French in Japan

Way out of your territory…

Some things just weren’t meant to be. And when they do happen, they’re incredibly strange.

Unnatural.

I have worked in Japan for about one year, and spent about 5 months working in Prais up until a few months ago. I had heard it before, but one of the interesting things about France, is the relaxed work atmosphere, and the long vacations that employees are able to enjoy. It makes me seriously wonder how French people who work in Japan survive…

As anyone reading this probably knows, In Japan, company employees (salary men) typically commute an hour to work by train, spend long hours in the office, skip vacations they are entitled to, and take incredibly compressed speed vacations to recover from this hectic life. In the place I currently work, the men finish lunch in 30 minutes. I’m not joking.

If you have been in Japan for any amount of time I am sure you have heard of the ridiculous working hours that some people put in. I’m sure you have heard stories of unpaid overtime (service zangyo) and employees skipping their summer vacations because they are just “too busy”. When people are finally able to escape from work to grab a few days off, the time is so short they are forced to plan their vacations to be ultra efficient so that none of their precious break time is wasted.

In France however… I didn’t even -see- my boss for the entire month of August. In France employees are required by law to have 30 days of paid vacation, plus something like 10 days of national holidays. This adds up to be quite a bit. In Japan it is hard for employees to find time to take their 3 day summer vacations, in France people have to plan ahead to see what they will do with their 30 days off. That’s not even double, that’s 10! times the vacation days. It’s almost difficult to imagine.

Most people in the company I worked at in France took off for an entire month at a time, usually in July or August. I believe in Japan this would be called “tensyoku”. I literally mean, start vacation August 1st. Return to work in September. Employees have so much vacation time they can spend a long time on a beach in the south of France… learn to play a musical instrument… or visit a French speaking colony in Africa.

I had a friend in the office in France from New Zealand. He had been in France for a few years, and learned to speak French, and become very familiar with French culture. When I asked him why he decided to stay so long, one of the first things he mentioned was the vacation time.

Once you have lived in a country with a month of vacation regularly available, it is extremely hard to go back to anything less. Could you imagine going from 30 days of vacation a year, to 10? Or less? For the same pay? Similar benefits? It almost doesn’t make sense at all.

This makes me wonder. It makes me really wonder WHY there are French people working in Japan, and how they feel about their new working life once they arrive. Are they able to adjust to the hour long commutes, 40 minute lunches, and expected overtime? What makes them stay?

I imagine some of the reasons for staying are similar to the reasons why I am here. However, I am from a country with an equally -low- amount of vacation time. I didn’t have to make such a large social adjustment.

To each his own huh?

If you’re crazy. Read this.
http://www.jasmec.go.jp/ck/kokusai/kokurepo/me0203inose.htm