After frying the vegetables, the pan is full of oil, which is very water-consuming. Clean up the oil stain with paper first, and then wash it with water, which can save water and reduce the pollution of water source. At the same time, oil-absorbing paper can be used as combustible garbage, which can increase the recovered heat when burning.
Most faucets in Japan have automatic sensing devices that can reach out immediately. Many faucets spray water through many fine holes like shower heads, which can not only meet the needs of washing hands, but also not waste. In a word, the Japanese pay attention to saving water in detail.
Japanese companies are competing to develop water-saving products, such as water-saving dishwashers and water-saving washing machines. The reporter visited the Japan Household Appliances Exhibition and found that in terms of water saving of household appliances, enterprises can be described as "eight immortals crossing the sea and showing their magical powers". Some dishwashers spray dilute water from all angles, and the water consumption is only a few tenths of that of hand washing dishes. The washing machine developed by a company has an inclined plane above the drum, which can save half of the water and is well received by people. In addition, Japanese washing machines also have a function of "washing with a bath". As we all know, Japanese people like to take a bath, and the bath water can't be wasted. The bathtub can be connected to a washing machine to wash clothes with bath water.
Some people may say that bathing itself is very water-consuming. In fact, Japanese people take a shower first, and then take a shower. Besides, the whole family used that can of blisters. There is a special cover to cover the bathtub after soaking. The next day, they just need to heat it and they can soak it again.
The toilet water turned yellow.
Let's look at the public toilets in Japan. Toilets in Japan pay great attention to saving water. In many places, reclaimed water is used to flush toilets, and most of them are factory wastewater recycling. Reclaimed water can't be drunk directly like tap water, but flushing the toilet is not a problem. This kind of toilet using reclaimed water is mostly in the rest station of expressway. The reporter once went to such a rest stop to go to the toilet, because the color of recycled water is yellow. When he went in, he thought that someone who had used it before had not washed it. Later, after reading the notice posted on the wall, I realized that reclaimed water was used.
At last year's Aichi World Expo, the reporter also saw a "biological toilet". There is no waste water in this toilet, and the water used to flush the toilet can be reused after treatment, which can save water 1000 tons during the World Expo. Of course, the cost of toilets like this is very high, and it is difficult to put them into practice now, but at least it reflects the Japanese water-saving consciousness and points out the direction of water-saving in the future. There is also a very interesting phenomenon: Japanese people are embarrassed to be heard when they go to the toilet, so they like to drain water while going to the toilet to cover up the sound. In order to save water without embarrassment, a "Yin Ji" is installed in Japanese public toilets, which can make a flushing sound when pressed. Japan is probably the only toilet with this equipment in the world.
Make the best use of rainwater.
Japan is very cautious in promoting water resources protection. There are publicity signs on many items. For example, pencils and rulers used by students are printed with the words "save water", and aprons used by housewives in the kitchen are also marked with water-saving signs. There are water knowledge and water-saving contents in the fourth grade textbooks of primary school, and a lot of information about "water and people's life" is introduced in the middle school textbooks.
June 1 day is International Children's Day, but it is still "Water Saving Day" in Japan. This may be to show that saving water concerns future generations, starting with dolls. There is also a distinctive "Waterway Memorial Hall" in Tokyo to let people know that water is hard to come by.
While saving water, the Japanese government, especially local governments, has been actively promoting rainwater storage and utilization in recent years. The Japanese use pipes to introduce rainwater from the roof into the rainwater sedimentation tank located underground, then flow into the reservoir, and then rise to the reclaimed water (reclaimed water) channel for flushing toilets and so on. Compared with central waterways and industrial sewage treatment plants, rainwater utilization facilities have the advantages of small scale, simple technical treatment, easy maintenance and good water quality. At present, many local governments such as Tokyo, Osaka Prefecture, Fukuoka City, Chiba Prefecture and Kagawa Prefecture have successively formulated laws and regulations to actively promote rainwater utilization through various means.
I can't wait for my children to fall in love early.
One day when I came home from work, I saw Sister Lin waiting in circles at my door. Sister Lin is from Tianjin. Three years ago, she and her husband came to Yidan. There are not many people in China nearby. The couple often bring their son Xiaolong to our house. The relationship between the two families is excellent Judging from sister Lin's expression, it is likely that she needs her brother's help.
Sure enough, Sister Lin told me nervously: Xiaolong fell in love early. I was silent for a while. To tell the truth, a few months ago, I saw Xiaolong walking in the street with a girl named Yusi, and the relationship between the two was very abnormal, but I didn't tell my sister about it. The reason is also very simple. When I was in middle school, the school's management of puppy love was like breaking the law, and it was inevitable to fall into rebellious psychology. Moreover, Miss Yuji is a girl with bright eyes and white teeth, which is rare in Japan. It's not a bad thing that Xiaolong married her.
