Salaryman

Salaryman (Japanese: サラリーマン, sararīman) is a Japanese term for a white-collar worker. The word is derived from English salary + man, and has since entered the English language in its own right. The Japanese term for the contrast term, blue-collar worker, is nikutai-rōdō-sha (肉体労働者　).

There is more to the word than just a "salaried man". Common associations with the word are long working hours, low prestige in the corporate hierarchy, absence of significant sources of income other than salary, wage slavery, and 過労死 (karōshi, or death from overwork).

Very often however, Japanese people are accustomed to answer, when asked what their job is, as simply being a "salaryman".

See also

• OL (Office lady)