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As usual, reality is somewhere between these two extremes. I'll posit a halfway: Japanese life is indeed bound by strictly observed rules and regulations divor
by 9nGQluzmnq3M 6y ago
As usual, reality is somewhere between these two extremes. I'll posit a halfway: Japanese life is indeed bound by strictly observed rules and regulations divorced from common sense, but Japanese bureaucrats tend to also know how to navigate these thickets to get stuff done.
One thing I've often seen in Japanese offices is the "form to the form", instructing applicants in extreme detail how to fill out the actual form, so it will be accepted on the first try.
- qohen 6y agoI happened to recently read this blog post [0] by Patrick MacKenzie's (i.e. HN's own patio11) which, among other things, covers some of his early time in Japan. Part of it shows how things can work out -- towards the end, he relates how he wanted to get a credit card but he couldn't -- there was an official reason but, unofficially, because he was a foreigner. But then a co-worker put him in touch with a bank manager he'd gone to school with who took care of him and kept up a connection with him for an extended period of time (the story, and the stuff that follows, is interesting, as is the whole blog post, for that matter, if you're interested in how business and startups work in Japan, at least as of 2014). https://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/11/07/doing-business-in-japan/ https://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/11/07/doing-business-in-japan...