Top 3 Ways that Overworked Single Ladies Spend Their Days Off (Notes from Under the Tatami Mats–32 … My Adventures in Japan)


“The humor about the overwork simply wore off, and it just became sad and pitiful.”

Japan has a vibrant culture and a massive entertainment industry, which together provide many opportunities to get out and explore one’s interests and expand one’s mind.

Too bad that many of the Japanese people themselves cannot take advantage of it.  

Same old, same old.

That’s a fact that we are often told. In English conversation classes, many teachers will begin by asking the students what they did on their day off. More often than not, the standards answers were those stated above. (Image source)

For a while, it was a bit of a joke among us teachers, as follows:     

  • Jack: Guess what my student did on her day off.  
  • Jenny: Hmmm, let’s see. Maybe she …. I dunno … went shopping?  
  • Jack: Yes! How’d you guess? 

Work. Work. Work. Etc.

After a while, the humor about the overwork simply wore off, and it just became sad and pitiful. Many young ladies who work in offices, shops, or restaurants have to work 6 days a week. After slaving away for 6 days, for maybe 9–10 hours per day, they have neither the opportunity nor the desire to go out and do anything relaxing or interesting. 

That is, many of them spend 7 days each week doing “Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, Work, and Cleaning the Apartment.”     (Image source)

Unfortunately, most of these ladies do not even have the obligatory weekly drinking sessions that the typical salaryman can enjoy – or at least, try to enjoy.   

Thank God for shopping!   

   Introduction to – “Notes from Under the Tatami Mats”  (right-click on title)

Top 3 Oddly Memorable Dates
Top 2 Expressions of Love on Greeting Cards Received from Women
Top 4 Bedtime Companions
... and more

Links to my Other Series …

      Introduction – "Intro to Vocab-ability"   (right-click on title)
      Guide – "Guide to Entries"   (right-click on title)
      Index– "Index" to all Chapters and Sections   (right-click on title)

      Lou Reed – "Anthology of Memorable Lyrics, Part 1"   (right-click on title)
      Lou Reed – "Anthology of Memorable Lyrics, Part 2"   (right-click on title)
Images sourced from Google Images, unless otherwise indicated or unless my own.

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