Flu and Japanese Diplomacy - Is Japan Really Independent? インフルエンザは自立のチャンス？

Japanese follows English.　英語の後に日本語が続きます。

The winter flu in Japan is peaking. All Japanese broadcasters have been reporting almost everyday about how to protect us from this seasonal disease and what to do after catching it.

This made me wonder if flu patients follow the Japanese doctor's general instruction. Stay home for three to seven days. A doctor in a TV program also said that flu patients shouldn't go out for an about five-day period to prevent the spread of flu viruses. My gut, however, says otherwise. Not every, but many, in particular employees, go to office no matter how sick they are because they can't afford to take such long days off. How come they can take sick “vacation” knowing that they will have to do accumulated work anyway after recovering from flu?

This gets me to think about another thing. Who are responsible for this epidemic in this small archipelago? Patients? Of course they are. But companies are also responsible.

Corporations are required to have an annual leave system in place and under the system, employees should be allowed to take days off whenever they want to take without explaining why. You may wonder why I am saying this, but in Japan, most businesses have such system, but practically don’t allow employees to use it as they like.

Company policies of most Japanese businesses require employees to report beforehand to supervisors and/or colleagues when and how long they want to take days off and why. It sacks, isn't it! But this is Japan. And this is why so many Japanese take vacations twice a year at the same time, i.e., mid-August and year-end/new year. This causes another problem. Everywhere across Japan from Hokkaido to Okinawa is so crowded during these periods!

Can't anybody come up with an idea to stop such Japanese group behavior of doing things always together, i.e., taking vacations for the same period, going to the men's/ladies' room together, having lunch together, and leaving office together?

But this makes me again wonder why, despite such a collective mindset, they don't unite to fight to increase wages, reduce overtime or take vacation? The percentage of labor union members in Japan has been gradually decreasing over the last five years. Japanese do things together with others, but for what?

Here is my answer: they believe that as long as they do what they are told to do and do things together, they would be protected by somebody, like supervisors. That’s why employees ingratiate themselves to (i.e., sontaku) their superiors.

But here is a real problem. What if they no longer have such "somebody"? It’s been happening to Japan. Japan is losing or has already lost powerful "somebody," i.e., the U.S.

Japan has been irresponsible for its own actions since the end of the war, doing whatever the U.S. wants it to do in exchange for its protecting Japan. But this won't work anymore. Although Prime Minister Abe hasn't noticed or doesn't want to notice it, Japan needs to change to be responsible for its own actions by building not vertical, but horizontal relationships with not only the U.S. and other G7 members, but also Asian countries, especially China and South Korea, because, like it or not, they are Japan's neighbors.

So, here is what Japanese need to do first. Take days off whenever they want, have lunch anytime and anywhere they like, leave office as soon as they finish working, and spend time with families or enjoy solitude to be independent as a person.

However, there is another scenario. Japan has recently seen an increasing number of non-Japanese trade union members. So, as pressured into opening the country in the Meiji era, Japanese, very weak to external pressure, but very good at mimicking others, will again be pressured into learning from these immigrants how to fight and say to no to be responsible for themselves and be independent in a real sense.

インフルエンザ真っ盛り。そこで考えました。インフルエンザに罹った人ってちゃんと自宅待機しているのでしょうか。してないと思います。だって、戻ったらたまった仕事をしなくちゃいけないのかと思うとおちおち休みなんか取れないでしょう。

ということは、この日本列島インフルエンザは、もちろん患者のせいではあるのですが、企業の責任も大きいのではないでしょうか。ほとんどの企業では、取得時期や理由を言って事前承認取ることを義務付けてるでしょ。これじゃ有休取れません。お盆と正月に全国混むのもこのせいですよね。

誰かこの、一緒に休んで、連れランチして、連れ退社するという連れション体質を変えてくれませんかね。

でも不思議なんです。そんな連れション体質にもかかわらず、労働組合員数は17～18％ぐらいに低迷している、というか減っているらしいのです。じゃあ、労働者諸君は何のために人と同じ行動をとるのか。権力と戦うためではないのです。そう、権力に好かれるため。忖度ですね。

でもね、権力者がいなくなったらどうなるのってことを考えてください！だって日本の「上司」だったアメリカはもうだめでしょ。

だから言いたいのです。もう「アメリカだけ」は古い！これまではアメリカについていく甲斐もありましたが、これからは「みんな」と上手くやらないと。特にお隣の中国と韓国とです！

というわけで会社員の皆さん、有給休暇を好きなときに取りましょう。特にインフルエンザになったら絶対取りましょう。ランチは好きな時に好きなものを食べましょう。そして定時に帰りましょう。

でもね、実際は違うかもしれません。最近、外国人の組合員数が増えているんですって。ということは、開国の時と同様、移民の人たちからの「外圧」で、「真似」するのがうまい日本人は自分の行動に責任を持ち、戦うことを学び、自立を余儀なくされるのかもしれません。そう期待します！