Travel Notes | Atypical Travel Notes on Island Countries - Experience Chapter
There is another important motivation for coming to Japan this time, which is to experiencethe corporate cultureof Japanese foreign companies. Taking advantage of the fact that my department has a team in the Japanese office, I specially made an appointment with the boss of the Japanese office for a three-day visit. So this has become the most special part of this trip to Japan, which will be highlighted in this article. In addition, other experiences exclusive to this trip include New Year's Eve in Osaka, New Year's shrine visit where there are huge crowds of people everywhere, KamakuraSlam Dunk's emotional check-in, and encounters in Tokyo by chance The Van Gogh special exhibition, as well as a huge indescribable18 banned bookstore, etc., all require the right time, place and people to be realized. Therefore, I will draw an end to the entire Japan travelogue with this most exciting and "personalized" article.
1. Revealing the secrets of corporate culture of Japanese foreign companies
Japanese corporate culture has always been something I am very curious about. In my impression, everyone in Japanese companies works crazy overtime and treats the office as their home. Everyone regards the boss's words as absolute truth and then works hard. So I really want to see what a real Japanese company looks like. Our company also has an office in Japan. I guessed that foreign companies in Japan might not be much different from local companies, so I contacted the boss of the Japanese office in advance. A few days before the 2020 New Year, I will be working in the Tokyo office.
↑The first day of work in the Tokyo office happens to be the first working day in Japan in 2020. Suddenly there was a lot of business on the street, and everyone was walking seriously and quickly. This made me feel inexplicable pressure for a moment, which I was not used to.
↑The intersection facing the Tokyo office building. The location of our office can be described as absolutely high-end. The building is located in the center of Tokyo's central business district, within walking distance of Tokyo Station and Ginza, and next door is the Imperial Palace. I passed through this area last time I came to Japan, but I never thought I would work here one day.
↑The interior of the building is also quite impressive, completely different from the Shanghai office. The building's construction area is also several times larger.
↑My boss has already prepared my desk for me, and all the office equipment is available. It is almost the same as working in Shanghai. There is also a Chinese colleague in the same group + my senior sister, who has also helped me a lot in the past few days, and it has doubled my feeling of intimacy here.
↑Even the toilet... shocked me... it was really too big. It's probably ten times the size of the Shanghai office. The photo only shows the sink area, and there is a larger toilet inside.
↑The area where our group is located is a large open office area, with more than a hundred people working in the same space at the same time. This was the only bad part of the experience as it was always noisy.
↑On my last day of working in Japan, I was lucky enough to have the CEO of the entire company visit Japan and attend his symposium in person. This kind of opportunity is simply unimaginable in Shanghai.
As for the corporate culture of Japanese foreign companies, after three days of experience, it turned out that it was very different from the real Japanese companies in my impression. The working atmosphere here is not so tense and depressing, the communication between colleagues is fast and relaxed, and most of the colleagues are cheerful and talkative. Although the atmosphere is still more serious and businesslike than that of domestic and foreign companies, it is basically the foreign companies I am familiar with. There is not much difference in culture, maybe it has something to do with the fact that there is a certain proportion of expats here. Every day at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, more than half of the employees get off work on time and don't stay for a minute, but the rest are basically "workaholics" who don't know what time they will get off work (including my Japanese boss). I would like to praise my Japanese boss by name. He couldn't be more nice. He has taken great care of me in the past few days. In addition to taking care of every meal of mine (see the food chapter), he also specially arranged for me to talk to several people. Meetings with mid-level bosses. In addition to learning about work, I also experienced the Japanese work attitude firsthand. One of the bosses who left a deep impression on me was a very humble boss. After asking my senior, it turned out that he had worked in a classic local Japanese company for many years, and he seemed to have a hard-working and uncomplaining style. So I can indirectly understand the impact of real Japanese companies on an employee.
2. New Year’s Eve in Osaka
I heard that the New Year atmosphere in Osaka is pretty good, so we chose to spend the last day of 2019 in Osaka this time. Although there are no officially organized activities, I am still curious about the Japanese youths who are said to "jump off the bridge" on New Year's Eve.
