Sunday afternoon. The freshly minted Japanese salarymen load on to the large buses parked outside the company headquarters. Despite technically being a day off, the dress code for the bus is—of course—suit and tie.  The muggy April weather is not helping. Upon entering the bus, a few people are confused where to sit. So far, every seating location and room assignment has been made exacting clear in the New Employee Documents And Handbooks that we have received. The bus, however, has no seating chart. A few people begin to break into confusion. “Was there a seating chart? Is this free seating?” Nonetheless, once a few people begin to sit, everyone else follows along quickly, lest they be stuck in one of the dreaded, marginally more uncomfortable “aisle seats” that can pulled up if no other regular seats are remaining.

The new salarymen are nervous about what’s to come during training—they’ve heard plenty of rumors from older employees in the company about endless tests and military-style treatment—but there’s a calming excitement about commencing training as well. After all, everything is planned out. There’s no need to worry about what to do or think about; everything will be spelled out for you. Just complete every task that’s thrown at you, all while maintaining a cheerful, go-getter-like attitude. Do that, and the all-powerful HR managers who are running the training may take a liking to you, which perhaps will lead to a good job placement once training comes to an end.

The bus ride to the training center is mostly uneventful. The smell of everyone eating lunch in unison is nauseating, but bearable. A few young salaryman pull out their textbooks to study, knowing that daily knowledge tests will be the norm during training. But most everyone else simply falls asleep as the bus heads towards its destination far away from the city center. As the reception bars on my Softbank smartphone begin to fade, I know we must be getting close…