Company Differences

Japanese business culture has a fearsome reputation in the West. Books about life and work in Japan are filled with tales of strict hierarchy, unbreakable protocol, and Japanese proverbs like “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.” Fortunately, the game industry tends to be a bit more laid back. According to Barnett, “There is little deep bowing, keigo (formal Japanese) and nobody wears suits. The leads and often bosses are pretty laid back in informal situations. You can have a laugh with them, go drinking with them. Again, as a foreigner I can get away with more, but I can see my colleagues also acting a little less stiffly than you may think.”

Culture differences can generate conflict says Cuthbert. “Japanese managers are definitely more on your case than Western managers, and sometimes that grates against a certain mentality in Foreigners that they are inherently better... But in almost every case I have seen the manager is simply trying to maintain harmony and order and as a result you get heightened efficiency. I've never come across a Japanese manager who is simply in a bad mood for no reason.”

However, the biggest issue for many office workers in Japan is the working hours. According to proper Japanese etiquette, nobody leaves until the boss and no individual leaves before his or her immediate supervisor. Regardless of whether a single individual has any work left to do. This is compounded by “slacking” during the day according to Tavares.

“Japanese don’t ‘work’ long hours,” he said. “They just stay at work for long hours... It’s mostly a cultural thing. In Japan, they have the Sempai/Kohai system. I believe maybe fraternities and sororities have a system like that (in America). Basically, you as a 'noob' are assigned to be under someone. That person is supposed to show you the ropes and be responsible for you and conversely you are generally supposed to do whatever that person tells you to do.”

“Culturally you are generally not supposed to leave work until everyone above you has left, so if your sempai (senior workers) or your boss has not left, then you should not leave. Not everyone follows that… but that’s the general rule… If you don’t follow the guidelines, you are less likely to get promoted. Although, because of Japan’s economy, most companies can’t offer lifetime employment anymore, (though) most Japanese still act like that’s the system,” added Tavares.

According to Barnett, “Being foreign certainly helps break the mould. But it's a slow process. At a new job, I usually follow the hours of my co-workers but then slowly start to scale down. People have to get used to your working hours slowly. Once they are accustomed to me always being the first in, the fact I'm the first out every day should be less of a shock. In the meantime of course, I must make sure my work is all in order and finished on time. I wouldn't be able to get away with it if my work was late or not up to scratch.”

He continued: “I'm sure my bosses expect me to do the Japanese hours but even they will come round. In fact, I often set a trend with colleagues following my example; coming in and leaving earlier, with me already breaking the "rules" and getting away with it. I find this very encouraging.”

While Japanese work hours are notorious, so are the hours of the games industry. With only so many hours in a day, there is a maximum working time and Japan might not be as bad as the West in this respect, states Cuthbert. “The worst place in the world for working hours is America. I worked in America for about three years, so I know directly, but I still hear from people working in America that they are working both days at weekends, and extremely long hours during the week. I've worked hard in Japan but never to that extent.”

The work hours seem to vary from company to company. Barnett’s blog is filled with tales of co-workers pulling all nighters while Tavares says that “At Sega we worked 10am to 11:30pm 5 days a week with an hour and 20 minute commute each way to the company apartments. I put up with it because I was happy for the privilege to be in Japan. The second time I went to Japan my jobs generally had more normal hours with the occasional crunch period.”