A Tap on the Shoulder

Katatataki (肩たたき): a tap on the shoulder. A quiet suggestion that an employee should retire or resign.

Madogiwa-zoku (窓際族): the window-seat tribe. Since the late 1970s, the term has described middle-aged employees moved to posts with no real work, who sit by the window. Companies used such posts to push people to resign without dismissing them.

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