pointless j-jobs

[akatsuka]

can someone help me extend this list of pointless jobs in japan? I know there are lots more, but my brain has stopped at 3..

1 - elevator girls
2 - people shouting and advertising the shop they are standing in front of
3 - traffic men who wave traffic on

[Samurai_Jerk]

Eikaiwa teacher

[Tsuru]

1bis. Escalator girls

4. The crowd control people standing on the street who say "Irashaimasen, irashaimasen, irashaimasen" but who are not part of a business or shop. Usually found at or near major events with their reflective jackets and batons.

[Taro Toporific]

can someone help me extend this list of pointless jobs in japan?

USELESS PEOPLE Japan is filled with useless people
http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/~edjacob/useless.htm

Time Magazine Myth of Japanese productivity

[GomiGirl]

5. The guys that make sure that pedertrians do not fall into large roped-off holes around building sites.. they also make sure you do not trip over the (covered) cables on the ground. (Pointless as I think if pedestrians are too stupid to fall into large gaping holes on the side of the street then it serves them right.)

6. Bank staff that help you fill out your bank forms when even somebody illiterate in Japanese can do them unaided. They also press the buttons to get your number out of a machine - also clearly labelled.

[Behan]

USELESS PEOPLE Japan is filled with useless people
http://www3.tky.3web.ne.jp/~edjacob/useless.htm

Time Magazine Myth of Japanese productivity

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Sorry for getting a bit off topic again, but one of the jobs listed on that page, 'election wavers' brings back memories of one of the former mayors of Osaka. I think he was getting a little frisky under the blanket with one of the wavers and ended up resigning after the ensuing scandal.

[AssKissinger]

In the Kurosawa film Ikiru a civil servent city worker jokes something like this

I wonder why you've never taken a vacation. Is it because City Hall couldn't function without you?

No. It's because they may realize they don't need me at all.

[Buraku]

J-People who wave those stupid toy lightsabres at traffic crossings or junctions


People who go around in loud-speaker truck or cars blasting out slogans whenever some local election might be going on ( politicans, conservative nuts, leftist commies or uyoku )


Old J-People who are supposed to be working at construction stites and building new housing/road projects but are really just part of the LDP's Mo'Concrete solution
Typical example here - it takes 9 old people ( including stupid J-politicals ) to dig a damn hole in the ground


Girls who stand around bowing and nodding like a Rooster/Chicken for the whole day
typical example : elevator girls ( but they do more than bow all day because they actually push the elevator button for you !! )

[Marvin Feltcher]

Sorry!

[AssKissinger]

* Public bathhouse/onsen attendants.

I have to disagree with that one.

[Tsuru]

* Cops in police boxes.

I still prefer that one to a police box with no-one in it.

[Marvin Feltcher]

Sorry!

[AssKissinger]

What? Those old battleaxes leering at your willy?

What the fuck you talkin' 'bout, Willis? That's a turn on and an ego-booster.

Plus, you need someone to tell the TV in the sauna is too Godamned loud or rotanburo is cold or whatever.

[GuyJean]

What? Those old battleaxes leering at your willy?

We have some young unrinal-vixens at my office.. Nothing like a young woman watching you piss; takes me back to the doctor playing days of yore..

GJ

[Marvin Feltcher]

Sorry!

[FG Lurker]

* Finger pointers/people pushers at train stations. (The guy who points up and down the station before the train takes off to check everything is all right and the guys who push passengers into packed trains).

The finger pointers are making sure that no one is on the tracks or stuck between the train and the platform... I think the finger pointing bit is because the job is mind-numbingly boring and it helps them to concentrate.

[GomiGirl]

I still prefer that one to a police box with no-one in it.

Have you seen the automated Koban?

See this one at Inokashira park from my blog.....

[sublight]

The finger pointers are making sure that no one is on the tracks or stuck between the train and the platform... I think the finger pointing bit is because the job is mind-numbingly boring and it helps them to concentrate.

The pointing is so that the other guys all see he's doing his job.

If there's one thing I've learned working here, it's that doing your job isn't nearly as important as making sure everyone around you knows you're doing your job.

But maybe that's the case everywhere else, too.

[GomiGirl]

Has anybody heard the guy at Shinjuku station that practically sings the announcements - very old fashioned style... He is a finger pointer/announcer but everytime I hear him it makes me smile.

[Iraira]

Has anybody heard the guy at Shinjuku station that practically sings the announcements - very old fashioned style... He is a finger pointer/announcer but everytime I hear him it makes me smile.

Don't know about that guy, but there is this one guy who announces the stops on the Marunouchi Line. He's got the killer Barry White voice. I blame him whenever I'm accused of being a chikan. So far, nothing but acquittals!:D

[Tsuru]

Have you seen the automated Koban?

See this one at Inokashira park from my blog.....

I can't say that I have, but I'm still sticking to my earlier statement.

Some of the choices that I imagine would be on the screen:

"Is your bike stolen?"

"Has your apartment been broken into?"

"Are you being chased by a guy with a strange smile?"

How is a bloody ATM supposed to protect anyone?

[Greji]

I can't say that I have, but I'm still sticking to my earlier statement.

Some of the choices that I imagine would be on the screen:

"Is your bike stolen?"

"Has your apartment been broken into?"

"Are you being chased by a guy with a strange smile?"

How is a bloody ATM supposed to protect anyone?

LOL, you probably have to have a member card at that!

[maraboutslim]

I can't imagine complaining about Elevator Girls! It may seem useless but I bet there is a study somewhere showing that it increases the image of the departo enough to justify higher cost of goods or something. I just like getting into the elevator alone with them: "bunbougu ha?" "nana kai de gozaimasu" "keitaibango ha?"

[Pokemon-Master]

* Reception girls

* Finger pointers/people pushers at train stations. (The guy who points up and down the station before the train takes off to check everything is all right and the guys who push passengers into packed trains).

* The guys who stand around on the streets with billboards (plugging services like "Anal Fuck.")

* Cops in police boxes.

* Public bathhouse/onsen attendants.

* Waiting room attendants in brothels.

* In the entertainment world, every personality has at least one manager and are always surrounded by loads of hangers-on.

* Campaign girls (not that there's too much bad about there being too many of these. If anything, we could probably do with more.)

God, this list could go on for days!

The J-cops in boxes are great !

[t3hWIT]

MUSEUM LADIES Go to any museum in Japan, and you will see an elegant looking lady sitting in one corner of almost every room. They don't do anything, they don't say anything, and they don't seem to know anything about, or be particularly interested in, the art around them. These human scarecrows just sit their calmly for hours and hours without moving, their laps covered by a little blanket.

She's probably holding a .45 under that "little blanket," ready to use your face to decorate the walls should you try to nab some priceless artifact.

The elegant part is a coverup. She's really working for the cia or whatever they have over in Japan.

[IkemenTommy]

6. Bank staff that help you fill out your bank forms when even somebody illiterate in Japanese can do them unaided. They also press the buttons to get your number out of a machine - also clearly labelled.

* The bank staff that points where the ATM machines are even though the machines are clearly visible at the entrance.

* The JR employees that ride on the very last end of the Yamanote-Line trains who announce what the next stop or which direction you are traveling even though the info is clearly shown on the LCD screen AND they roll the automated pre-recorded announcements along the way. The same goes for the shinkansen.