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The Blue-eyed Salaryman: From World Traveller to Lifer at Mitsubishi
Niall Murtagh spent years as a world traveler—hitchhiking in Istanbul, trekking in Patagonia, crossing the Atlantic in a home-built yacht. In 1986, he closed the door on his life of adventure to settle in Japan. And then, in a breathtaking transition, he joined Mitsubishi as a “Salaryman”—a guy in a shiny suit with a shiny attaché case in a multinational corporation with 100,000 employees. What led to this extraordinary shift of direction, and why, despite the disillusionment, is it so hard to leave? In The Blue-Eyed Salaryman, Murtagh takes the reader behind the scenes of this huge conglomerate. By turn enlightening, astonishing, and hilarious, his book offers a fresh perspective on the nature of Japanese business culture as well as the many hurdles awaiting the outsider.
227 pages, Paperback
First published February 17, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
February 22, 2013
The Blue-Eyed Salaryman is Niall Murtagh's account of his decade-plus working for Mitsubishi in Japan. After graduating from university in 1980, the Irishman spent much of the next decade backpacking around the world, but an offer of free graduate education led him to Japan. When he got his PhD in computer science, he interviewed with Mitsubishi and was hired for one of the consortium's research labs. From circa 1990-2003, he lived the life of a Japanese salaryman, an unusual opportunity for a foreigner in those days.
Murtagh describes the avoidable difficulties with fitting in with a corporate culture very different from what he was used to. Simple things like housing and transportation to work require a different approach than they would in the West. But his description of his work with the company becomes increasingly Dilbertesque with a Japanese flavour. The employees are assigned all manner of timewasting tasks, innovative ideas are shunned because the company wants to avoid risk, and incompetent people are promoted to management solely on the basis of age. Curiously, Murtagh doesn't seem to make any money for the company during his years there, as he is assigned from one half-baked project to another, writing reports but never putting out a product. It's easy to understand how Japan lost its competitive edge over this decade, though if the culture was truly as dysfunctional as described here, it's a mystery to me how it ever gained that edge in the first place.
It's an interesting account and draws sympathy from the reader. Murtagh is accepted as an employee, and management even puts up a fight when he decides to quit. However, he notes that he was not allowed to rise as high as any Japanese employee and (a phenomenon often noticed by expats), the better he spoke Japanese, the more uncomfortable people were. In spite of his criticisms of the company, Murtagh seems nonetheless happy with the country, marrying a local and staying there to raise a family.
My only real about The Blue-Eyed Salaryman is that I think Murtagh's memoirs should have encompassed a bit more than just his employment at Mitsubishi. Before joining the conglomerate, he apparently spent four full years studying in Japan. His first contact with Japanese culture must have involved some interesting episodes, but this time is passed over.
Murtagh describes the avoidable difficulties with fitting in with a corporate culture very different from what he was used to. Simple things like housing and transportation to work require a different approach than they would in the West. But his description of his work with the company becomes increasingly Dilbertesque with a Japanese flavour. The employees are assigned all manner of timewasting tasks, innovative ideas are shunned because the company wants to avoid risk, and incompetent people are promoted to management solely on the basis of age. Curiously, Murtagh doesn't seem to make any money for the company during his years there, as he is assigned from one half-baked project to another, writing reports but never putting out a product. It's easy to understand how Japan lost its competitive edge over this decade, though if the culture was truly as dysfunctional as described here, it's a mystery to me how it ever gained that edge in the first place.
It's an interesting account and draws sympathy from the reader. Murtagh is accepted as an employee, and management even puts up a fight when he decides to quit. However, he notes that he was not allowed to rise as high as any Japanese employee and (a phenomenon often noticed by expats), the better he spoke Japanese, the more uncomfortable people were. In spite of his criticisms of the company, Murtagh seems nonetheless happy with the country, marrying a local and staying there to raise a family.
My only real about The Blue-Eyed Salaryman is that I think Murtagh's memoirs should have encompassed a bit more than just his employment at Mitsubishi. Before joining the conglomerate, he apparently spent four full years studying in Japan. His first contact with Japanese culture must have involved some interesting episodes, but this time is passed over.
June 19, 2017
I live in the countryside - I have a horse and a dog. I love to walk in forests and look out of my window and preferably not see any other people!
My worst nightmare is to live in a city - to be crammed side-by-side on a daily commute to a huge office block where everyone else essentially does exactly the same job as you.
Therefore, this book was on to a bit of a loser to begin with ...
I couldn't get into it all - while the move to another culture can be fascinating, I can't say that modern urban Japan holds enough interest for me to continue reading.
Not one for me :(
My worst nightmare is to live in a city - to be crammed side-by-side on a daily commute to a huge office block where everyone else essentially does exactly the same job as you.
Therefore, this book was on to a bit of a loser to begin with ...
