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Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic

theguardian.com

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Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic

#11

Post by draeert »

emiliobumachar wrote: post #3
ekianjo wrote: post #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 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?

Happens a lot in Korea. Having traveled extensively in both countries I'd say it probably happens more often in Korea actually.

Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic

#12

Post by ekianjo »

Freak_NL wrote: post #9
ekianjo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 whatev…

Oh and let's not forget the availability of 飲み放題 (drink as much as you want) plans in many restaurants at night. It's cheaper than usually ordering 3 drinks and leads to a higher consumption of alcohol at the end of the day...

Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic

#13

Post by ekianjo »

draeert wrote: post #11
emiliobumachar wrote: post #3

Earlier 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?

Happens a lot in Korea. Having traveled extensively in both countries I'd say it probably happens more often in Korea actually.

Both Korea and Japan are very high on the "drinking habits" ratio, and that shows in the rate of stomach cancers: both countries have the highest rate of such cancers in the world (as well as digestive tract cancer I think). Pharma companies usually rush to get their new cancer drugs approved in Japan because the market is so huge.

Rate of stomach cancer around the world:

https://pmj.bmj.com/content/postgradmedj/81/957/419/F1.large...

Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic

#14

Post by mantas »

ekianjo wrote: post #5
emiliobumachar wrote: post #3

Earlier 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…

On top of that, Tokyo is super safe. It's next to impossible to get mugged or abused. Weather is rather friendly for this behaviour as well.

Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic

#15

Post by mseidl »

That's one thing I thought was a little disappointing when I was in Tokyo. The trains stop at midnight on the weekends, when I would miss it I'd have to stay out till they started up again.

In Germany, at least in bigger cities, they have on weekends and holidays that public transit goes all night.

Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic

#16

Post by tjpnz »

ekianjo wrote: post #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 deferentia…

A lot of salaryman positions are barely paying above combini rates. Renting a karaoke room in the areas these people work isn't an option when you consider how often they're out "entertaining". Internet/manga cafes are a cheaper option but from what I've heard they tend to get quite full.

Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic

#18

Post by factsaresacred »

ekianjo wrote: post #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 deferentia…

> 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.

Dead drunk passed out on the ground? Hobos maybe, not dudes in suits. You rarely see this phenomenon in China or South Korea.

Re: Legless Japanese businessmen: the photographer who caught a Tokyo epidemic

#20

Post by mlrtime »

ekianjo wrote: post #10
cobbzilla wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You seem to be very passionate that the article is somehow misguided. However I, and a lot of others on this site have lived and visited large metropolitan cities all over the world. I can clearly remember seeing passed out men in suits in Tokyo and no where else in the world (anecdote). There are passed out people in other cities, but not businessmen in suits. The article clearly states that the photographers criteria was that the person was sleeping in a suit in a odd configuration. The article is interesting and accurate.
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