A Japanese salaryman refers to a male office worker or businessman in Japan. A typical image of a salaryman is someone employed by a corporation, who wears a business suit, follows a strict working schedule, and upholds traditional Japanese business culture and values.
First Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2024-05-21
Table of Content
- What is a Japanese salaryman?
- What does a Japanese salaryman do?
- The Traditional Image of a Japanese Salaryman
- Working Hours, Average Pay, and Benefits of Being a Salaryman
- Become a Japanese Salaryman, Find A Job in Japan with WeXpats
It is a typical weekday morning in Japan and you encounter a man dressed in a classic business suit, walking briskly towards the nearest train station. You might wonder what is the cause for urgency. It’s a high likelihood that you’ve just encountered a salaryman.
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What is a Japanese salaryman?
In Japan, “Salaryman” is a term used to denote men employed at corporations as office workers.
The term “Salaryman”, サラリーマン (Sarari-man) in Japanese, is a form of 和製英語 (Wasei Eigo), a Japanese-made English word. It is derived from the English word “salaried man” meaning “someone who earns a salary for a living”, but in Japan is used stereotypically to refer to “male white collar workers who work in corporations as office workers for a salary”. The usage of the term became widespread in the early 20th century when the number of white-collar workers soared in Japan.
In recent times, the usage of the word has reduced. Many people these days opt for the less stereotypical, less job fixated, and gender neutral 正社員 (Seishain) - full-time employee.
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What does a Japanese salaryman do?
A Japanese salaryman typically works in an office setting and can be employed in various industries, including finance, manufacturing, technology, and services.
The specific duties and responsibilities of a Japanese salaryman depend on their job role and the industry they work in. The typical duties of a Japanese salaryman include:
- Office Work: Paperwork, data entry, correspondence, and other administrative duties.
- Meetings and Collaborations: Attending regular meetings with colleagues,superiors, and clients.
- Business Trips: Requirement to travel for business meetings, negotiations, or other work-related activities depending on job role and industry.
- Socializing and Team Building: Communicating and building relationships with colleagues, superiors, and clients is an integral part of Japanese work culture.
The Traditional Image of a Japanese Salaryman
Japanese Salarymen have a strong image of upholding Japan’s deeply ingrained traditional corporate and business culture and ethics. Some key characteristics of the traditional Japanese salaryman include:
- Conservative Business Attire: The so-called “salaryman uniform” is a conservative business suit in dark colours as a symbol of professionalism.
- Dedication and Loyalty: Unwavering dedication and loyalty to the employing company. They show a strong sense of duty and are expected to prioritize work matters over personal lives.
- Corporate Hierarchy: Traditional Japanese corporations have strong hierarchical systems with employees expected to follow the chain of command. Respect to superiors is crucial.
- Lifetime Employment: In the past, there was a strong emphasis on lifetime employment in a single company. However, in recent years, younger people are open to changing jobs mid-career in pursuit of better career opportunities, higher salary, and good work life balance.
- Punctuality: A highly valued train in Japanese work and business culture, being on time is of utmost importance to a salaryman, which is why the salaryman always seems to be in a rush.
For a deeper understanding of the Japanese salaryman requires an in-depth look at Japanese work culture.
Working Hours, Average Pay, and Benefits of Being a Salaryman
Working Hours
For a salaryman, dedication and loyalty to the company means working overtime up to 10 hours a day, or even longer. It is also not uncommon for salarymen to work weekends and holidays, dedicating their time and spirit to companies. As a result, their work-life balance collapses, and many people have associated salarymen with Karoshi - death from overwork.
To address the excess of overtime and the growing problem of Karoshi, reforms in the Labour Act have established a standard 40 hours a week with a maximum of 8 working hours a day. This is known as statutory working hours. Most companies have working hours between 8:00 to 17:00 or 9:00 to 18:00. However, post Covid, there are many Japanese companies that allow flexible working hours and even staggered working hours.
It can be said that the era of Salaryman has passed with a new typical working week norm for Japanese employees.
Average Pay
The most important thing to consider when deciding whether to work in Japan is how much you can actually earn. On the same page, how much does a regular salaryman earn?
Since Japanese salarymen are employed in a wide range of industries, there is no existing data about the average pay for salarymen. Rather, we would have to look at sectors in which salarymen are usually employed, such as commerce and finance, which is usually in the range of 3 million to 4 million yen for fresh graduates.
For a clearer understanding of what the average pay is in Japan, check our average salary in Japan for foreigners here.
Benefits of Being a Salaryman
Salarymen as full-time employees enjoy all the benefits that companies have to offer. This includes company health insurance, pension insurance, labour insurance, and more. Other possible company benefits include allowances for housing, meals, etc., company trips, or even stock options.
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