お疲れ様です (OTSUKARESAMADESU)

“Otsukaresamadesu” is a term mostly used in a Japanese company to greet workmates. Directly translated in Google Translate, it would mean “Is cheers for good work” which somehow gives a hint that an officemate is giving praise as to how his/her workmate is doing at work. However, the word does not have a direct/exact translation in English; but for Japanese people, it is a sign of respect and a greeting to a co-worker.

I am currently on a 6-month training program here in Japan and I just arrived here last February. Although I do not have a lot of experience working here in Japan, I have already experienced working for a Japanese company for a year now. Back in the Philippines, I am a design engineer at a Japanese company, that is the reason why I am here now, in Japan, for an in-depth training for my work.

Speaking of working in a Japanese company, I have learned a lot from their work culture. The Japanese always greet each other, “ohayou gozaimasu,” in the morning and, “otsukaresamadesu,” at any time of the day. These greetings were also accompanied with a bow as a sign of respect hence, this is what I like about the Japanese culture, people have respect for everyone around them. Another thing that I liked about working with the Japanese is that they were seldom late, actually, they were never late. They respect people and give as much respect to peoples’ time.

The main means of transportation here in Japan is the train. Public transportation here, unlike in the Philippines, has its time of arrival and departure, if you would like to compute the time that you’ll be spending on your travel to the office, you can do so and adjust accordingly.

In terms of deadlines, the Japanese always try to meet their deadlines which they imply also to us, their employees. They always try not to be late with deadlines. That is why most of them usually render overtime but some of them can do the work on time even if they do not render overtime, they just manage their time well enough to finish everything punctually.

Moreover, they are also taking good care of their employees' health, this is why every Wednesdays, employees are not allowed to do overtime and instead take a break at the middle of the week. Also, they are very welcoming; when we arrived here last February, they brought us to a Japanese restaurant for dinner to celebrate our arrival. We have also been welcomed twice already in the month of March, which only proves how welcoming the Japanese are.

All-in-all, I feel I can say that Japan is one of the best countries to work in. No hassle for transportation, good people and a good environment.

*P.S. In applying to a Japanese company, it is a very important point out that you are keen to learn "Nihongo" as an edge, because most Japanese workers (well, in our company at least) know only a few basic English words, but as they are very enthusiastic with what they do, they are also fond of learning English.