Digging up the causes of overtime work in Japan

Very interesting article here about the Japanese work ethic. Their (over-)working has often appeared to Westerners as a sign of "Japanese Determination" or Diligence or whatever the hell you want to call it, but as I've told a number of people already, it's just that they are wildly inefficient, with no clear boundaries about their own responsibility or authority. That's what makes them work so long - it takes twice as long for anything to get done!

Still, I don't blame the individual. Even JPs who agree with this know that it's not that people WANT to work from 6am-11pm every day, but the system is so archaic and... well.. BROKEN... and, well, there's little they can do about it. In truth, I kind of feel sorry for them.

The lines demarcating an individual's authority are unclear, which means that the limits of responsibility are also unclear. Employees are never clearly instructed about their own authority and responsibility. It seems to me that the root of the problem of excessive work habits in Japan lies here. In an organization where the authority-responsibility structure is unclear, employees are unable to make their own decisions and must constantly refer to their superiors. But because these superiors are also unclear about their own authority, they can't make responsible decisions. Problems just get shuffled around and everyone ends up working longer hours.

Too right there. Take my experience the other day at a Tokyo Post Office (notorious for this kind of inefficiency). I went there to pay the fee for the yearly Japanese test I want to take this year. I had to pay, and then post the receipt with my application form by certified mail. So I go in, and there are two windows. One says "Postal Savings and Insurance", the other "Mail". So I go to the mail one.

"Can I pay this fee and post this off by certified mail please?"
"Oh sorry, you have to take a number and pay at the next window."
"But I want to post th..."
"Next window."

So I got the number. And waited. And waited and waited and waited. There were only about 10 customers in the whole place, and about 6 staff behind the counters. But only ONE staff member handling the waiting customers at the non-mail window. The frustrating thing was that the two women manning the completely unoccupied mail window were sitting there in some kind of eyes-open meditative state. I looked at them with a kind of "get off your fucking arse" look and one jumped to her feet and started rummaging through a folder of documents.

Pissed as I was, it was nearly my turn. Finally I get to the window.

"I am in a hurry, can I please pay this and post it by certified mail?"
"Well, you can pay it here, but you'll have to go to the Mail window to post it off."

Step 1: Pay fee.
Step 2: Left-strafe 20cm.
Step 3: Post.
Step 4: Facepalm.