Book Review 1
Re–reading the Salaryman
GBE 790
Xiaolin Lang (Alice)
The first time I heard the word “salaryman” (sarariiman) was from the presentation by
McCann Erickson in Tokyo, the speaker illustrated them as male workers who put their work life
as the most important above anything else. At that time, I simply regarded “salaryman” as a
workaholic person just like a machine performing days and nights without any emotion.
However, as this word showed up more frequently later in the presentations by other companies,
I started to realize it‟s not as simple as what I had inferred; it has more things to imply. During
those days in Tokyo, I had a lot of chance to catch a glimpse of salarymen‟s life. I saw the jam-
packed Ginza line at 8 o‟clock, the black suited white collars walking fast on Roppongi streets,
the noisy Japanese-style wine house opened at late night even on weekdays. But still, all I can
tell is their common characters external — middle-class, university-educated, dependent wife and
children to support.
How about their life with families? When did Japan start to use the word “salaryman”?
Why such diverse range of people can be grouped together under this word? Is this word with a
more positive side or negative side? Are there any specific standards for being a salaryman? Is
salaryman still an embodiment of Japanese culture? With these doubt in my mind, I found an
interesting book called “Re-reading the Salaryman”
The term “salaryman” became a popular word or an ideal type of a male worker in Japan
during the high economic growth decades from the mid-1950s to the 1990s, which is also known
as the “oriental magic” time. Yet, in reality, “oriental magic” notwithstanding, even at the golden
time of “Japan Inc.” model after World War II, only a minority of Japanese male workers fell
into the category of salaryman. “Full-time, white collar, permanent employment guarantee…”
All of these strictest requirements make it look like only the elite banks or automobile
manufacturers have the most archetypal salarymen. Yet, according to the book, the reality on the
ground has long been a situation of employment sector dominated by the medium-small business
that occupied most work forces. Using the data from the book as an example, in1986, firms that
have fewer than 300 employees accounted for over 80 percent of all employment. Thus, it‟s
obvious that such firms would not be able to offer the same type of benefits associated with firms
at the top end of the industry structure.
In this regard, the term “salarymen” started to accept a widening range of people including blue-