↑Probably the only official "event". For a total of two months before and after the New Year, every tree on both sides of the several-kilometer-long main road from Umeda to Dotonbori is decorated with beautiful illuminations. With endless pink and purple colors as far as the eye can see, the festive atmosphere is almost overflowing.
↑On New Year’s Eve, Dotonbori was really crowded with too many people. It feels like tourists and locals alike have all joined in the crazy and lively mood of the last night of 2019.
↑The classic picture of Dotonbori, a holy place for tourists to check in. As a symbolic landmark of Osaka, Glico's billboard has been a magical existence since its establishment. Now this man has been running here for more than 80 years. The bridge gets more crowded as it gets closer to midnight.
↑Another iconic presence in Dotonbori. This uniquely designed Ferris wheel can be seen standing out from the crowd from the hotel where we are staying. However, although the giant wheel was still turning slowly on New Year's Eve, it did not seem to be open, and no one was seen in the cable car.
↑The highlight is here. There are still ten minutes left before midnight, and the crowd has already gathered in the center of Dotonbori. Both sides of the river are already overcrowded, and the term "water-blocked" in Rongqiao, where the Glico advertisement is located, is simply not enough to describe how crowded it is. At first we wanted to get close to the bridge, but found that the crowds of people could not move at all, let alone squeeze through. In the end, we made a compromise and chose another bridge next to it, and looked at Rong Bridge from a high place. There was no unified countdown, but as midnight approached, the crowd began to spontaneously commotion, followed by cheers, shouts, and blessings. However, the "jumping off the bridge" we were looking forward to never happened. Sometimes there was a burst of cheers in the distance, but no one could be seen jumping off the bridge. The only time I saw the water splashing on the shore was that I didn't jump from the Rong Bridge on the opposite side. I think it’s probably because the young people who want to jump off the bridge can’t squeeze into the middle of the bridge. The cold New Year’s Eve in Osaka can only be said to be unsatisfactory for me.
3. Visit during the New Year
During the New Year period in Japan, major temples and shrines will see the same scene: a sea of people and a slow-moving worship procession. In the week or two before and after the New Year, almost every Japanese goes to a major nearby shrine to worship. This is an essential activity in the New Year. As a result, I witnessed unimaginable spectacular scenes in Tokyo, Kamakura, and Uji, and it seemed like all the locals in the city were mobilized. The boss of the company's Tokyo office said that New Year's Day should be a traditional day to visit shrines in the New Year, but because there are so many people on that day, many Japanese people choose to go to the shrine on a certain day within a week or two. This reminds me of the Qingming Festival in my hometown. In order to avoid the crowds, many people will choose to stagger the peak of the Qingming Festival, but grave sweeping is a must.
↑On January 3, 2020, I originally just wanted to visit Meiji Shrine, but I encountered a large number of people entering and leaving the shrine. At that time, I didn’t know that the New Year’s shrine visit extended beyond New Year’s Day, and I found that the crowds became denser the further in I went.
↑There was still some distance from the shrine, the crowd began to be restricted, and the team moved very slowly. The big screen beside the road seemed to be showing a trailer for a costume drama that was about to be broadcast, to relieve the boredom of those who were bored with the wait.
↑The kimono girl I met by chance while waiting in line. The three of them have different styles, but they all dress beautifully. Wearing a kimono to visit the shrine can be said to be sincere, but I never saw other girls wearing the same clothes.
↑You can vaguely see the shrine in the distance, but there is still a huge sea of people ahead.
↑Finally approaching the shrine gate. There are police here controlling the flow of people and letting people into the shrine in batches. From the time I entered the Meiji Jingu Shrine gate to now, I probably waited in line for less than an hour.
↑Finally came in. As far as I know, the formal process of visiting the shrine should include ringing the bell and putting incense money in the "race money" box. But maybe because there were too many people, the step of everyone shaking the bell one by one was omitted, and the "money game" was changed to throwing money directly into the open space enclosed in front. But none of this will change anyone's piety before God.
↑Uji Shrine on January 2, 2020. The traditional steps of ringing the bell and stuffing money are still followed here, and the waiting line is almost outside the shrine gate.
