Salaryman

Salaryman (サラリーマン,, Sararīman^?, salaried man) refers to a man whose income is salary based, particularly those working for corporations. It has gradually become accepted in Anglophone countries as a noun for a Japanese white-collar worker or businessman. The term salaryman refers exclusively to men; for women the term career woman or, for lower prestige jobs, office lady is used.

Japan's society prepares its people to work primarily for the good of the whole society rather than just the individual, and the salaryman is a part of that. Salarymen are expected to work long hours, additional overtime, to participate in after-work leisure activities such as drinking and visiting hostess bars with colleagues, and to value work over all else. The salaryman typically enters a company after graduating college and stays with that corporation his whole career. Other popular notions surrounding salarymen include karōshi, or death from overwork. In conservative Japanese culture, becoming a salaryman is the expected career choice for young men and those who do not take this career path are regarded as living with a stigma and less prestige. On the other hand, the word Salaryman is sometimes used with derogatory connotation for his total dependence on his employer and lack of individuality.

According to researcher Ezra Vogel, the word "salaryman" saw widespread use in Japan by 1930, "although the white-collar class remained relatively small until the rapid expansion of government bureaucracies and war-related industry before and during World War II."

The term does not include all workers who receive a set salary, but only "white-collar workers in the large bureaucracy of a business firm or government office." The term includes those who work for government (e.g. bureaucrats) and major companies (e.g. those listed in Nikkei 225). Workers in the mizu shōbai (nightlife) and entertainment industries (including actors and singers) are not included even though their income may be salary based. Similarly, doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants, musicians, artists, politicians, the self-employed, and corporate executives are also excluded.

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