This episode examines Japanese TV programs that introduce local companies and factories, especially those aired during the New Year holidays. While these shows present clean workplaces, smiling employees, and strong “teamwork,” they leave out crucial information. What happens if you don’t join company events? Does refusing after-work drinking affect your evaluation? These questions are never asked. Japanese viewers often read between the lines, but outsiders cannot. The programs portray harmony as universal, erasing those who didn’t fit and quietly left. This is not a criticism of companies or television, but an analysis of what remains unsaid—and how corporate culture selects who stays visible and who disappears.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

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