Rika Kayama (Mainichi)

       Coronavirus case numbers are finally dwindling in Japan, allowing for restaurants and bars to operate normally as authorities have lifted requests for shorter business hours, and life gradually returns to the streets.

       However, among patients visiting my consultation room, there are quite a few people who complain that they are feeling unwell. In particular, this is the case with midcareer and younger generations, as they are told by their employers to come back into the office like before instead of working from home. With such a sudden change in their lifestyles, they find their physical and mental balance disrupted.

       What was most striking to me was that many of these patients said they were hurt as their managers or bosses were negative toward the practice of teleworking and other efforts under the pandemic.

       One of them confided: "Over the past nearly two years, I've tried so hard to work remotely, a practice I'd been unaccustomed to. I worked while encouraging younger staff members so that they wouldn't get isolated, and managed to build a system to perform our tasks fairly steadily. However, our president now tells us, 'The state of emergency has been lifted, yet how long are you going to stay home? You can't perform your work unless you come into the office.' It made me wonder what these two years were all about ..."

       Back in the Showa era (1926-1989), it was commonly believed that commuting to the office, no matter what, was a universal virtue. I remember watching a movie from that period poignantly portraying a male character carrying out his job as usual while hiding that his family member had passed away due to illness.

       An acquaintance of mine also makes it a rule to stay at a hotel near their office when a typhoon is approaching, just to prepare for commuting the following morning.

       When I told the acquaintance, "Isn't it better to take a day off to prevent damage to your house?" they replied, "There's no way I can afford to do that."

       People with such a mindset may have been terrified during the pandemic when they were barred from commuting to the office and instead worked from home day by day, and possibly felt as if their history of being a "corporate person" was denied. That's apparently why they are ordering their subordinates to "come into the office regardless" now that COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted.

       In my consultation room, I encourage office workers lamenting their predicament, telling them, "You've worked so hard all this time." And I continue, "You'll surely be able to make use of what you've acquired through teleworking and the newly established way of working." Then I try to think together with my patients, saying, "Let's hope that your boss will gradually understand that you can make greater work contributions without going to the office."

       The spread of remote working doesn't signify a denial of the Showa generation's sentiment that "working at the office is supreme." Hopefully, many people will understand even post-pandemic that the new working style will bring more fulfillment to their jobs and their own lives.

       (Japanese original by Rika Kayama, psychiatrist)

       Font Size S M L Print Timeline 0