Love Hotel Careers

I found this poster outside a Love Hotel in Shibuya.

The poster announces that they need new employees to work at the hotel. They offer an indefinite contract (legally it is somewhat different from other countries but I think it’s the most correct translation) and salaries between 260,000 and 350,000 yen per month (2,300-3,100 euros/month or 2,800-3,800 dollars/month). In addition, it specifies the career path you will have to follow if you become an employee in the love hotel:

– STEP 1: Person in charge of cleaning rooms. I have a friend that worked cleaning rooms in love hotels. He has thousands of stories to tell but I wouldn’t want to go through the same situations he went through.

– STEP 2: Receptionist.

– STEP 3: Manager. I guess this level is when you will receive the maximum salary of 350,000 yen per month.

However, I just took the picture so you could see the cool cartoon of the superboss with the watering can taking care of his employees (notice the detail of the sun) that reflects very well how many Japanese people see the working world. Many (although not all) companies still have the mentality that employees are some kind of “plants” that need to be taken care of every day; the employees have to be quiet and still inside the flowerpot waiting to be watered; inside the flowerpot they feel safe and secure and are hoping that maybe some day they will be able to water the next generation of “plants”.