It is hard to believe how quickly the time goes by when you are working 50-60 hours per week. I have kinda been looking forward to working on some of the Japanese clients that I requested. I actually considered getting a job in Japan after graduation, but I thought I should get used to working in the States first before trying anything too wacky. Anyway, with my new client, I get a chance to see a little of the work life in Japan without actually working there.

For whatever reason, all of the Big Five firms have some semblence of a special group or department that services large Japanese clients. Our Japanese group in Chicago is made up of almost twenty people in audit, tax, and consulting. They are all Japanese people who studied in the States or chose to live here for a while. Many of them intend to go home to Japan some day, and I think that nearly all of them still have Japanese citizenship. They are sorta in limbo.

The same is true for the client personnel. Most Japanese subsidiaries throughout the world have varying degrees of Japanese management people who watch over the operations and help report back to the parent company. Most of these managers are sent overseas without a choice of where to go or how long. Many of them take young families along too. This can be a difficult move for families that are suddenly transplanted into some smaller town in the middle of a country where they hardly know the language. Anyway...

There are quite a few differences about standard offices in Tokyo versus Chicago or any other city. I still have not determined who works more or harder. One thing I found interesting about a conversation with a friend who recently visited... He said that the average salaryman (that is Japanese for white collar?) cannot take more than one week vacation at a time no matter how long he works at a company. While they do get plenty of other holidays, it would be especially unfortunate for someone like me who likes to travel overseas. I guess this is the reason for all those rushed groups of Japanese bus tours all over the world. You have to cram a lot into a short time.

More on work differences later...