I’ve lived in Japan for a long time, but I’ve never been sure, either, what the purpose of those seemingly useless workers is. I suspect, though, that it’s not

I’ve lived in Japan for a long time, but I’ve never been sure, either, what the purpose of those seemingly useless workers is. I suspect, though, that it’s not charity but rather customer service. The person saying “welcome” repeatedly at the bank entrance also occasionally directs customers to the proper window or helps them operate the ATMs; those customers come away a bit happier, and the tellers are interrupted a bit less. The elderly guys at construction sites may have a similar function: by occasionally directing traffic and keeping passersby away from danger, they reduce slightly the possibility of complaints from neighbors and costly accidents. Back in the early 1980s, I used to see a book in Tokyo bookstores called Japan’s Wasted Workers by Jon Woronoff. I assumed it was about those bank welcomers and the like. Peeking into it now at the Open Library [1], though, I see that it focuses on white-collar workers. [1] https://openlibrary.org/search?q=Japan%27s+Wasted+Workers&mode=ebooks&has_fulltext=true https://openlibrary.org/search?q=Japan%27s+Wasted+Workers&mo...