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Japanese man leaves horrible job, gets horrible letter from the company

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Re: Japanese man leaves horrible job, gets horrible letter from the company

#21

Post by sjg007 »

purple_ferret wrote: post #13
Mizza wrote: post #6

The article mentions _two_ instance of people hiring somebody to quit a job on their own behalf - what? I know there are some Japanophiles here on HN - can somebody explain what that's all about?

There was a truly surreal article about this practice in The Atlantic several years back[0]. The practice of hiring someone to pretend to be someone else seems acceptable if not common. The man interviewed is hired to pretend to be some girl's father. >Yuichi: In Japanese business culture, there is a situation where you have to visit a company and say I’m deeply sorry for what I did and just bow and bow. Occasionally…

This is fascinating. Someone needs to make a movie about this.

Re: Japanese man leaves horrible job, gets horrible letter from the company

#22

Post by miles »

fao_ wrote: post #18
miles wrote: post #14

The original tweet[1] containing a photo of the letter is from a Twitter account that no longer exists. Hard to determine the provenance and veracity of said letter, which is full of grammatical errors.[2] [1] https://twitter.com/kachokun/status/1357366042972987396 [2] https://twitter.com/romanbaken/status/1357549910124449793

It's literally on archive.is, though. https://archive.is/oTX33 along with their twitter account: https://archive.is/VNQg8

Yes, I am not doubting that the tweet was made by that (now nonexistent) Twitter account, but the authenticity of the letter.

Re: Japanese man leaves horrible job, gets horrible letter from the company

#23

Post by akudha »

tarboreus wrote: post #11
phendrenad2 wrote: post #5

Why do people work for these companies? Is there no other option? Is the pay great? Is it not clear that they're a bad company before getting hired?

From my understanding, working for a major company is really bound up in your social standing in Japanese society. Think of it like health insurance in the US, except everyone in the entire society will kind of think you're a bum if you don't work for one of these companies, and it will color things like your interactions with police and your ability to rent an apartment. And, I think, it's more common these days not…

your interactions with police

Fuck, as if the cops need yet another reason to be nasty :(

Re: Japanese man leaves horrible job, gets horrible letter from the company

#24

Post by mey »

unnouinceput wrote: post #20
fao_ wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's literally on archive.is, though. https://archive.is/oTX33 along with their twitter account: https://archive.is/VNQg8

"If it's on internet it must be true" - Wernher von Braun, winner of Nobel peace prize, 1944

I thought that quote was attributed to Abe Lincoln, TIL.

Re: Japanese man leaves horrible job, gets horrible letter from the company

#25

Post by lazyweb »

How could a company conduct itself in such a way, and still expect to retain a fruitful business?

As someone from europe, I sometimes don't know what to think of japanese work culture from stories like these. Regardless if it's real, I often feel as if I'm missing a lot of context.

Re: Japanese man leaves horrible job, gets horrible letter from the company

#26

Post by FpUser »

lazyweb wrote: post #25

How could a company conduct itself in such a way, and still expect to retain a fruitful business? As someone from europe, I sometimes don't know what to think of japanese work culture from stories like these. Regardless if it's real, I often feel as if I'm missing a lot of context.

>"As someone from europe"

The way Europe (Italy in particular) treats for example guest farm workers is hardly better if not worse.

Edit:

Downvoters might want to take a look at this for example: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/world/europe/a-womans-dea...

Re: Japanese man leaves horrible job, gets horrible letter from the company

#27

Post by enneff »

sjg007 wrote: post #21
purple_ferret wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a truly surreal article about this practice in The Atlantic several years back[0]. The practice of hiring someone to pretend to be someone else seems acceptable if not common. The man interviewed is hired to pretend to be some girl's father. >Yuichi: In Japanese business culture, there is a situation where you have to visit a company and say I’m deeply sorry for what I did and just bow and bow. Occasionally…

This is fascinating. Someone needs to make a movie about this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Romance,_LLC

Re: Japanese man leaves horrible job, gets horrible letter from the company

#28

Post by systemvoltage »

lazyweb wrote: post #25

How could a company conduct itself in such a way, and still expect to retain a fruitful business? As someone from europe, I sometimes don't know what to think of japanese work culture from stories like these. Regardless if it's real, I often feel as if I'm missing a lot of context.

There are no horrible workplaces in Europe?

Re: Japanese man leaves horrible job, gets horrible letter from the company

#29

Post by speedgoose »

hutzlibu wrote: post #19
speedgoose wrote: post #17

It sounds fake to be honest.

Too much of reality does, though.

For sure, but most fake sounding stories online are actually fake. I would trust this if it's confirmed, by a reputable newspaper from example.

Re: Japanese man leaves horrible job, gets horrible letter from the company

#30

Post by lazyweb »

systemvoltage wrote: post #28
lazyweb wrote: post #25

How could a company conduct itself in such a way, and still expect to retain a fruitful business? As someone from europe, I sometimes don't know what to think of japanese work culture from stories like these. Regardless if it's real, I often feel as if I'm missing a lot of context.

There are no horrible workplaces in Europe?

I dare say that if such a letter were to be sent from a company in my country, it would be grounds for legal retaliation. Why would you put insults into writing, in official letters no less?
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