So you want to work in Japan?

This interesting (and telling) excerpt was taken from the book Behind the Japanese Bow, by Boye Lafayette De Mente:


Except for new recruits schooled in technical skills, managers do not look for the most intelligent, most ambitious, or the most energetic employee candidates. In fact young people who fit these categories may not fit into the typical company system in Japan. Many managers look first for young people who do not have strongly held opinions or ambitions and can be molded into what the managers regard as company soldiers - people who will adhere strictly to the military-like hierarchy of the Japanese company, obey rules without question, and devote their lives to working diligently and rising slowly in the ranks.

Female employees are usually excluded from the male bastion of management in Japanese companies, and are generally not required to undergo 'boot-camp' training. Their training usually ends with how to sit, how to stand before superiors, how to respond with the proper speech, how to bow, and how to serve tea. Not surprisingly, Japanese women bow more often than Japanese men.


Unfortunately, my college degree didn't include training on how to bow, how to speak to my superiors, or how to serve tea. I also, sadly, have many strongly held opinions and ambitions. I don't have much desire to be a company soldier and adhere to a military-like hierarchy. It seems that I'm destined for corporate failure in Japan, which maybe isn't such a bad thing - I'm coming home in four months, anyway.

For all of you women who spent over $30,000 on higher education and devoted four years of your life to the study of tea service and subservience, Japan is the place for you! Or you could get a job at Starbucks (the tips are a benefit).