The Dark Side of the Japanese Virtue of “Gaman”
<p>Supposedly a Japanese cultural idea that promotes stoicism, perseverance, and endurance of hardship without complaining, in recent years, much like <em>ikigai,</em> it’s been packaged and marketed to the West as a philosophy that will change your life.</p>
<p>For me, I learned about <em>gaman </em>the old-school way — through the school of hard knocks.</p>
<p>I arrived in Tokyo in the autumn of 2016, seconded to headquarters from the Singaporean subsidiary of the Japanese company I was working at. My dream of moving to Japan had finally come true. I knew that adapting to Japan would not be easy. But I had not known the high price I would have to pay.</p>
<p>Living in Japan would be an entire lesson in <em>gaman, </em>but I’m not sure if it did change my life for the better.</p>
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