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How Japanese black companies oppress workers (2014)

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178 points rawgabbit | 2 comments | 18 Nov 24 04:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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infotainment ◴[18 Nov 24 04:44 UTC] No.42169771[source]▶
> "I can't quit the job. If I say I'm going to quit, I'll be threatened that I will have to pay damages for quitting."

Interestingly, this is actually possible under Japanese law/legal precedent. If an employee, for example, decides to put in notice and then half-ass their job until their departure date, a company could actually sue the employee and win.

Other Japan-labor-law fun fact: if you are a contract worker, it is literally illegal for you to quit prior to your contract expiry date. Hope you like that job you signed onto!

Obligatory disclaimer: IANAL

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vr46 ◴[18 Nov 24 04:48 UTC] No.42169791[source]▶
All this has gone a long way to make me feel better about not keeping up my Japanese language skills after university. My youthful deep reverence for Japan and its culture shifted into realpolitik as I learned more and more, and I think another watch of Fear And Trembling is in order…
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ninetyninenine ◴[18 Nov 24 04:56 UTC] No.42169820[source]▶
I kinda want to go there and purchase a 10k house in a village and chill. It’s basically a place where you can retire. I know a bunch of white people who have already done this.

Just like how Japan isn’t characterized fully by anime it’s not fully characterized by corporate culture either.

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astrange ◴[18 Nov 24 05:02 UTC] No.42169844[source]▶
The main issue for foreigners is that the pay is low. The culture can be bad (especially around tech) but it's not that bad.

If you're really good, as I'd hope the people on here are, you can get into a foreign company and get paid… more than the average native.

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1. adastra22 ◴[18 Nov 24 05:08 UTC] No.42169868[source]▶
The pay is low, but the cost of living is also surprisingly low. It doesn’t take much to get by, so long as you’re not living in the most desirable areas in Tokyo.
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2. astrange ◴[18 Nov 24 23:21 UTC] No.42178297[source]▶
Sure, but unless you're going to stay forever you have more reason to care about costs wherever you came from. Might want to buy a house back there, or pay off student loans.