According to the latest statistics from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the average annual salary in 2002 was around 4.2 million yen.
An annual salary of five million yen was already considered quite decent—especially in the post-economic bubble era, where such income seemed even more precious.
However, that kind of salary typically came from endless overtime.
The Ministry didn't just track average salaries—it also recorded average working hours per person.
In Japan, the average annual working time exceeds 2,000 hours. Once you subtract holidays and weekends, that means people are working over 10 hours per working day on average.
And that's just what the numbers show on the surface.
Beneath that is the brutal reality of Japan's intense work culture, where people voluntarily arrive early and leave late—even if they're doing nothing—just to look busy and appear hardworking.
In reality, employees at an average Japanese company probably work at least 500 more hours a year than official data suggests.
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Industries like advertising, news media, and internet companies are notorious for grueling overtime.
Working more than 12 hours a day with no days off is basically the norm for most advertising companies.
With that kind of hustle and grind, an annual salary of around five million yen could be earned.
This particular ad company employee had always been quite satisfied with his income—especially given the economic downturn following the bubble burst. He thought he was doing pretty well.
But then...
Only five million?
Only?
How much are you earning if you can say "only" five million?
The ad company employee, a bit unsettled, asked, "So, may I ask what your salary is?"
"You mean me? Last year I made about 7.3 million yen."
The ad company employee's mouth twitched slightly.
That's nearly 50% more than his own annual income.
And this guy? He couldn't be older than 26 or 27, tops.
That meant he'd probably only been out of school for two or three years—and he already had a salary like that?
Maybe he'd completely misjudged this. Maybe this company really does have a lot of overtime... it's just that these young people are still full of energy, which is why they seem so lively.
The employee said, "That's... really high. Your work must be really tough, right? Honestly, that kind of pace can be really bad for your health over time—it's just not worth it."
"Tough? Not really. We work regular hours and get proper holidays. Yeah, the work can be tiring sometimes, but we get weekends off, and I'm usually done by 6 p.m., so there's plenty of time to rest."
Weekends off. Off by 6 p.m..
Those words pierced the ad company employee's heart like a dagger.
Does your company have any openings?
Not that I want to switch jobs or anything—I just really admire your company's culture and philosophy.
Just earlier, he had been bragging about how amazing his own boss's company culture was.
Now? Reality had slapped him hard.
But he quickly shook his head.
No... it can't be true. He must be lying. That guy has to be exaggerating.
Young people love pretending they've got it all together. Talking themselves up in front of strangers is pretty normal—gotta make yourself look successful, right?
He did it all the time at family gatherings too—boasting about how important he was at work and how great his company was, even though the truth was that he was being slowly suffocated by overwork. He just didn't have a choice.
So this guy must be the same—just full of hot air. What a fake.
With a slightly pitying look, he glanced at the young man—who had already gone back to adjusting the game console—and said:
"Well, if you have time later, feel free to come by our spot and try some of the food we've prepared. You'll also get to experience our company atmosphere."
"Sure! I'll stop by once I finish setting up the console and let the kids have a turn."
The ad employee wandered off, slightly dazed.
Even though he tried to convince himself the young man was lying, a small voice inside kept whispering that everything he said was probably true—that there really were jobs like that in this world.
He just wasn't lucky enough to land one.
Suddenly, the cherry blossom festival didn't feel so sweet anymore.
Meanwhile, back at his company's picnic area, things weren't going much better.
The company president was surrounded by a group of obsequious middle-aged managers.
These were the middle-tier leaders, all looking for ways to climb higher.
"President, please try this sake. My father brewed it himself!"
"President, we're going to lead this company to even greater success! The future belongs to us!"
The president was loving it.
What's the point of being president, if not to enjoy having people fawn over you and bask in privileges?
Of course, he still kept up appearances—that was essential to maintaining loyalty.
At that moment, he noticed the employees he had sent to recruit the young people had returned.
In a good mood, he didn't pick up on the subtle change in their expressions.
"Oh? You're back already? Come, come—have a seat and rest. This is a rare chance. I had to negotiate hard with the client to delay the schedule a bit and win us this rare vacation. You'd better appreciate it!"
Of course, all he really did was say one sentence to the client—but that's the power of connections. That's why he was president.
No need to tell the staff all that, though.
"Look, the president cares so much about you! Aren't you going to toast him already?"
Several mid-level managers barked at the returning employees.
One of them couldn't help but show a flicker of disgust on his face.
He hated these so-called team-building activities.
They were supposed to bring employees closer together—but in reality, they just ate up the little free time they had.
He had originally planned to spend the day with his family—but he didn't have the right to say no.
His thoughts drifted back to those young people from earlier.
They were energetic. Their smiles looked genuinely heartfelt. It felt like they had willingly participated in this hanami event, not because they were forced.
They probably had real time off. Time to be with their families. Time to rest.
And that's why, on a day like this, they could genuinely enjoy being with coworkers under the cherry blossoms.
And suddenly... it all made sense.