Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

In many ways, Japan, and Asia in general, is a socially liberal country just in the same way as it is socially conservative. While the sense of strict social hierarchy and expectations of youth obeying elders are completely in line with traditional Confucian beliefs , there are other physically obvious phenomena that would make any loyal adherent of Confucianism raising a doubtful eyebrow. Today, I would like to focus on the commonly accepted female dress code. Confucius argues that family is the most basic formation unit of society. And to keep the core family stable is the first thing needed to keep the entire society stable. Chinese classics are filled with stories portraying prostitutes and those who carry on extra-marital affairs as evil. And even in "post-Confucian" Asia, more than anywhere else on Earth, has strong hatred toward prostitution, divorce, and illegitimate romantic affairs, if as social attitudes and legal codes have gradually relaxed. The modern way o

I have been sick these days...really really sick. Things already started to look pretty bad at the beginning of the week when work as usual started on the 20th floor of Rakuten Tower. In the sales floor where nothing besides smooth sales talk is usually allowed during work time, I can hear coughing and sneezing across the floor. Yes, someone has brought in this summer's first cold virus from somewhere, and his or her determination to come to work no matter what has allowed all of us to share his pain and suffering. When you are crowded into an office space with (literally) hundreds of people sitting right next to each other and no air circulation (besides barely operating AC system to save electricity ), there is just no way you can escape a spreading biological terror. I was feeling fine at the beginning of the week, by as people right next to me began to succumb to the disease, I know it was only a matter of time before I fell apart. And, fell apart I certainly did. Still c

Finally getting back to Tokyo after a three-day trip over in Kyoto for the Japanese Golden "Week," the first thing on my (and apparently, many others') minds were...eh, partying. One day of work on Friday was followed by another regular two-day weekend to close out the maddeningly long vacation period that is oh-so rare for the Japanese salary-men. And to help close out (mentally) the vacation, I had the opportunity to attend another nomikai of the 2011 Rakuten new grads. I have to say that these guys just never fail to impress me with their unique characters, whether sober or drunk. While it is impressive enough that they can still manage to pull together more than 100 people for a drink after work, but it is simply astounding that these guys, even after a month of grueling training program and systematic brainwashing by the company ideologies, they still manage to maintain their personalities and characters. 個性 (individuality) was the word of the night. From my pro

I have to be honest: I have always been a very shy person. Right, it certainly does not seem like it now, but because I spent so much of my life moving around the world (average of about one new place every two years), the impossibility of developing long-term stable friendships eventually become a sort of hidden inferiority complex. It has been a personal habit of mine to not really aggressively "sell" myself to others since I would move away soon and potentially never see the people I met again anyways. With such an inferiority complex larking underneath, it is no surprise that over time, I develop a highly proud and often arrogant way of presenting myself to others. Professing to be truly "worldly" and not entangled (or even remotely interested) in those little up-and-down emotional relationships among individuals, I often take a self-isolating stance to meeting others. Not meeting others and connecting with them deeply is the best way to prevent unnecessary

As the news of my imminent departure from Japan and Rakuten continues to spread like a wildfire within the company, the compilation of reactions is certainly becoming a tool for me to further understand what it means to be a salary-men. The stability-seeking middle class backbone of Japanese corporate world, so loyal to their companies and so diligent in fulfilling top-down orders day in and day out , becomes something very interesting when even they become disillusioned with reality within the current work environment. But before talking about disillusion and all, it is important to note just how "stability-oriented" Japanese education and job-search processes really are. Because of continued tendency for mass hiring, job posts are generally specified for new grads, nor are job posts really open to selection by the new grads themselves. Unless the new grad in question have seriously strong skill in one aspect, he or she will simply be placed, along with most others, in

With the end of the last call yesterday, my sales experience in Japan has officially topped two and a half months. Even though I am still without a single success to my belt, it feels as if, at least from a socio-cultural standpoint, I am starting to see what exactly is the role of a salesman here in Japan. In an IT company whose success is largely defined by aggressive sales rather than technical innovation, understanding the place of sales and its practitioners in Japanese society would be not only necessary but fundamental. In a previous post , I already established that sales skills are obviously not a cookie-cutter ability applicable in the same way to every country out there. But I am coming to realize that what is more important for the difference in sales across countries is social status and function rather than sheer approach and methodology. People would tend to listen to salesmen if the salesmen are perceived to carry more of a social significance, rather than just so

"I have decided to graduate from Rakuten and go become a teacher in Uganda!" The tone from an outgoing coworker cannot have sounded more optimistic and forward-looking to a globetrotter like me. A sudden message indeed, and no doubt caught most of the people on the recipient mailing list with great surprise. While I am reading and feeling absolutely jealous and in complete respect for the courage of making such a risky move, I at the same time wonder how others are feeling about the same announcement.