- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Profile Books; First Edition edition (17 Feb 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1861977247
- ISBN-13: 978-1861977243
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.8 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 713,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Blue Eyed Salaryman
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More About the Author
Product Description
Iain Finlayson, Saga March 2005
Murtagh gives a fascinating account of a system that is misunderstood, even satirised, in the West.
Harriet Sergeant, The Spectator, 2 April 2005
The book is full of wonderful vignettes and details.
Inside This Book
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you've ever wondered how the big conglomerates of east Asia work, what goes on as they turn out all those electronic gadgets, cars, etc., this is the book for you. In recounting his own experience in Mitsubishi, the author tells how company strategy is decided, who gets promoted, who doesn't, who gets shifted to outlying branches, how management react to corporate scandals, how the unions function, how the company treats foreigner employees, etc. The book also shows what ordinary living in Japan is like for a foreigner: company dormitories and apartments, noisy neighbours, how to avoid the commuter rush, marrying into a Japanese family, sending kids to the local schools, handling xenophobic policemen.
The big question is whether an outsider can really fit into such a company. The answer seems to be that it's possible some of the time, if you are prepared to compromise a lot, but not in the long term. The big companies of Japan are just too conservative. The author shows the downside of the old-fashioned management style but he's more sympathetic to the ordinary workers.
The big question is whether an outsider can really fit into such a company. The answer seems to be that it's possible some of the time, if you are prepared to compromise a lot, but not in the long term. The big companies of Japan are just too conservative. The author shows the downside of the old-fashioned management style but he's more sympathetic to the ordinary workers.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although the cover review says it's "hilarious", that's a bit hyped. Still, this book has just the right amount of humour and irony to keep you entertained. If it was all humour, then it would be stereotyping and exaggerating, as many other books on Japan have done. The writing style is good, topics change from one thing to another, there are lots of nice anecdotes and you never get bored.
If you know some Japanese, you'll appreciate the names of the people described: Mr Nombiri (Easygoing), Mr Hayakui (Fasteater), Mr Higashi (East), who doesn't know much about the West, Mr Nishi (West), who is a fan of General Electric, Mr Shinsetsu (Kind), Miss Kekko (Nothanks) who doesn't want to go on a date, Prof Erai (Great), Mr Shatai (Carbody), who works for Nissan, Mr Eizo (Screenimage), who works for Xerox, etc. There are also translations of the some of the company rules: some good, some weird, and some funny. The author reflects on career decisions that caused him to switch from hitchhiker to salaryman, before going independent again. He describes how he adapted to the local culture and shows how far an outsider can go -- and should go -- in Japan Inc.
If you know some Japanese, you'll appreciate the names of the people described: Mr Nombiri (Easygoing), Mr Hayakui (Fasteater), Mr Higashi (East), who doesn't know much about the West, Mr Nishi (West), who is a fan of General Electric, Mr Shinsetsu (Kind), Miss Kekko (Nothanks) who doesn't want to go on a date, Prof Erai (Great), Mr Shatai (Carbody), who works for Nissan, Mr Eizo (Screenimage), who works for Xerox, etc. There are also translations of the some of the company rules: some good, some weird, and some funny. The author reflects on career decisions that caused him to switch from hitchhiker to salaryman, before going independent again. He describes how he adapted to the local culture and shows how far an outsider can go -- and should go -- in Japan Inc.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book gives a great insight into working as a foreigner in a well-known Japanese company.It is a superb book which gives a personal report on Living,Working and Experiencing the Real Japan.Niall Murtagh does not "run-down" the Japanese,nor has he been blinded by living there for so long.He is determined to give his reader an entertaining view of a Salaryman's experiences of Japanese management. I would recommend this book to anyone as a very enjoyable read,with any interest in the Japanese people and their working lives.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not travel writing but with some interest
After having been living and working in Japan for decades, and even married a Japanese, the author lacks of more profound and deep insight into Japan, its society and its culture. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Habas con Choco
Interesting look into the life of a salaryman
Insightful story of a foreigner becoming a salaryman in Japans corporate world. It is a biography, so there is no real plot as such, but more a collection of encounters and strange... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Arctic Nomad
Started off well ...
Having worked in Japan for a few years, I enjoyed Murtagh's anecdotes of passing through the Japanese education and industrial conglomerates and it can certainly illuminate a way... Read more
Published 20 months ago by salaryman in tokyo
good book
if you have anything to do with japan, it s a must..
really well written and i agreed with every word..
that s the way how japan is..
really well written and i agreed with every word..
that s the way how japan is..
Published on 7 May 2010 by Lucia
Possibly another blue-eyed salaryman...
I bought this book a few years ago from an airport book shop as I hadn't got anything to read for my holiday...well I'd finished it before I'd got off the plane. Read more
Published on 5 May 2010 by Dan Lees
An engineer's book on a hidden world
The author provides his interesting personal account of several years working for Mitsubishi in Yokohama and Osaka. Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2009 by J. Axup
VERY GOOD
Murtagh's book provides us with a wealth of "inside"information about what it is really like to live and work in Japan. Read more
Published on 17 July 2007 by Perdurabo
Interesting insights but badly written
While Niall Murtagh's book about attempting to live in an alien culture is an interesting one I found the style of his writing stilted and forced. Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2006 by Camillus
Entertaining and Informative
An insightful and humorous look at life in one of Japan's biggest
companies. Murtagh manages to mix in lots of interesting facts about the Mitsubishi group and about... Read more
companies. Murtagh manages to mix in lots of interesting facts about the Mitsubishi group and about... Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2006 by Brian Okelly
Blue eyed disappointment
I was disappointed by this book. I live in Japan and have met a few 'blue eyed salarymen' and I have gained more insight from half an hour conversations with them than from reading... Read more
Published on 27 July 2006 by D. Humphries
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