I couldn't get into it all - while the move to another culture can be fascinating, I can't say that modern urban Japan holds enough interest for me to continue reading.
Not one for me :(
August 21, 2017
I enjoyed the beginning of this book. The first chapters were quite interesting and it was nice getting an insight into his life in Japan.
However after reaching page 155, I am bored! I literally don't care about Mitsubishi and his latest projects and meetings anymore. It just seems to go on and on and I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel with this book.
Today, after much deliberation and deciding that life was too short, I've decided to give up here. The fact that it has taken me ages to get this far in the book, tells me that its just not for me.
However after reaching page 155, I am bored! I literally don't care about Mitsubishi and his latest projects and meetings anymore. It just seems to go on and on and I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel with this book.
Today, after much deliberation and deciding that life was too short, I've decided to give up here. The fact that it has taken me ages to get this far in the book, tells me that its just not for me.
August 19, 2020
What I thought would be a culture shock travel book ended up more like a business drama. The book definitely delivers on its premise of throwing back the curtain on the extremities of Japanese corporate salaryman life and managed to be surprising even to myself who is pretty familiar with the lifestyle already.
However do not expect a happy ending. The author starts off a wistful traveler and ends up broken down by the system and entrenched in its politics as marriage and kids crush his dreams of further travel. I'm sure he loves his family but damn, Mitsubishi assimilates him and as years roll past that's it - No return to the open road.
However do not expect a happy ending. The author starts off a wistful traveler and ends up broken down by the system and entrenched in its politics as marriage and kids crush his dreams of further travel. I'm sure he loves his family but damn, Mitsubishi assimilates him and as years roll past that's it - No return to the open road.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 15, 2016
A first-hand look into the corporate culture of a big firm in Japan. It was interesting reading this on my lunch breaks at the office.
I am giving this 4* and not 5* because I wish there was some more content outside the office. I think it would've been nice to hear about his adjustment to Japan, or Japanese culture, learning the language interspersed with his work life.
I am giving this 4* and not 5* because I wish there was some more content outside the office. I think it would've been nice to hear about his adjustment to Japan, or Japanese culture, learning the language interspersed with his work life.
April 10, 2009
I am incredibly impressed by anyone who gets this far into a Japanese company doing an identical job to the Japanese staff (rather than being the resident translator)...though whether you'd really want to is another question altogether, especially after reading this :)
July 27, 2011
Very interesting book about working life in one of Japan's biggest companies. I guess working culture has changed a bit since. I would have loved a bit more information about his private life, but that was not the focus of the book.
May 9, 2012
This is an interesting read and peak into corporate Japan - in one of the biggest conglomerates in the nation to be more specific.
Its a good read and really strikes home if you have ever spent significant amounts of time in Japan.
Its a good read and really strikes home if you have ever spent significant amounts of time in Japan.
August 24, 2023
I was worried at first, having caught a glimpse of the word 'hilarious' on the back of the book; but it was okay, it was just cover-bumpf written by someone else. I prefer my autobiographical tales to keep the hilarity to a minimum; afterall, when could anyone honestly describe anything they did as truly hilarious, without you having to have been there?
Murtagh's writing is simple and direct. His choice of the present tense is somewhat unusual but it adds an immediacy to the proceedings that could otherwise have been lacking, and I enjoyed the way his stories are delivered. I have been interested in Japanese culture for a long time, and having lived and worked in Japan myself I can certainly understand and sympathise a lot with the troubles Murtagh faced.
All in all, a good book.
Murtagh's writing is simple and direct. His choice of the present tense is somewhat unusual but it adds an immediacy to the proceedings that could otherwise have been lacking, and I enjoyed the way his stories are delivered. I have been interested in Japanese culture for a long time, and having lived and worked in Japan myself I can certainly understand and sympathise a lot with the troubles Murtagh faced.
All in all, a good book.
August 1, 2020
Amusing story of adaptation to a very different society. The book captures many particularities and challenges as part of Japanese everyday life. I feel, however many things have changed since this book in ways that are more complex to explain in a simple narrative. The feeling is one of much greater variability in stereotypes applied to foreign visitors, in the good and in the bad.
January 14, 2020
I lived in Japan for three years so could really relate to this, a great account of what life must have been like in the early days for someone not teaching English in Japan.
February 1, 2020
It’s great to have the insight of a foreigner in Japan and the tone was funny but I really struggled to engage and get into it until later in the story
November 26, 2020
Very realistic representation of Japanese business culture.
February 28, 2021
Interesting in places but very one dimensional. Could have been much more interesting.
April 22, 2025
good premise, weak execution. not as funny as I was hoping. an easy read which does shed some light on Japanese (corporate) culture.
August 28, 2018
This book is exactly what it says on the tin: What it’s like to be a foreigner working for a traditional, large Japanese company. I wish I had learned more about the good parts that made the author decide to stay for over a decades and what it’s like to live in Japan in general.
