Working at home.
For most Salary Men in Japan it began after the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic in March〜April 2020.
At that time Japan was not in lock down, as other countries were, and there were restrictions to the opening hours of bars and shops etc., but there was nothing to stop you from going outside or into town.
The big change was at home.
Lots of people didn’t want to go out, or simply wished to respect the government’s recommendation for them not to.
In the case of my company, we worked at home 3-5 days a week on and off until February 2022 (nearly two years).
At the end of 2022 we are still working at home 2 days a week, a change which may be here for good.
Lots of people already worked at home before the pandemic, it’s just that when everyone (the metaphorical everyone) does it, suddenly home
becomes a work place.
Home, the quiet oasis of freedom undergoes a fusion with time on the clock, and you realize the difference between being switched on and
switched off is slowly being rubbed away.
This could be the total virtual living, which existed beyond the sum of smart phones, tablets, smart watches and their chorus of persistent
notifications.
The benefits of working at home are of course myriad. However just as I was thinking that having more time together with family was one of those, I started hearing stories on the news about rising divorce rates around the world, and stories from my colleagues about how annoying and
disruptive their children were.
Although I was never witness to such a household, this piece is based on a sketch of what I imagined a pandemic household in Japan might look
like.
Long term, what will family look like after the pressures, tensions, and busyness of work have been brought home?
I think that is one of the interesting questions we are facing after the pandemic.
