Dragon the Salaryman

This morning was the first time in untold months when I did not wake up completely drained and sleepy. It is a weird feeling… and I am having huge guilt pans for not being at work, even though I know I've earned my break, and I've done my work thisyear. Spurred on by these wierd feelings, I’ve read a lot about the Japanese Salarymen lately, the following note really caught my eye:

All over Japan, in Japanese companies large and small, you will meet salarymen like Tanaka-san, Suzuki-san and Yamaguchi-san. Their collective attitude is what defines today's Japanese business culture and to succeed doing business in Japan, you need to understand their motivation, especially the way they perceive risk, so that you can apply your foreign business culture in a way that is sensitive to theirs. Most of Japan's salarymen exhibit a similar set of qualities that will affect the way you do business with them:

• they are loyal and dedicated to their company,
• if faced with a conflict between company duty and family duty, 99% will do their company duty first
• they are consistent,
• they never criticize their company, coworkers or managers,
• they are reliable,
• they are obsessed with detail,
• they evaluate all options,
• they are conservative,
• they make their decisions in committees ('ringi'),
• if necessary and for the good of their company, they will move mountains to help you,
• they conform

(Extract from Japanse business culture).

I must strive to avoid falling into the Salaryman trap. I don’t think I will do a similar crunch as the last one any time soon. I am going to start spending my vast pool of holidays next year.

I apologize for the lack of roars from the Dragon, and I promise that I will write more now that I have a little bit of energy, but hey, at least my game’s official website is now open!

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