The March Changeover

I let most of you know that I would be signing on for a third and final year on the JET program. While this is good, I still need to decide where my future lies afterwards. I am almost thirty years old, and when I return home, I will have to figure out what I’d like to do with the rest of my life. In the mean time I’ve been watching my officemates here in Senmaya. Many of them are currently going through some drastic changes. It’s Tenkin season here. The season of work transfers.

Along with Graduation, spring ushers in the season of the workplace transfer, or Tenkin for short. Around mid-march, most people will find out whether or not they will be moving to a different branch location of their companies. It can be a very hectic experience, since they find out quickly and have little or no choice about where they go. They may also have to move far away from their families as well. And this sometimes can cause a rift in the family relationship. They can be placed down the street, or across the country.

Japanese people do this without hesitation. They are bound to their companies in a way we could never understand. It must be a throwback to the clan/feudal days where they would lay down their lives for their warlord. Replace the word ‘warlord’ with ‘employer’ and it’s pretty much the same today. Any while it’s a harrowing affair, there are some positive aspects to it. For example, when you are being transferred every three to five years, it’s difficult for office politics to burrow their way into the staff room. In addition to this, workers also get a fresh environment to work in, and that can lead to a renewed work ethic. Therefore, it’s not all bad in the land of the rising sun. Just different. Something I have had to get used to.

For the most part, being employed by a company in Japan is still a lifetime commitment. If you play your role, you will stay with that company until you retire. Even that aspect of Japan is starting to change, as the western ideals of performance based employment start to entrench themselves. Sony is a good example of a company that is already practicing this. I’m wondering if that is necessarily a good thing anymore. I used to think my own western way of living was the best; however, When I return to Canada, I will have a zero percent chance of finding lifetime employment, regardless of my education. It makes you think which system is really better than the other.

This year, Tenkin is a bit more personal for me, as I will be losing my supervisor and gaining a new one. I am hoping that I can foster a good relationship with this new person. I only have about a year and a half left in Japan. So I’m hoping to make the best of it.