Episode #90: Japan's Work Rhythm

There are 15 public holidays a year in Japan plus some accepted company holidays as well. However there are other factors which impact work capability in Japan, that we need to be aware of and adjust our expectations accordingly. A boss grasp of these sensitivities will be well noted and much appreciated.

There are specific work rhythms for Japan. Spring is hopeless because of all the different types of kafunsho (allergies) killing our concentration. Everyone is adjusting to the start of the new financial year in April and many are struggling with their new environments and situations. How can you get any work done in that situation, I ask you? May is no good because of gogatusbyo (May miasma).

Also, after the Golden Week break, people are exhausted from the crowded train, plane and road travel and from all the family activities which take place during that time. Summer in July and August is also bad because the heat makes us feel supremely drowsy (natsubate).

Of course we also have tsuyubyo or summer sickness thanks to the endless rain, high humidity and associated joint pain. The August Obon season is no better because you have to travel back to your hometown to worship at the ancestor’s grave and the roads are clogged and the railways packed. Recently, we have added a couple of new ones - akibate or Autumn drowsiness - to our woes. Plus we get to reprise our kafunsho allergy season, this time in Autumn, thanks to all the grasses flowering at that time. November onwards means we face those long dark days of winter are seriously depressing and the bitter cold seeps into your bones, tiring you out every day. We have to be careful not to break something, if we fall down on those black ice pathways

It is hard to be an idea genius when you are tired every single day of your work life. Innovation rarely surfaces amongst the exhausted. Yet we expect results, innovation, creativity, high work productivity and happy staff. You need to be well rested and in good condition to operate at a high level

How many foreign bosses adjust their high powered expectations and allow for the different rhythms here though? Probably zero. In a globally connected 24/7 world, there is no modern tolerance for differences in rhythms. Matrix organisations stretching across vast time zones can’t even schedule meeting times with any rationale thought for those joining in from distant climes. If they are that insensitive to local conditions, how can they possibility gauge the local working conditions described earlier around the different seasons in japan.

Counsel the team about the importance of getting enough sleep, to rest before they get tired and to take breaks at work, so that they are fresher and therefore less likely to make mistakes though tiredness. Remind them that the fresher team will beat the tired team, and so let’s change the dynamic at work and win.

Tired people rarely have enough bandwidth to come up with really great ideas and innovation is the key to out performing the competition. We want to put ourselves in a winning position and getting more sleep is one simple, low cost way of doing that.