Remote work and office culture in Japan

Starbucks in the morning

I come to a cafe from time to time to have the scenery changed; Partly because my room is cluttered and badly needs decluttering, partly because I only have a standing desk (because of my back pain) and partly to change the mood.  I tend to sit outside in a cafe. I found that the Japanese customers like indoor seats better than the outdoor, which means I get the outside seats all to myself 😊. When it's raining, it's even better😁.

I was glancing at today's NY Times and one article caught my eye. It's about a workplace you never go to. People get a job and leave the job without meeting their colleagues in person. With pandemic prolonged there will be more cases like that for sure. I had a similar experience too. I work from home and I am happy with that option. But there are some problems. One of which is that some people become hyper nosey. It seems they want to know everything about your day because they cannot see you. It sounds sick, I know. They seem to think they can control  every minutes of your day or you are not working. I think it is more pronounced in the Japanese culture. 

In Tokyo, only 23-4% of companies have telecommuting 5 days a week. That means it is less likely to have the article's type of experience in Tokyo. 

By the way, the Japanese people love to spend time in their office. I used to make a joke about it. 'Japanese spend a lot of time at work but not working. They all work like receptionists. They seem to like to come to the office and..., I don't know, spend time there?' 

The interesting thing about it is that their bosses are fine with it. They don't look at their output. So long as they spend time in the office, they are working. In other words; your being there is your work. When you work from home, they want you to be in a similar state: when they want to reach you, they can reach you.  But there is nothing particular, just chit-chat. when they cannot reach you they get irritated even though they have nothing but chit-chat. That's probably why they become hyper-nosey. If you want to focus on your work, you definitely don't want them to catch you. 

Well, I started off thinking I would say 'Maybe in Japan, more people also join and leave a job without meeting their colleagues in person.' but I don't think so; not with that culture.