[The Last Chance to Change] Japanese People Who Keep Loving Packed Trains Through States of Emergency, Heavy Snow, and Major Earthquakes
COVID aside, packed trains aren't being reconsidered?
I'm updating this article in the middle of the second state of emergency, but...
> On the 8th, the morning after the state of emergency was declared, the usual commuting scene could be seen in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
lol pic.twitter.com/bPXmSemImK
— Ryosuke @off.tokyo surpassed 200,000 PV (@ryosuke_1997) January 8, 2021
On the 8th, the first morning after the state of emergency was reissued for Tokyo and three prefectures, Governor Yuriko Koike, citing what she had heard from her secretary about commuter trains, called on people: "Apparently they were quite crowded at peak hours, so I would like you to properly do telework." https://t.co/nsGIAk64ds
— Tokyo Shimbun Editorial Bureau (@tokyonewsroom) January 8, 2021
Unlike the previous state of emergency, schools and live music venues are not covered and the self-restraint applies almost only to restaurants, but I was shocked that so many people are continuing their packed-train lives as if it were normal, just like before COVID.
Could packed trains be the most important job?
Right now is a moment when the COVID crisis and the practical possibility of telework happen to coincide, but the old drilling of "come to the office even if it rains spears—crawl in if you must" may still be in effect.
Rough, isn't it. Commuting to work and school is so outdated. That's what I thought watching the huge army of dark suits spat out of the Shinkansen at Shinagawa Station. Doing this every day — I can only think they're total masochists.
Snow accumulation even in central Tokyo and other flatlands of the Kanto region – https://t.co/gZIYwjsngw— Takafumi Horie (@takapon_jp) January 18, 2016
I, too, find packed trains, and heading out early in the morning to catch a train in bad weather or heavy snow, among the things I hate most in this world.
Whether or not trains become clusters, there isn't a single attractive element, so I can't for the life of me understand why people don't feel like quitting it right away, but...
Telework has its stifling sides too
I find telework comfortable, but on the other hand, some people probably find it stifling.
Just off the top of my head:
- My family doesn't understand telework
- My home isn't an environment where I can concentrate
- Employees seem to be slacking off...
- I'm being monitored by my boss through a webcam...
- My boss is hopeless with computers and I'm made to support them for free
Many people probably feel negative about it in ways like these.
To repeat, if both business owners and employees tackle the challenge of "How can we make telework enjoyable?" positively, quality of life should rise dramatically.
Ideas for making telework enjoyable
In a word, make the ratio of time "work : private = 2 : 8".
- Workations (your main job is traveler, your side job is company employee)
- Discretionary work (emphasis on results and productivity; you can go off the clock at any hour)
- Contact mainly through business chat. Meetings once a week, up to one hour
- No phones
- People who want to go to the office or talk with colleagues are free to do so
Now, when I make proposals like this, I get opinions such as:
- This won't get any work done
- We can't do telework in the first place
- It's impossible given our industry
Starting with opinions like these, "objections rigidly bound by past common sense," such as precedent and custom, come flying at me in droves.
It's as if I'm hearing the claim "We have no future; all we have is the past"...
We are living in unprecedented times
In the Showa and Heisei eras, almost no one would have imagined the world changing drastically due to a pandemic of a novel coronavirus.
Nor would they have predicted the concrete picture of the "technology-centered future" now in progress.
Naturally, we don't know what will happen from here either.
I have to say the future can't be predicted, and there's no point in predicting it.
But I think what can be said for certain is this:
- In an unpredictable future, only those who "stay flexible" survive
- If change is necessary anyway, taking steps to make life enjoyable means you won't suffer when you die
Isn't that right?
Not just telework — you can make work and life enjoyable or boring
Whether you're a business owner or an employee, you surely want to make your own life rich and enjoyable.
Telework, and by extension technology, is truly the best tool, extending your bodily functions and enabling processing on a whole different scale.
Telework is just one form of using technology, and there's no finished form of running it, so now is the time to unleash your business creativity.
And I'd like you to think about this:
You are free to choose either form.
Earlier I wrote that "the future can't be predicted," but whether you'll laugh or cry when you die is probably just as you imagine.