I comforted sister Lin and she quit: Oh, Sammy, you can't say that. Xiaolong is only fifteen years old, and there are still two years to go to college ... and that girl is too bold to introduce herself as Xiaolong's girlfriend! She also makes lunch boxes for Xiaolong every morning, but her parents don't care. Her mother brings chocolates to Xiaolong on business trip!
Finally, my sister asked me to do Xiaolong's ideological work, but I couldn't refuse, so I had to agree. When my wife heard about it after work, she volunteered to persuade Sister Lin to be nice to girls and let people play more at home. I wonder, is this doing ideological work? I'm here to be a matchmaker. My wife laughed at my protest. She told me that it is normal for Japanese people to have "puppy love".
It turns out that the success rate of Japanese high school students' "puppy love" is extremely high. In the final analysis, this is the result of Japanese national character.
In the traditional Japanese view, life and work belong to different genders. Men only have work without life, while women only have life without work, and there is no intersection between the two sexes. Although this situation has changed in recent years, Japanese men's contact with the opposite sex after work is still very narrow, generally only a few female colleagues in the office. In addition, there are few opportunities to meet women in the ballroom, because the Japanese don't accept ballroom dancing. Ballrooms are all solo dances, and there are no men and women dancing hand in hand. When I first arrived in Osaka, I attended a party. I used to ask my female colleague to dance a song when I heard music, and the other person was scared to death.
Therefore, many Japanese girls and boys have been engaged since high school, and the "young couple" who want to go to college should discuss it well and make plans for their future lives. When I arrived at the university, most of the boys and girls with good conditions were "wholesale", and the rest were mostly "crooked melons and cracked dates". After work, it is hard to find even "crooked melon and cracked jujube". I have to go to the bar to find a waitress-that's certainly not my wife. ...
My wife didn't come back until nine o'clock in the evening. Full of pride, she brought back some melons, saying that the task was completed and Sister Lin gave us food.
The strange diet life of the Japanese.
Japan's overall food self-sufficiency rate is only 39%, which is surprisingly low compared with other western countries! Moreover, if vegetables are not counted and only whole grains are counted, Japan's food self-sufficiency rate is as poor as 28%.
65,438+028% in the United States, 65,438+022% in France, 65,438+045% in Canada, 237% in Australia and 87% in Germany. Therefore, it is time for Japan to find a way out.
Strange to say, it is not others who have caused this tragic situation, but the changes in Japanese diet!
Coincidentally, a recent public network survey report just illustrates this point. This survey report makes a large-scale investigation on what Japanese eat at noon every day. The results show that 565,438+0% people eat pasta, 28% people eat beef rice, and even 27% people eat hamburgers and sandwiches, which runs counter to the traditional Japanese staple food of rice in the past, and even many pasta are added to the menus of primary and secondary school canteens, and this tendency is becoming more and more serious. It is almost common sense that Japanese children don't like rice!
It has been calculated that if the Japanese like to eat rice as before, the self-sufficiency rate of food in Japan will increase to 90%, because Japan is a country rich in rice.
On the other hand, due to the change of Japanese eating habits, many rice farmers are forced to make ends meet, and rice fields are abandoned. According to Japanese government statistics, abandoned farmland is equivalent to the whole of saitama. What a pity!
Japan can't be self-sufficient, so it can only rely on imports, and it must be imported from areas cheaper than its own to calculate the cost, including fish, meat, vegetables, deep processing and roughcast, and even feed, all of which are imported from countries outside Japan.
In fact, as early as 1960, Japan's food self-sufficiency rate was still 80%, and in 1980 it was 60%. This declining process is in sharp contrast with the rapid development of Japanese economy! Life is comfortable, but the rations can't be solved by themselves, so I have to buy them from outside.
To tell the truth, I always buy things I don't have from outside, which makes me very uncomfortable! Last year, there were a large number of food counterfeiting incidents in Japan. Even the monks of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto waved a lot of books to describe the crisis of contemporary Japanese society with a Chinese character "Fake"!
There are too many teenagers in the future. I wonder if Japanese children can still like rice as their ancestors did? If we can pull back the current dietary deviation and improve the self-sufficiency rate of Japanese food, it should be a great contribution to the world!
(from/s/blog _ 4747bc0701008omm.html)
Ten things that are normal in Japan.
In order to increase the noise of the tenth car, it needs more than100 W.
Listen to the picture correctly. Many people think that the louder the car, the more handsome it is. So they will add a sound amplifying device to the exhaust pipe and modify many places to make their cars sound loud. When I came to Japan, I heard that some cars were louder than three tractors combined. Don't doubt that this car is absolutely top class, and its owner is a car enthusiast.
The ninth strange fruit and vegetable is more expensive than meat.
When you go to the supermarket, you will find that the price of cheap chicken is only about one-third of that of vegetables and fruits. Here, an ordinary watermelon is 80 yuan. In China, you can buy a car when it is cheap.
