RResidents in Japan

One of those meetings that drones on and on for absolutely no raisin….

Ever have on of those days where the staff who always can’t get to the point of a discussion or make a decision, and always raises his hand when the leader asks if anyone else has anything to add.

They’ve been talking about what size paper to use for a simple print out for over 30 minutes…

39 comments

  1. I hate meetings for no raisin.

    I mean, at least give me a sultana… hell I’d even take the whole grape.

  11. I love how you chose “drones”, as one of the Japanese slang words for that king of meeting is 空中戦

  12. Appearing to work is sometimes more important in Japan than actually working. A discussion on paper size is a great “I care” topic where other pretenders get easily involved and now it’s a whole symposium of experts on paper sizes for a temporary printout… In short, tough them through, there’s not much you can do. But think that maybe you are among the 20% who carry the whole load of useful work in the office.

  13. 🎵”I heard it through the grapevine, how much longer will this meeting go on? And I’m about to lose my mind”🎵

  15. It would be grape if they’d stop, but in the currant situation to wine about it is fruitless, until they are ripe for a bran new way of thinking.

  16. Is it because nobody knows what `PC LOAD LETTER` means, and is too afraid to admit it?

  18. Frequently have meetings scheduled right before lunch break and I hate those. We’re like five minutes to 12 and then my supervisor starts with small talk. Which would be great if the communication would actually go on but it’s filled with half minute awkward silences like the rest of the meeting. And then we’re fifteen minutes into the lunch break and he’s still coming up with new ways to waste time – just SHUT UP already my stomach grumbles louder than you speak!

  21. Sounds like bikeshedding

    >Bikeshedding is another common term for wasting time and energy on more trivial details than addressing important matters. That term originates from Parkinson’s observation of a committee organized to approve plans for a nuclear power plant

    >As Parkinson noted, the committee devoted a disproportionate amount of time to relatively unimportant details — such as the materials for a bicycle storage shed — which limited the time available to focus on the design of the nuclear plant.

    >People tend to focus on the smaller details because they are easier to understand than the more complex matters, such as building a nuclear power plant.

    https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Parkinsons-law-of-triviality-bikeshedding#:~:text=Bikeshedding%20is%20another%20common%20term,for%20a%20nuclear%20power%20plant.

  22. Sounds like my team and I’m not even working for a Japanese company 😞

  27. Once we had a meeting that wasted about 20 or so people’s time about how to efficiently set up a timer for meetings.

    To sum it up it is beneficial to set the timer for 55 minutes for a 1 hour meeting so that QA, kakunin, and what not could be handled at the end; but not if the topic did not require for those. For such cases the whole hour could be used, but there are also exceptions…… etc.

    This whole ordeal went over an hour (ironically the meeting was supposed to last only an hour). And in the end it was not really clear what the middle management wanted after all.

    I’m sure middle management had to write a detailed report to their superiors too.

    I wish I was joking.

  31. It sounds like your average post on /r/AmITheAsshole or any big sub, but at least you get tasty dried fruit.

  32. The worst part of these is just when you think it’s finally drawing to a close, someone pipes up with an あっ！noise as they remember something they wanted to ask someone about or report on. 「あっ！田中さん、聞きたいことが。本当にすみません。…」Then onward until the next person’s あっ. The sound of *a* with a glottal stop somewhere in there. The sound of nightmares.

  35. “I am the greetest! Now, I am leaving Earth for no raisin! Muahahahaha….”

  36. Welcome to the utterly dumb and equally unproductive Japan work culture!

    … I hate it. >.<

  38. Did you not know that Japan is one of the least productive countries in the world?
    I never have those meetings. Never.

Leave a Reply
— Previous article

21 Day Itinerary - Tokyo -> Osaka -> Kyoto -> Hiroshima -> Tokyo
Next article —

Itinenary check first five days in JP

You May Also Like