bonus season
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
It's bonus season in Japan. The system here is for employers to withhold a certain portion of employees' pay, then give it to them in December and June. I forget what the official reasoning for this is, but it's guaranteed to do three things.
- save money for the employers for ten months of the year
- reduce household income for the vast bulk of Japanese workers
- encourage binge-drinking during the post-bonus season
This week, I've run into people too legless at ten PM to guide themselves off the train. I've seen aging salarymen belt out song while staggering home. I encountered one fellow lying on a marble piece of outdoor art at 07:00; it had been raining heavily an hour before, and his necktie and glasses lay on the ground in a soggy pile. I've met up with friends in a little izekaya that was thunderously packed with people enjoying their bonus cash.
In short, the whole city's alive. But there are some down sides, as well. In one of the city's (and world's) largest train stations, I encountered a guy who was so drunk he'd lost all sense of what he was doing. I came upon the scene just as he was picking himself off the ground. He took a quick fancy to a passing woman, and tried to forcably share his drink with her. By which I mean he'd leap in front of her with his half-sloshed-empty beer can held in front of him, a look of determination on his face. She'd dodge aside, and he'd come round to block her way yet again. Just as I took my first step in their direction he broke off the pursuit and she went away laughing with her friend.
Anyway, that's bonus season in Tokyo.