Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic
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Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic
#2> When the train has gone and a hotel is too expensive pavements and benches are the only option.
of course not. In japan you have tons of options to spend a night in town for a few bucks. Go in a Karaoke at night, or an internet cafe (even some are "boxed" so that you have decent privacy to doze off)... it's far from being difficult. That is also why internet cafes have showers available...
> . But in the deferential, work-hard/play-hard, corporate culture of Japan, getting drunk and ending up stranded without a bed seems to happen all the time.
No. It's just statistics. When you are in a city with millions of people transiting, you are bound to see a lot more of people who are dead drunk on your journey because a lot more people pass by everyday.
The photographer has no clue about why this is happening. These folks who fall asleep anywhere don't think about "getting to a hotel", they are planning to go back home but are so drunk that they fall on the ground at some point. Making it into any other kind of societal critique is just stupid.
Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic
#3> When the train has gone and a hotel is too expensive pavements and benches are the only option. of course not. In japan you have tons of options to spend a night in town for a few bucks. Go in a Karaoke at night, or an internet cafe (even some are "boxed" so that you have decent privacy to doze off)... it's far from being difficult. That is also why internet cafes have showers available... > . But in the deferentia…
Your theory should apply to any huge city where drinking is not taboo.
I've visited a few huge cities in North and South America dozens of times over my lifetime. I do not remember ever seeing people in non-ragged suits sleeping rough. Is anyone else's experience different?
If this is specific to Japan, that's worth pointing out, even if the explanation is speculative and may well be wrong.
Any other theories?
Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic
#4> When the train has gone and a hotel is too expensive pavements and benches are the only option. of course not. In japan you have tons of options to spend a night in town for a few bucks. Go in a Karaoke at night, or an internet cafe (even some are "boxed" so that you have decent privacy to doze off)... it's far from being difficult. That is also why internet cafes have showers available... > . But in the deferentia…
Your theory should apply to any huge city where drinking is not taboo. I've visited a few huge cities in North and South America dozens of times over my lifetime. I do not remember ever seeing people in non-ragged suits sleeping rough. Is anyone else's experience different? If this is specific to Japan, that's worth pointing out, even if the explanation is speculative and may well be wrong. Any other theories?
Some background: the chance of getting pick-pocketed or molested is much smaller than in other cities of a comparable size worldwide, and the Japanese practice a form of privacy where such embarrassing scenes are visible but not seen.
Those guys will wake up in the morning, purchase a ready-made set of clean shirt, deodorant, and tie in a shop, and go back to the office.
Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic
#5> When the train has gone and a hotel is too expensive pavements and benches are the only option. of course not. In japan you have tons of options to spend a night in town for a few bucks. Go in a Karaoke at night, or an internet cafe (even some are "boxed" so that you have decent privacy to doze off)... it's far from being difficult. That is also why internet cafes have showers available... > . But in the deferentia…
Your theory should apply to any huge city where drinking is not taboo. I've visited a few huge cities in North and South America dozens of times over my lifetime. I do not remember ever seeing people in non-ragged suits sleeping rough. Is anyone else's experience different? If this is specific to Japan, that's worth pointing out, even if the explanation is speculative and may well be wrong. Any other theories?
> If this is specific to Japan
There are several additional factors:
- social drinking after work is "the norm" in Japan. Not every day, but several times a week is not uncommon. In large companies it is excepted that you would join such events, since it's pretty much a way to talk about work (and other things) in an informal context.
- alcohol is produced locally and there a very large industry pushing for consumption (and it is advertised everywhere).
- like in many Asian populations, there is a deficiency of the alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme among Japanese, so a majority of people can't break down alcohol very efficiently and could get drink after just 2 beers. I have seen that happening over and over again - it's just genetics at play.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1762903/
> Electrophoretic and quantitative studies reveal that 85% of Japanese carry an atypical liver alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). The frequency of ADH polymorphism is identical with the reported frequency of alcohol sensitivity in the Japanese population. This identity in population frequencies points to a causative relationship between the two phenomena and suggests that alcohol sensitivity might be due to the increased acetaldehyde formation in individuals carrying the atypical ADH gene.
Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic
#6> When the train has gone and a hotel is too expensive pavements and benches are the only option. of course not. In japan you have tons of options to spend a night in town for a few bucks. Go in a Karaoke at night, or an internet cafe (even some are "boxed" so that you have decent privacy to doze off)... it's far from being difficult. That is also why internet cafes have showers available... > . But in the deferentia…
Options or not, salarymen sleeping on the street does seem to be a thing in Tokyo. This is far from the first article I’ve seen about it.
As for an explanation of the behavior, I don’t think that was the point. This photographer is less interested in “the answer”, but is presenting “the question” in a new way. If you found it provocative then it worked.
Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic
#7The Instagram account @shibuyameltdown has been covering people in Tokyo being passed out in public areas for a while now.
Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic
#8> When the train has gone and a hotel is too expensive pavements and benches are the only option. of course not. In japan you have tons of options to spend a night in town for a few bucks. Go in a Karaoke at night, or an internet cafe (even some are "boxed" so that you have decent privacy to doze off)... it's far from being difficult. That is also why internet cafes have showers available... > . But in the deferentia…
Your theory should apply to any huge city where drinking is not taboo. I've visited a few huge cities in North and South America dozens of times over my lifetime. I do not remember ever seeing people in non-ragged suits sleeping rough. Is anyone else's experience different? If this is specific to Japan, that's worth pointing out, even if the explanation is speculative and may well be wrong. Any other theories?
I agree that with OP that the large number of people in Japan may be part of the explanation. But I think there are a few Japanese specific explanations at well. For instance,
- In Japan, sleeping in public is more common (0) - The workplace is more formal, meaning more men in suits (1) - Drinking after work is very common in Japan (2)
This means that sleeping outside is less taboo for salarymen, that they are more likely to wear a suit to work and they are more likely to head to the bar straight after work while still in their suit. In other places, I image people might change before heading to the bar or wear something different to work in the first place or might have more inhibition about sleeping in public.
(0) https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/16/world/what-in-the-world/j... (1) https://www.businessinsider.com/differences-between-japanese...] (2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomikai
Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your theory should apply to any huge city where drinking is not taboo. I've visited a few huge cities in North and South America dozens of times over my lifetime. I do not remember ever seeing people in non-ragged suits sleeping rough. Is anyone else's experience different? If this is specific to Japan, that's worth pointing out, even if the explanation is speculative and may well be wrong. Any other theories?
> If this is specific to Japan There are several additional factors: - social drinking after work is "the norm" in Japan. Not every day, but several times a week is not uncommon. In large companies it is excepted that you would join such events, since it's pretty much a way to talk about work (and other things) in an informal context. - alcohol is produced locally and there a very large industry pushing for consumpti…
Drinking with ethnic Japanese as a white or black person really does make you feel as if your tolerance for alcohol is doubled; in reality you just drink less and in smaller portions. A common way of drinking together in Japan is ordering a large pitcher of beer and sharing it with small glasses.
Culturally drinking still is expected behaviour in Japan. When you can't drink for a while because of medication or whatever reason, you will find yourself explaining and excusing yourself all the time; in part because of the Japanese cultural habit of filling eachother's glasses instead of your own — preferably in order of seniority.
Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic
#10> When the train has gone and a hotel is too expensive pavements and benches are the only option. of course not. In japan you have tons of options to spend a night in town for a few bucks. Go in a Karaoke at night, or an internet cafe (even some are "boxed" so that you have decent privacy to doze off)... it's far from being difficult. That is also why internet cafes have showers available... > . But in the deferentia…
Options or not, salarymen sleeping on the street does seem to be a thing in Tokyo. This is far from the first article I’ve seen about it. As for an explanation of the behavior, I don’t think that was the point. This photographer is less interested in “the answer”, but is presenting “the question” in a new way. If you found it provocative then it worked.
> street does seem to be a thing in Tokyo
it is not specific to Tokyo at all. Go to the center of Osaka, you will find drunk salarymen every day of the week.