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Companies revive in-person ceremonies as new recruits start work

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Thomas GoodtimeToday  04:51 pm JST

they're probably just the short type of socks Thomas, reach to just below the ankles....

I was thinking the woman in front was pretty daring.... pale-coloured shoes....

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Companies revive in-person ceremonies as new recruits start work

Aoyama and Aoki black suit makers are the only ones happy.

8 ( +14 / -6 )

Guy towards the back on the left with the grey trousers! No socks.

He's the design recruit.

The no-tie look with those formal white shirts is atrocious.

Who're you trying to kid, Panasonic?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

"...I want you to break your shells of common sense and stereotypes with flexible thinking," Kansai Electric President Takashi Morimoto told around 270 new recruits."

In other words: Think Outside The Box. However, this style of thinking will never happen here. We, Nihonjinron 日本人論 are all very much clustered inside the box, and we are all very happy here inside our box, so much so that we all happily endeavour to burrow deeper inside the box!

4 ( +14 / -10 )

"We have made a new start and taken a step toward a new future. We'd like to make progress strongly as a whole to make the entire group shine,"

Who has the job of coming up with dross like this?

3 ( +8 / -5 )

I want you to break your shells of common sense and stereotypes with flexible thinking,

OMG I'm laughing. Which NEW recruit is going to tell their boss.... This rule is stupid.

3 ( +14 / -11 )

@3Rensho

A burrow generally has multiple exits and or entrances .

So much for thinking out of your burrow !

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

I wish them the best.They probably need prayers as well.

Work till 75 if you'll still be alive,then claim your pension which might not be forthcoming by then.The few lucky ones who join Oote kigyo and rise up the ranks might start getting a sustainable pay by around 40s..but they have to kiss their sempai's butts before then.The rest of the crowd will quit at some point and continue to live hand to mouth.

Ganbare,gaman shite.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

My daughter just graduated from Waseda and was supposed to start working for a big Japanese company from today.

Last week she decided she didn't want to 'donate her life' to a big corporation in return for very long hours and not great pay and I couldn't have agreed with her more.

She has decided to go her own way I applaud her decision.

J-Inc doesn't deserve such decent,hardworking people.

Moreover my daughter said that many of her fellow graduates had seen the light and were also going to do their own thing.

I feel a sea change is afoot in Japan.

Things can't continue to keep going on the way they have.

In the last few years I have started to feel the unravelling of the fabric that archaic Japan clinged to.

The young ones,while conditioned not to protest or disobey have started to upset the apple cart in other ways.

It might be a little too late but I hope something positive happens soon to sink the silver-spooned behemoths who have taken Japan from what it used to be to the pale shadow it is now.

24 ( +27 / -3 )

Now we know the real reason for the age change is to work the young sooner.

Must admit i don't feel completely comfortable with an 18 year old to be in control of a disaster response situation.

Because of the lack of experience in critical thinking of a disaster response.

Nonetheless the younger Japanese population are quite friendly towards foreigners and more open minded for sure.

Flexible thinking is something the younger generation are very capable of thank god !

I wish there was more women in the photo.

-6 ( +6 / -12 )

That's a pretty sad photo.

-3 ( +8 / -11 )

She has decided to go her own way I applaud her decision.

J-Inc doesn't deserve such decent,hardworking people.

God speed to you and yours.

J. Inc is a predatory plague upon the dreams and aspirations of the populace of Japan.

9 ( +13 / -4 )

New employees of Panasonic Holdings Corp attend a welcoming ceremony in Osaka on Friday.

The atack of the clones

0 ( +4 / -4 )

This appalling unnecessary induction process is counter productive to promoting a innovative natural work ethos

The new girl/boy?

No! relax the atmosphere, introduce their new environment with focus on there role within the company.

Steady the ship.

It is all about welcome, not some President floating down from above.

God like

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Very daring of Panasonic to not require wearing ties. Or judging by all the other things they are keeping (legs not crossed, fists on the knees pose they need to keep throughout the ceremony), requiring them to not wear ties.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

@dagon,

Many thanks for your awesome message.

I appreciate it so much.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Spitfire, I wish your daughter succeeds in her chosen path/career.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

Commend your daughter @Spitfire 5:50pm for making such a bold decision and choosing to chart her own course in life. ‘Best Wishes’ on a bright future for her,

and all of Japan’s young people now entering ‘the working world’.

“My daughter just graduated from Waseda and was supposed to start working for a big Japanese company from today. Last week she decided she didn't want to 'donate her life' to a big corporation in return for very long hours and not great pay and I couldn't have agreed with her more.

She has decided to go her own way I applaud her decision” -

8 ( +10 / -2 )

@itsonlyrocknroll,

Thank you so much.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

@snowymouainhell,

Thank you so much.

I appreciate your comments a lot.

It was difficult at first but i am convinced she has made the right choice.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

Last week she decided she didn't want to 'donate her life' to a big corporation in return for very long hours and not great pay and I couldn't have agreed with her more.

