Dimensions
161 x 241 x 22mm
Why on earth would anyone give up a life on the open road for the regimen of a vast Japanese conglomerate? And is it really so different in Japan from everywhere else?
After graduating from University in Dublin, Niall Murtagh spent years bumming across Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America. He had hitchhiked to Istanbul, bussed to Kathmandu, crossed the Atlantic in a home-built yacht and trekked through Patagonia. In 1986 he closed the door on his adventurous life and made an extraordinary flip, settling down in Japan. After studying there, he jumped in at the deep end and joined Mitsubishi as a Salaryman - a man in a shiny suit with a shiny attache case in a conglomerate with 300,000 employees.
Niall Murtagh describes the life of a salaryman in detail and with humour. He takes the reader behind the scenes of this enormous organisation, showing the peculiar nature of Japanese capitalism and management culture. From his office chair he also reflects on where his life might have gone. What led to this extraordinary change in direction and why, despite the disillusionment, is it so hard to leave?
Entertaining and honest, this book is enlightening on a world entirely closed to those of us living ordinary western lives.