↑Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura on January 4, 2020. I thought Kamakura was a small town, but when I got here I realized that Kamakura is a "big city". I really don’t know where so many people came from. When the staff let people go, they watched the crowd slowly cover the empty long staircase. The scene was really spectacular.
↑Sensoji Temple in Tokyo on January 5, 2020. It was already 8:30 pm, and there were still so many people queuing up.
4. Slam Dunk Sentiment Check-in
Regarding the feelings of Slam Dunk, it is to take a photo facing the railway tracks, roads and sea at the intersection near the "Kamakura Kogakumae" station of the Kamakura "Enoden" train, imitating the scene in the anime. I’ve heard before that this is a popular place for Chinese Internet celebrities to check in. But actually this is not my sentiment, because I didn’t like to watch Slam Dunk when I was a kid, but I still went to join in the fun and check in.
↑As expected, all the people here are Chinese. Especially when the train was about to arrive, everyone rushed to grab a "good spot" and tried to shoot the same scene as in the anime. This picture is indeed very romantic, but because of the presence of other tourists and vehicles, it is not easy to take satisfactory photos, but everyone enjoys it. There is also a Japanese uncle directing traffic here, not only controlling the flow of traffic, but also reminding tourists who are addicted to taking pictures to pay attention to their safety.
↑In fact, the Enoden train is quite sentimental. The small train departs from Fujisawa Station, first passes through the town, and then proceeds along the seaside until it reaches the ancient capital of Kamakura. You can buy the Odakyu Kamakura Pass at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, which includes a round-trip train ticket from Shinjuku to Fujisawa, as well as a one-day pass for the Enoden train.
5. Van Gogh Special Exhibition
There is actually not much to see in Ueno Park in winter. My original intention was just to take a stroll and check in, but I found a long queue at the entrance of Ueno Mori Art Museum. When I got closer, I saw that it was a special exhibition of Van Gogh! At this time, there is only about an hour and a half before the museum closes. Looking at the length of the queue, I may have less than an hour left to visit. But I couldn't walk immediately, so after a slight hesitation, I bought a ticket and walked to the end of the line.
↑The facts prove that my decision is really worth it. Although the entire exhibition is not very large, it is full of useful information. All works are on loan from major museums and collection institutions around the world. Van Gogh's works account for the majority, and the most important one is undoubtedly the C position in the poster - "Cypresses" on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In addition, the exhibition also includes masterpieces by major Impressionist painters such as Monet and Manet, which is really a feast for the eyes. Compared with China, it may be difficult to have an exhibition of this level for many years.
6. 18-ban bookstore
The 18-ban bookstore I will talk about below is located on a small road near Kawaramachi, Kyoto, and is called "Nobunaga Bookstore". The entire bookstore building is five stories high. The lower two floors mainly sell various cultural supplies and some "normal" magazines, while the upper three floors are a completely different world. Although I visited the 18 Ban Bookstore in my previous two visits to Japan under the leadership of my classmates, they were all small stores and I had never seen one of such a large scale.
↑The third floor of the bookstore sells "toys", "tools", and "clothing", while the fourth and fifth floors are all indescribable magazines, photos, and DVDs. Especially the variety of DVDs is simply dazzling, and there are many more "actors" in this industry than I imagined. Second-hand DVDs are also divided into many grades, from high to low: original plastic hard box packaging, simple hard box packaging, plastic bag packaging, etc. The simplest packaging only has a transparent thin plastic bag without even the name of the film. , can only be distinguished by the handwriting on the CD, which reminds me of the pirated game disks sold on the roadside when I was a child. It’s really difficult to take a photo here that doesn’t require any coding.
↑The most eye-opening thing for me is in a corner on the 5th floor. I have never seen this in a small bookstore before. After reading it, there was only one sentence lingering in my mind: It’s too perverted, it’s too perverted, it’s too perverted. Second-hand clothing materials - clothes that have been worn by others. I looked at the price tag for a set of school uniforms, and it cost more than 7,000 yen. This is probably more expensive than a new set of clothes... I wonder if the original owner was notified when I received them. I don’t know what the Japanese think, it’s so perverted.
↑The last picture, take a look at it yourself. There's also a New Year lucky bag, it's so weird.
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