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The flip side of that cultural sense of duty is unfortunately a rise in "black" companies (ブラック企業, burakku kigyo) and employee exploitation[1] leading to very long working hours (often unpaid) and high karojisatsu rates (suicide from overwork / stressful working conditions)[2].

At least in the past, companies like JR East were known for their worker exploitation and unfair policies, leading to decades of hostile labor disputes with Kokuro (the National Railway Workers' Union)[3].

In 2013, a family sued JR West after an overworked employee committed suicide. The family claimed he worked over 100 hours a month, and that during some months, he worked over 254 hours of overtime[4].

Japanese trains are renowned for being extremely punctual, but operators often punish employees for the smallest mistakes. They fine employees if the train is delayed by even a single minute, leading to one driver suing JR West in 2021[5].

I know the west likes to romanticise Japanese culture, but the reality of the working culture in Japan is far from romantic.

[1] https://izanau.com/article/view/black-companies-japan

[2] https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/karoshi-deep-look-japans-...

[3] https://www.jil.go.jp/english/archives/emm/2006/no.74/74_si....

[4] https://japantoday.com/category/national/family-files-lawsui...

[5] https://www.vice.com/en/article/japan-railways-lawsuit-late/

by jmspring17 hours ago|

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In the west the employee / employer social contract died sometime in the 80s. It's rare, especially in tech, to have employees with decades of tenure. You see Microsoft trying to buyout older employees recently.

by linguae17 hours ago|

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Pre-Carly Fiorina Hewlett-Packard was a great example of an old-school Silicon Valley company, long before the era of “move fast and break things” and of Zuck, Elon, and Altman. I used to work for a Japanese company until I left a few years ago to teach, and when I read about the HP Way, it reminds me in many ways of life at my former employer:

https://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/publications/me...

by jmspring17 hours ago|

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While in college, my advisor / professor I worked for took me to HP Labs off Page Mill. I recall entering and seeing a sea of cubicles. That said, I enjoyed hearing the stories of those that worked there.

by c0nsumer3 hours ago|

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Bluntly, cubicles are NICE compared to the massive distracting (but stylish) open plan stuff. From above they look sort of dystopian, but no one in your peripheral vision, reduced noise...

Not as nice as an office with a door, but really not bad. Especially the taller ones.

by 173838483 hours ago|

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HP is indeed a business everyone should emulate kn terms of groundbreaking impact and performance

by mitthrowaway21 hours ago|

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It was.

by killingtime742 hours ago|

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Yeah and we would feel that way in the west if the company didn't lay us off every time the stock market twitched and gave us company housing.

by captainbland11 hours ago|

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The short term profit maximisation thing comes from leadership culture rather than employees per se

by DANmode16 hours ago|

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> A factor not mentioned is Japan's cultural sense of duty and honour. I don't think employees in the West generally feel such dedication or perfectionism towards their company

Diminishingly few.

It is a feedback loop.

by sandworm10117 hours ago|

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And the concept of company families, of client corporations beholden to larger/older ones. They dont work together because of financial incentives or contractual obligation. The work together because they are fraternal organizations.