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Photo: Holly Stepleton

Let's talk about a movie this weekend: Tokyo Sonata

This is an old movie from 2008, which tells the story of middle-aged people in Japan who are unemployed.

If I had watched this film ten or twenty years ago, I might not have felt much about it, other than thinking it was a bit of black humor.

But now, more than ten years later, I truly understand it.

Because there are many plots in it that are being repeated around us.

Some are exactly the same.

one

The protagonist Sasaki is 46 years old and works as a department head in an import company.

At the beginning of the show, Sasaki was out of work.

The department he was in charge of was to be transferred to Dalian, China, where there were many smart, hardworking, Japanese-speaking and cheap Chinese talents available.

The boss asked Sasaki bluntly:

What else can you contribute to the company?

So Sasaki became unemployed. After he lost his job, he went to an employment agency to look for a job. There was always a large group of people queuing up every day.

Many of us now use recruitment software such as Boss Direct Hire every day.

Finally it was Sasaki's turn, but the job was not what he wanted. Either he was a night security guard or a club manager.

Sasaki felt humiliated:

I used to be the general affairs manager of a large company!

Staff

With all due respect, you won't be able to find a job like the one you had before.

two

Sasaki usually has the final say at home and has absolute authority.

He didn't pick up his chopsticks at the dinner table, and his wife and two sons could only watch, not daring to eat first.

Being a proud man, Sasaki decided to hide his unemployment.

In addition to looking for a job every day, I would go to the street park to get free food, sit there all day, and then go home.

One day, he ran into a college classmate in the park.

His old classmate lost his job before him and has a lot of experience with unemployment.

He took Sasaki to the library to read books to kill time. It was spacious, bright and comfortable.

“You can stay as long as you want”

The classmate also set his phone to ring five times within an hour, pretending that he was very busy with work.

This way it won't be easy for your wife and children to find out.

He also mentored Sasaki:

Be sure to set up a separate account for the severance pay to avoid being discovered by your family;

You must also apply for unemployment benefits in a timely manner. If you are one day late, you may not be able to receive it. Blabla

(Sounds very familiar steps)

Although unemployed——

But the old classmate was confident and walked with determination.

This made Sasaki feel much more at ease.

But suddenly one day, the classmate disappeared.

Sasaki went home and found that his old classmate had committed suicide.

My old classmate, who has been unemployed for a long time, is on the verge of mental and financial collapse.

After being discovered by his family, he chose to burn charcoal, and both he and his wife died.

After witnessing the tragedy, Sasaki finally gave in and went to the employment agency again.

“I accept any position”

The position recommended to him this time was even more low-level than the previous one - shopping mall cleaning job.

Sasaki, who was used to working in management, started doing manual labor.

I learned how to use various cleaning agents, scrub the extremely dirty toilet, and clean chewing gum on my knees...

I am busy every day, wearing a suit and tie and pretending to go to work in a big company; in fact, I go to the mall, change into cleaning clothes, and do cleaning work.

After get off work, I change into a suit and go home.

The days passed by in a blur.

Until one day, when he was cleaning the toilet, he suddenly picked up a large stack of money.

He wandered around with a huge sum of money, and was very nervous.

He happened to be caught by his wife and ran out of the mall screaming.

The plot becomes magical...

If you are interested, you can look for it~

three

Let me talk about a few places that impressed me.

1) In the tide of unemployment, you must find a job quickly, otherwise the more you wait, the fewer opportunities there will be.

The story is set in 2008, when Japan's economy is in a severe downturn and the show is full of unemployed people.

In the background, a large group of people gathered in the park to receive relief; they hid in cafes and libraries doing nothing; and they lined up in long queues at employment agencies.

The longer you wait, the fewer job opportunities there are; the more you look for them, the fewer they are.

The movie begins with a passerby saying:

"Go to a job agency before your luck runs out, or you'll waste your life"

Sure enough, Sasaki picked and chose, from senior executives to ordinary employees, from leisurely jobs to heavy jobs.

Later, it was "Just having a job is fine"

The more you wait, the fewer opportunities there are.。

There is a popular joke now: What does the middle class do after losing their jobs?

You can be the three lucky ones – security guard, cleaner and nanny.

You can also take up triathlon jobs - food delivery man, courier, online ride-hailing driver.

Or the three steps to starting a business - opening a store, setting up a stall, and developing your own media.

These "tracks" are becoming more and more competitive.

Two days ago, Shenzhen officials reminded:

The online ride-hailing market is already saturated.

Until the economic downturn is over, either you care less about face and lower your profile to make cash.

Or find more sources of income besides working.

In short – keep the cash flow flowing.

2) Jobs are not disappearing, they are moving

China is mentioned twice in the movie.

At the beginning of the movie, a Chinese female white-collar worker came to the Japanese headquarters on a business trip, and her boss was very satisfied.

Chinese female white-collar workers are capable and hardworking, saying:

"We study Japanese all day long, very hard."

After the female white-collar worker left, her boss made up his mind: the business department must be moved to Dalian.

So Sasaki lost his job.

One time, the protagonist’s home TV was broadcasting a news report—a certain group was transferring its natural gas business to China, blabla.

Haha, it’s pretty much the same as our current situation.

Ten years later, I watched it again -

Many jobs in China have also been transferred overseas, with people from Southeast Asia and Mexico taking over the jobs.

This is already happening.

But the news in Japan has become about inflation, salary increases, labor shortage, etc.

Things have changed.

At the end of the movie, Sasaki returned home wearing a cleaning uniform.

The secret was exposed.

There was no recrimination, and no catastrophe.

The family sat around eating breakfast, and the youngest son even played a joke on his father.

After a series of shocks and accidents, the family returned to their peaceful life, understanding and supporting each other.

Get through it and everything will be fine.

ps.

Let me interject one thing.

Last time I said:

The insurance's 3% guaranteed interest rate will be reduced to 2.5% at the end of the month.

It will obviously be the next step.

Now many products have officially been notified to be removed from the shelves at the end of the month.For example, what I wrote a few days ago.

Very good pension annuity insurance.

It will be removed from shelves at the end of this month.

There is also a very cost-effective adult critical illness insurance.

It is certain thatAugust 31 Discontinued.

Those interested canClick here Make an appointment and have a good chat with the consultant.

After fully understanding, take action.