The confrontation of our dreams with the reality is always painful. The young, beauty and smart Belgian woman returns to the country of her sweet childhood – Japan, in order to work in an international company as a translator. Trilled and enthusiastic as kids waiting in line to the roller-coaster, she comes to work……… and here are journey begins.
For the European woman the Japanese attitude, the establish rules how to act in a workplace, and the overwhelming etiquette are just ridiculous. In particular for a French-speaker (we all know what are: French Revolution, Bill of rights, May 1968, etc) the notion of rigorous hierarchy really sounds just like a very bad joke.
An example the most hilarious for me concerns the usage of the foreigner language. She can’t use the Japanese language in front of the people from other companies. Why? The white woman, who understands everything they say, may cause their discomfort. The Nippon staffs stay with the Nippon people. Not with the white one.
“Stupeur et tremblements” (ang. Fear and Trembling) by Amélie Nothomb shares with us another look into Japanese culture. This is not an advertisement, but critical analyse of the modern Nippon society where people overrated their career and aren’t familiar with the notion of “mind’s independence”.
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