Kinro Kansha No Hi

It’s a national holiday again in Japan – Kinro Kansha No Hi, Labour Thanksgiving Day. To be fair, I haven’t worked in a really Japanese environment (except for my weekly visits to the Kyotogram office), but I have found that Japanese companies seem to be really fond of open plan offices: Essentially one big and endless table where every single employee has some (rather small) space. The boss sits somewhere at the end, farthest away from the entrance door.

open plan office in Japan
photo courtesy of MUGENUP @wikimedia commons.

I am wondering if this is an expression of the Japanese collective mind, so to speak, or if this is simply an American import. Haven’t found that one out yet, but if my own company every grows big enough for so many employees, I will definitely use the European system of smaller offices…