I work for a big company, the only foreigner among 700. Work life balance style is implemented, including telework. Things are changing. Believe me.

I am getting old and now see corporate Japan in a different way, after spending 20 years in that environment

A try could have been worth. Who knows.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

That picture looks like a grownup version of a Japanese school entrance ceremony. They really do groom their young to be nothing more than a faceless cog in a machine huh? Uniforms and all. Scary...

1 ( +6 / -5 )

@didou,

I understand what you are saying.

I appreciate your lovely comments.

I also thought at first, 'a try could be worth it,'

But things move at such a glacial pace in Japan.

I think she is better off out of here.especially because she is a woman.

This is Misogyony Central Station.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

""Our country's economy and society are facing turbulent times. In order to overcome these changes, I want you to break your shells of common sense and stereotypes with flexible thinking,""

NOT GONNA HAPPEN, top down mentality is Japan main problem, kids are though at a very young age about 5 to think in a group mentality, until that changes Japan will continue as is which I think is fine.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

It’s just a job! Shouldn’t need a ceremony. I got the job great can I go home now.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

I’m wishing strength and resilience to them. They’re about to know the meaning of abuse, harassment and intimidation. Godspeed and good luck to you all.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

I want you to break your shells of common sense and stereotypes with flexible thinking," Kansai Electric President Takashi Morimoto told around 270 new recruits.

He says at an outdated ceremony based on inflexible corporate tradition.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

I want you to break your shells of common sense and stereotypes with flexible thinking,

and yet were having the same recruiting same hiring same ceremonies same uniforms, same conformity same rules, same as every previous years

but we must have flexible thinking!?.

yeah not going to happen

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Revival of tourism is important and even vital this year.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

I'd love to see somebody wear a brown suit and shock everyone.

National daily infection rates are still in their 10s of 1000s, so I assume Japan is slowly learning to live with the virus.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Poor those young men, they'll be snatched away by those young women soon. And poor those women, they'll be serving tea, cleaning the table, going izakaya and karaoke with their bosses and seniors.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

I used to work for Panasonic, Matsushita as it was back in the day. My first day wasn't longer that, but I think I've still got my company lapel pin.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

What a depressing photo.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Wow… so much negativity and cynicism in these comments! IMHO very one-sided points of views.

There are many aspects of Japanese “culture” that can be improved on, for sure.

There are also good aspects, which I’m sure the negative commenters are aware of.

But have you ever thought that maybe what “Westerners” view as bad might have some positive aspects?

Example:

They are all wearing suits because this is a ceremony. They are not robots. There is a time and a place for everything, and I think you will find that young Japanese people very much have individual tastes and expressions in their personal attire.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

@ Canucksfan: Please take much of what you read within these pages with a good healthy dose of skepticism. Some items are intentional disinformation efforts purposely designed to set country against country or leader against leader, at a time where incohesion is highly desireable by others. Some of it is intentional misinformation, designed to promote internal political polarization and contributing to general distrust in government. And some of it is just nasty troll-like behavior.

Japan has a rich cultural bedrock that is appreciated by many around the globe. Many of us visit here to learn; especially when it comes to the worldviews and concerns of young people; and contribute in some way to common understandings surrounding issues of global concern.

Take much to heed, but don't take too much to heart. Japan has more friends than it has enemies.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Again to Canucksfan: Always bring your critical thinking skills with you when you log in here. And keep in mind the basic smell test: if an entry smells bad, it likely isn't real; and the author may not be, either.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Some items are intentional disinformation efforts purposely designed to set country against country or leader against leader

Lol, these are just comments in Japan Today. Not a multi pronged misinformation attack by bots in several social media platforms. It is mostly people who are venting as they may have encountered similar situations within their professional lives in Japan.

These entrance ceremonies are relics of a time when people joined these companies for life. The world has changed and even Japan has changed. And people do indeed quit their jobs for moving their careers forward. I suppose your first job has a special place but I don't see these events as a celebratory and fun time for the new joiners where they get to meet each other and socialize with the orientation team but rather the beginning of a string of rigid and arduous processes that no one can explain the usefulness of at this point. In the coming days, they will go through such trainings like how to give and receive a business card, how to bow down when you screw up, you know things that they could pick up in minutes during work if they haven't already by having lived in Japan for about 22 years.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

CrickyApr. 1  08:04 pm JST

It’s just a job! Shouldn’t need a ceremony. I got the job great can I go home now.

Hehe. EVERYTHING has a ceremony here. Even kindergarten kids "graduate"!

3 ( +4 / -1 )

@ foreigner in Tokyo

I don't agree with you.

Even tho English language is a formidable and unpopular challenge for many Japanese ,i definitely see 18 year olds and younger Japanese are rapidly becoming fluent in English and they grasp western concepts and culture more readily.

Younger Japanese are really quite well educated compared to other nationals.

And also definitely better behaved .

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

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