Generally, friends who have stayed in Japan for a long time will get fat to varying degrees, because they only eat chicken and eggs and cannot eat fruits and vegetables.
Eighth, Japanese police and government agencies are really approachable and public servants.
The Japanese police and government officials are very polite to the masses. You're too polite. You can't get used to it. If you have any questions you don't understand, ask the police. For example, if you ask the way, they will not only explain it to you, but also draw a picture for you or take you there. When I went to the China Embassy and stood in line at the door, I actually talked with the riot police at the door for a long time. If you have any complaints, you can tell them directly.
If you are really angry, they will stop touching you and apologize if you scold a few words.
The seventh blame is that there are bears in the mountains of Japan
It is said that there are really bears in the mountains of Japan. They not only harm crops, but also bite people. There are many such news every year. Surprisingly, it is not illegal to kill bears in Japan. If you have the ability, go into the mountains to kill bears, take bear skins, take bear gall and eat bear meat, which is absolutely no problem. The point is that you were killed by a bear, and there's nothing you can do. .....................
The sixth strange winter temperature is about 0 degrees, which is particularly cold.
Before I came to Japan, I heard that the average temperature in winter in Japan was about once, so I didn't want to bring cotton-padded clothes. Because in winter in Shenyang, the average temperature is about MINUS 15 degrees, and it is MINUS 35 degrees in the coldest time. For me, isn't 0 degrees spring? I can wear a light coat. I am very happy. I also wear short sleeves. As a result, it was discovered in Japan that winter was really cold. Although it is zero, it feels zero at home.
There is no difference between 30 degrees and 30 degrees. The main reason may be that Japan is surrounded by the sea, the air is humid, and there is no central heating in Japan, so it can only be heated by stoves burning lamp oil. Japanese houses are not cold-proof either. During the first winter in Japan, I asked my parents to mail me all the winter equipment from China. Usually wear sweaters and trousers, but also wear a light coat and a thick cotton-padded jacket outside. Then I still feel cold. However.
The fifth blame is in Tokyo, where Chinese people are flying all over the sky.
I have been to Tokyo three times and lived in Tokyo for more than two weeks. The biggest feeling is that there are too many China compatriots here. On the tram, watch carefully, especially in the morning and evening rush hours. There are two or three China compatriots in each carriage. When I was walking on the road, especially in Shinjuku and New Okubo, I heard Chinese. Although there are dialects everywhere, it feels very cordial.
The fourth strange animal is well protected.
In Japan, it is difficult to kill and expel any animals. There are many wild cats in Japan, because they will be fed wherever they go. In the rivers of Japan, cranes, swans and wild ducks can often be seen. They are not afraid of people. The news that often appears is that a wild duck with a dozen ducklings got on the road by mistake and was scattered by the car. Traffic is blocked immediately, and teams of police will seriously help find the duckling. I just drove them to a nearby pond suitable for their growth. I saw a special topic two days ago. A snow wolf was trapped on the side of a mountain. Not only did many people pay special attention, but even the self-defense forces were dispatched, and three people came down from the mountain to rescue them.
The third kind of strange suicide, karoshi often happens.
Karoshi, as the name implies, leads to death. Japanese society is fiercely competitive and the work pressure is great. It is often reported in the news that people die of overwork, and many people commit suicide because of work failure, and when they commit suicide, they kill their children and wives first, because they don't want them to live a miserable life without support after death. These are very serious for the Japanese.
A strong sense of responsibility is directly related to the character of not wanting to cause trouble to others.
The second kind of accusation is national leaders and political events. Feel free to comment
Japanese TV stations comment on these leaders every day. Critics and presenters can criticize, expose and even satirize these leaders. For example, Koizumi, from the election to the present,
All kinds of programs about him are endless, with mixed praise and praise. Some people imitate his way of speaking to broadcast baseball games. There are several puppets of political figures on the comment desk every day, which is very funny. Friends who have just arrived in Japan really need to adapt to these programs for a while.
The first to bear the brunt is the giant crow with high IQ.
When you come to Japan, you will find that crows here are terrible. The crow in black here can be as big as the crow in China. It should be about the same length as an eagle or a rooster. Friends who have just come to Japan will be shocked.
Moreover, their IQ is very high, and it is often seen that some crows raised by the Japanese can learn some simple greetings. In addition, the Japanese rarely kill animals, which leads to the rampant crows. On the day when Japan throws garbage every week, you will see a group of crows walking around in the garbage dump. They are not afraid of people. You can rummage through things immediately after throwing garbage, and you can easily untie them with your mouth. Usually, crows are everywhere in the garbage dump. As a result, they are not afraid of people at all, and some even attack people.
(from /ts 16949/3369923.html)
Japanese goblin culture ..
What do you mean? ..
You mean those people in the shop? ..
Still those childish faces when they are old. ..