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My father-in-law works in Tokyo, but lives in Kamakura. He wrote us a long email about his journey home. Because trains were not running, the only option was
by jaysonelliot 16y ago
My father-in-law works in Tokyo, but lives in Kamakura.
He wrote us a long email about his journey home.
Because trains were not running, the only option was to walk the 60+ kilometers home. All along the way, he saw people finding places to sleep in bars, stores, even 7-11s. All of them were full, so he could only keep on walking.
Eventually, he found a bar that had room for him to come and sleep on the floor, so that he could continue his journey home in the morning.
There was no food on the shelves of any store, so people had to share what they had with each other.
Allowing people to sleep in the Apple stores must have been incredibly important to the staff. God knows how they might have fared otherwise.
- nandemo 16y agoI live in Tokyo. Many, many people slept at their offices on Friday night. That wasn't uncommon at all. Indeed, I'm at a loss to understand why would anyone think that was an exceptional decision by Apple (not saying you're one of them, but OP seems to be). Maybe your father-in-law was one of the millions who got stranded halfway home, or maybe he really wanted to be with his family. But he too could have probably slept at his office instead. Edit: for example, "many of [BofA Merrill Lynch's] bankers even remained in the office overnight because they couldn't get home. The same thing happened to Goldman workers. Because of transport disruptions, bankers returned to their desks at 5.30 pm and then slept in the office. http://www.businessinsider.com/what-did-the-banks-do-when-the-earthquake-hit-japan-on-friday-2011-3#ixzz1Gdqu3lGs http://www.businessinsider.com/what-did-the-banks-do-when-th...
- patio11 16y agoSpeaking from personal experience, other major events which can result in a Japanese salaryman sleeping at their office include "the day is Monday", etc. Apparently moving one's toothbrush is a sign of commitment in romantic comedies? I had a toothbrush and shaving kit in my desk for three years. My boss had three changes of clothes.
- aristus 16y agoThis is very off-topic, but I am curious about this cultural habit of Japan. Does spending 2X more hours at the office actually get 2X more work done? I tend to lose focus rapidly after 9 or 10 hours.
- patio11 16y agosearchyc.com + [patio11 salaryman] for anecdotes, but the short answer is "No, it is absolutely not the case that the hours make Japan more productive."