Vertical Structure Archives - understand-culture

Fourth-Year Gods

Yonen kamisama, sannen tennō, ninen shimin, ichinen dorei: fourth-year students are gods, third-year students are emperors, second-year students are citizens, and first-year students are slaves. A 1991 paper in a bulletin of Kagoshima University cites the phrase as a way in which the hierarchy of university sports clubs was mocked and criticized.

The sports magazine Number used a short form in a headline that rejects it: Yonen kamisama, ichinen dorei de wa nai. It is not fourth-year gods and first-year slaves.

Brother and Sister System

Some Japanese companies use a burazā shisutā seido, a brother and sister system. Each new employee is assigned a senpai, a more senior employee, who guides the newcomer in how to approach the work and how to think about it. At one brewer, according to an HR glossary, the guidance lasts for the first four months after joining.

Takarazuka

In September 2023, a 25-year-old member of the Takarazuka Revue died. On November 14, 2023, the company said at a press conference that it could not confirm any bullying or harassment, and that the guidance by jōkyūsei, senior members, had been within the scope of work.

On March 28, 2024, the company and its parent group signed an agreement with the family. They accepted 14 of the 15 acts of harassment that the family had raised, and the chairman of the parent group apologized in person.

Nemawashi in the Right Order

A Japanese HR dictionary explains nemawashi with an example. An employee who takes a matter first to the company president, not to the direct superior, is sent back to discuss it with the superior. The superior may feel that his position was ignored, and approval can become harder.

For a meeting with many participants, the dictionary advises informing those concerned beforehand. The decision then goes smoothly.

Vertical Society

In February 1967, Kōdansha published Nakane Chie’s Tate shakai no ningen kankei (Human Relations in a Vertical Society). It grew out of an article in the May 1964 issue of the magazine Chūō Kōron. The book became a long-seller. One account puts its sales in Japan at 1.17 million copies, another at more than 1.16 million in 124 printings.

Nakane herself said that it is a misunderstanding to read tate, vertical, as top-down command or as a structure of power.

Meals in Rank Order

In a sumo stable, the wrestlers eat around low round tables, a few at a time. They eat in the order of the banzuke, the ranking list, from the top down. The meal is served by wrestlers of low rank.

The Ajinomoto Foundation for Dietary Culture described these customs in its exhibition Sumō to shoku, Sumo and Food.

Seniors Pay

In Japanese university clubs, seniors often pay for juniors. A former club member told Money Post: Ichinensei ni wa ichinenkan, senpai ga zengaku ogoru no ga dentō deshita. It was our tradition that the seniors paid the whole bill for first-year students for a full year.

The duty is felt. In a survey of 406 people by the company LeoSophia about paying for juniors, 231 said it was a slight burden and 56 a heavy burden. 119 said it was no burden.

Skipping the Office

Osso (越訴). The Daijisen dictionary defines it as bringing a complaint in the Edo period to a higher office over the head of the office or official in charge.

The penalty is described in different ways. The Nipponica encyclopedia writes that people who appealed directly to the top were generally punished by death. A dictionary of history published by Yamakawa writes that unauthorized appeals were not punished severely.

One Vice-Minister per Year

In Japan’s central ministries, the year a career official entered the ministry still matters. Normally, only one member of each entry year becomes administrative vice-minister, the top post in the ministry. The magazine Gendai Business explains that the other members of that year leave the ministry before this happens.

Senior and Junior

Senpai (先輩): a person who entered the same school or workplace earlier. Also a person above oneself in age, position or experience.

Kōhai (後輩): the opposite of senpai.

Tameguchi (ため口): a younger person speaking to an older person as an equal.