[flocial]

Sadly, this is pretty much Japan in a nutshell. People don't complain either. It wrecks your productivity, health, and family. Also does nothing for the economy. The funny thing about the threat of power outages after the earthquake is that suddenly people are trying to find ways to work shorter hours and be more productive for God and country.

Unreasonable hours create a downward spiral. Walking away is an option but fighting back takes courage. Either way the company ends up the biggest loser over time as the best leave for greener pastures.

[patio11]

People don't complain either.

I think you can put an asterix on this one. People don't complain about long hours in Japanese megacorps for the same reason they don't complain about them in game development studios: if you care enough to complain, you're at nearly zero risk of ending up with that job. Nobody becomes seishain at a Japanese megacorp and then suddenly gets surprised about the working conditions. I went into it with eyes wide open, too. (Although I really underestimated how much that would impact my happiness.)

The folks who would most dislike 17 hour days or 70 hour weeks communicate their displeasure by opting out of the system entirely. (Or, if they're young ladies, by going the pink collar route and quitting at 25 when they get married or 27 when their first child is born.) There is an oft-reported thing for Japanese young men of my generation to take to, basically, grifting (odd jobs, part time employment, mooching off parents, etc) as opposed to doing the salaryman thing, because the salaryman thing sucks so badly. It is probably exaggerated because it sells newspapers, but I'll bet there is a kernel or two of truth in it (c.f. "metrosexuals", "sexting", etc)

Similarly, if you look around my social circle of Japanese techy friends, you'll see a bunch of societal rejects. Not because they're geeky anime nerds, although a few are. They just saw the handwriting on the wall and said "Meh, not for me." So we've got freelancers, folks ensconced in various academic posts, weird government sinecures for techno-artists, a raft of quirky startups, permanent students, etc etc. (I'm not exactly Grade A Salaryman Role Model Material myself anymore, either, even for a white guy.)

That said: any viable alternative to this system, whether for Japan or the video game industry or Silicon Valley or anywhere else its evil takes root, is a victory for all that is good and just in the world.

[flocial]

I can't agree with you more. I remember coming across a blog of one such individual, rejected school and Japanese corporate society, drifted for a while but suddenly got the urge to quit being a NEET and traveled the world. Learned English, graduated an Australian college, got a seishain job at a Japanese company, became a dropout again, went to Singapore, multi-national company adores him.

The problem with the salary man system is it's so demographically bankrupt. Work to death on low pay while you're young, kick back and let the young work for you as you get older and better paid (co-opted by your more capable co-workers if you suck at what you do). Doesn't work with a shrinking population and dismal economy.

There are so many brilliant, young Japanese people out there and IT is a real magnet for them. But they're not the aggressive type either. The American equivalent wouldn't afraid to start a company or pick up women if they find someone attractive, though they may be more shy than the general population. The Japanese mirror national tendencies. I hope this crisis provokes long-lasting change. It's already given me some hope to see how the younger generation are taking more charge after seeing the power of technology to make real differences in the world.

[rdouble]

Japanese salaryman "overtime" is very strange.

In my experience, employees are not doing more work, they are at the office trying to look busy until the boss goes home. Sometimes the boss is sleeping at his desk, and people are sitting around looking at blank documents on the screen.

[flocial]

The boss is usually avoiding the train wreck that is his family life. It used to be that ever so often they would get off early, around 8PM, so they could go drinking to hang out some more until the last trains. Not so much with the younger generation. These business practices give new meaning to "Japanese miracle".