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Japan’s workplace drinking party communication is unnecessary, says majority of workers in survey

Casey Baseel Nov 27, 2024
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A long-standing part of Japanese work culture may have passed the tipping/tipple point, especially in women’s eyes.

The term nominication comes from combining nomi, meaning “drinking” in Japanese, and the English “communication.” For generations, nominication, the idea that frank, free-form conversations will flow between coworkers with some alcoholic beverage lubricant has been a pillar of Japanese business culture, and the ostensible rationale for countless invites for the workplace team, and sometimes the whole company, to go out drinking together after punching out of the office.

However, to some people those invites feel more like orders, since nomincation being such an engrained part of workplace atmosphere can make it hard to opt out of drinking sessions without looking like you’re uninterested in fostering communication with your colleagues. Many would also argue that while organic, insightful conversations about a wide range of topics is presented as the nominication ideal, in actuality you’re just as likely to spend the whole drinking party listening to coworkers and bosses gripe and gossip about petty grudges or problems in their personal lives, puff themselves up as they brag about some insignificant accomplishment, and tell jokes that aren’t nearly as funny, fresh, or appropriate as they think they are.

▼ Sometime the lines of communication can become too open during nominication.

In other words, there’s a divide between those who see the potential positives of coworkers drinking together and those who’d rather keep their professional relationships strictly sober, and that second group is getting bigger, the results of a new survey suggest.

Nippon Life Insurance Company recently released the results of a workplace atmosphere survey which collected responses from 11,377 people with a roughly even split between men and women. When asked if they thought nominicaiton was necessary, the majority, 56.4 percent, said no, it’s not.

Surprisingly, this attitude wasn’t found only among younger workers. When responses were sorted by age, a majority of all age groups said nominicaiton isn’t necessary, with less than five percent in variation between demographics.

Nominication is not necessary.
● Respondents in their 20s: 55.7 percent
● Respondents in their 30s: 57 percent
● Respondents in their 40s: 55.4 percent
● Respondents in their 50s: 56.2 percent
● Respondents in their 60s: 56.2 percent
● Respondents in their 70s: 59.8 percent

On the other hand, there was a large difference in answers between men and women, with a slim majority of men actually being in favor of nominication, while women as a group were especially opposed to the idea.

Is nominication necessary?
● Men
Yes: 52.1 percent
No: 47.9 percent
● Women
Yes: 34.3 percent
No: 65.5 percent

As for why respondents are averse to nominication, the top answer, from 48,3 percent of the anti-nominication group (and 51.6 percent of women), was “Ki wo tsukau.” This is a Japanese phrase that describes having to put on social niceties, make small talk, and otherwise keep up a tactful atmosphere, but in a situation where that doesn’t come naturally or easily. This was followed by “Drinking with coworkers just feels like I’m working overtime” (33.7 percent of respondents) and “I don’t like alcohol” (28.8 percent of respondents).

▼ Maybe Ms. Tanaka really is happy to have gone straight to the pub after work with the same group of people she just worked a 10-hour shift with, or maybe that smile is a case of ki wo tsukau.

Nippon Life Insurance Company conducts this survey annually, and the 56.4 percent-response that nominication is unnecessary is up from 55.2 percent last year and 54.4 percent the year before that. The researchers think that the trend might be being spurred at least in part by employees becoming used to aspects of working styles that were introduced during the coronavirus pandemic, such as working from home and refraining from holding drinking parties. However, while many of the respondents aren’t fond of going for drinks with coworkers, that doesn’t mean they don’t see any value in face-to-face communication, with 87.2 percent of them (87.1 percent of men and 87.7 percent of women) saying it’s necessary to keep work going smoothly.

Perhaps the most important figures from the survey are the responses to the question “Do you want to work for a company that has nominication?” 70.2 percent said they did not (61.9 percent of men and a whopping 78.6 percent of women), so companies looking to attract talent in Japan will likely benefit from finding ways to promote communication without getting liquored up first.

Source: Nippon Life Insurance Company via Tele Asa News via Yahoo! Japan News via Jin
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert images: Pakutaso (1, 2)
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