charlotte 0 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Does anyone here work at a company where the employees do that warm up exercise in a morning. My friend has just joined one and every morning at 8:30 they all stand up and do it. I don't know if I could! Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 We do it and I hate it more than anything. We also have to do company chant after the taisou, and then someone has to give a 'one point speech' about their work. We had a visitor from North Korea come over once and he told us we all need to take a chill pill. (I made that last bit up). Link to post Share on other sites
Jynxx 4 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Now, rajio taisou dai ich is so Japanese... Every kid had to do it from primary school. You hear the tune more than anything, might as well make it the Japanese national anthem. It also is a Japanese custom to do warm up exercise in a group, where for westerners it is an individual thing and so it should be. It's more of a team building exercise I think... Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 bobby you actually do that? Oh dear I don't know how I'd cope with it. Do you feel much better and part of the gang from doing it - or just a right plonker? Link to post Share on other sites
69 5 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I thought it was just like schools. Actually salarymen./companies do this every day? Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I despise it and it makes me want to quit everytime. It doesn't get any better with time. The annoying thing is everyone else feels the same way! Ask them at an enkai and everyone starts laying into how annoying it is! It shows you how change-resistant this company or perhaps country is. Link to post Share on other sites
RusholmeRuffian 0 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Sorry I don't know much about Japan but, why? Whats the reason for doing that? Link to post Share on other sites
Hokkaidough 4 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Too glad I don't have to do that. It's like some of the enkais at work - hardly anyone seems to want to be there, but they have to and spending their own money too. Madness. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I see the department store ladies doing this. It's funny. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 If everyone hates it why is it still done? I get the resistant to change thing...but...c'mon..surely... Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 People are conditioned from very early on in this country not to question authority MB. If the boss thinks it's a good idea then everyone will do it no questions asked. Doesn't mean they are happy to go along with it but they will not openly question it. It's one worst things about this society in my opinion. Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I never would make a good socialist, would I? Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 bobby - what purpose does it serve? Happily I have never worked anywhere where they do this silly thing. Link to post Share on other sites
indosnm 0 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Originally Posted By: Jynxx It also is a Japanese custom to do warm up exercise in a group, That's why they all stretch on the beach together before paddling out! Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Originally Posted By: 69 I thought it was just like schools. Actually salarymen./companies do this every day? they don't do that at the schools I work at. Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Japan has a real tolerance for total naffness. Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I dont think teachers do it in schools, but in JP companies it is very common. I heard only more modern companies in Tokyo have matured past doing it. If you read the 'blue eyed salaryman' you will see Mitsubishi and the other big zaibatsu all do it for example. We also have to do a fair amount of 'rodou' (commoners work) from time to time such as wiping dust from surfaces and vacuuming the office. This is no joke. I am a white collar with a MSc but they are making me a colleagues do this. And sometimes we have to do random lifting and moving of boxes when for example we want to rearrange the shelving. I have spent 3 or 4 afternoons in my suit carrying dusty boxes around, it is absolutely maniacal. Obviously it is all a carry over from the days of military rule. If something is 'mou kimeta' (already decided) then it is cast in stone forever until someone with incredible power and determination overturns the rule. Link to post Share on other sites
Curt 1 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 bobby take a vid in one day and get it taped - and share with us. Won't tell, honest. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 You must be quite good at it now, bobby Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 I basically do not do it. I stand behind a screen thing so people can only see my shoulders/head and I half heartedly lift my arms pathetically. There is something about it that is demasculating. It is like being made to lick the bosses boots every morning or something. I feel like a puppet on a string doing that taisou. And the chanting thing afterwards is really like a religious prayer. It's properly messed up I tells ya! Link to post Share on other sites
DumbStick 13 Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Whats the chant then bobby? Intriguing! Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 Work with enjoyment! Believe in each other! Never give up! etc etc... I found out recently its just a stock chant used by thousands of companies around the country, so it's not even something created by us. How lazy/pointless is that? Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 what would happen if you refused to take part? Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 You're fired! Quote: Work with enjoyment! Believe in each other! Never give up! Funny how having to say that every day probably makes you feel the opposite! Link to post Share on other sites
bobby12 0 Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 To be honest nobody is following those slogans at all. Take the three above, I would say the opposite is true (everyone is bored stupid, noone trusts each other and people give up without even starting). Link to post Share on other sites
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