Japan inc. shifts to unusual workspaces

From tiny one-person cubicles in underground stations to camping tents under towering skyscrapers and even karaoke clubs: in workaholic Japan, salarymen are never short of a place to work.

Unusual work venues are popping up all over Japan as firms try to move from chaining their employees to their desks towards offering staff more freedom in their working practices and as the gig economy spreads even to this temple of corporate culture. On the pavement in Tokyo’s Marunouchi financial district, groups of businesspeople clutching laptops sit on pillows around a low table... in a camping tent surrounded by shimmering glass buildings.

These temporary “outdoor offices” created by Snow Peak Business Solutions are also available in riverside parks in Tokyo suburbs and are proving a hit with firms keen to get staff out of the stuffy office. Yasuyuki Minami, who works for the Japanese arm of software giant SAP, said the unusual surroundings sparked “new business ideas” in their meeting held in the shade of the tent under the blazing sun.

His boss Tsutomu Ushida, an SAP Japan vice-president, agreed. “We tend to have fixed and stereotyped ideas when we are in the office. This was a good experience of working in the open air -- something we don’t experience every day.” Ryo Murase, the head of the company promoting these open offices, said people enjoyed working “under the sunshine and feeling a gentle breeze”. “We live in a world where AI and robots are taking over. I believe we humans should do something more emotional, inspiring, compassionate and exciting,” he told AFP.