October 16, 2019
Fascinating glimpse into aspects of Japanese culture that may otherwise be overlooked.
March 10, 2021
The book started very well, providing a very interesting account of life as a westerner living in Japan and working for Mitsubishi. Having worked for the Mitsubishi Group in London whilst reading the book, I found the author’s experiences to be particularly interesting.
However, after the middle of the book I found it to be fairly dull with the developments becoming less interesting or largely a repeat of earlier experiences in the book.
However, after the middle of the book I found it to be fairly dull with the developments becoming less interesting or largely a repeat of earlier experiences in the book.
January 7, 2016
Murtagh was the kind of youth I sometimes wish I could have been, if I'd been more gutsy - he set out to travel the world for a year, and ended up backpacking across Asia for three. He was swindled by a carpet-seller in Morocco, and ended up on the crew of a homemade boat crossing the Atlantic. He arrived in Japan because he was curious, interested in something different, and after (more or less accidentally, it sounds like) receiving a degree from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, he was offered something that was different - for him. It was the life of a salaryman at one of the major Japanese companies.
Now, after almost ten months in Japan, salaryman are still a mystery to me. I mean, I know what they are, and I see them every day, and they're there in pretty much everything I read about the country. But I've never been able to figure out what they actually do. "Work themselves to death" is such a fuzzy description... So the world Murtagh chose to enter (only for a year or two, to experience it, of course - that he stayed on for 14 years was another of those accidents...) was one I'd been very eager to find out more about. That might be one reason why I enjoyed the read so much - I already found the subject interesting.
It's a funny book. It's funny, and informative, and I don't think you have to know anything about Japan to enjoy it. Knowing Japan at least a little bit only makes it funnier, in my opinion, especially when you can recognize things like the love of rules (that make no sense), and the paperwork, and the crowded trains and the forbidden biking-with-umbrella in the rain...
It's also an interesting look at how life in a major Japanese corporation works, both for the regular salarymen, and the odd, blue-eyed foreigner, always a bit of an outsider in this homogenous society.
I was randomly amused by the pseudonyms Murtagh has chosen to use for the people he writes about - his nice supervisor at the university is Erai-sensei, while the professor who only wants to find faults in his students' work is Kibishi-sensei. (Their names could be translated as "great" and "severe" respectively.) But most of all I was amused by the humour with which Murtagh writes about what must be the daily lives of millions of Japanese, reflecting over it with a perspective that is at once an insider and an outsider's. I spent most of the book smiling, some of it frowning, and was frequently laughing out loud.
Now, after almost ten months in Japan, salaryman are still a mystery to me. I mean, I know what they are, and I see them every day, and they're there in pretty much everything I read about the country. But I've never been able to figure out what they actually do. "Work themselves to death" is such a fuzzy description... So the world Murtagh chose to enter (only for a year or two, to experience it, of course - that he stayed on for 14 years was another of those accidents...) was one I'd been very eager to find out more about. That might be one reason why I enjoyed the read so much - I already found the subject interesting.
It's a funny book. It's funny, and informative, and I don't think you have to know anything about Japan to enjoy it. Knowing Japan at least a little bit only makes it funnier, in my opinion, especially when you can recognize things like the love of rules (that make no sense), and the paperwork, and the crowded trains and the forbidden biking-with-umbrella in the rain...
It's also an interesting look at how life in a major Japanese corporation works, both for the regular salarymen, and the odd, blue-eyed foreigner, always a bit of an outsider in this homogenous society.
I was randomly amused by the pseudonyms Murtagh has chosen to use for the people he writes about - his nice supervisor at the university is Erai-sensei, while the professor who only wants to find faults in his students' work is Kibishi-sensei. (Their names could be translated as "great" and "severe" respectively.) But most of all I was amused by the humour with which Murtagh writes about what must be the daily lives of millions of Japanese, reflecting over it with a perspective that is at once an insider and an outsider's. I spent most of the book smiling, some of it frowning, and was frequently laughing out loud.
October 12, 2008
I with Niall had been more detailed about his life leading up to Mitsubishi, though I suppose it would have been out of place in a book about being a salaryman. It's just his globetrotting sounded so interesting!
Niall's take on Japanese university and then work was very interesting. I already know a great deal about the culture, but reading about it from a Western POV was intriguing. I'm so used to Japanese daily life seeming normal in the story that being reminded it's quite different from what I'm used to living is really something.
The book is quite fascinating, but it does begin to drag after Niall is established at Mitsubishi and the work politicking begins. Most of his managers and co-workers blended together in my mind. I was never quite sure what his Gnosis project was about, though I suspect no one really knew, even him!
The short section at the end of the book about Niall's Japanese language skills and the native speakers' varying reactions to his improvement was the most interesting aspect to me. I wish he had gone into more detail about this, and included his observations in the body of the story to give us context.
I enjoyed the book, but I don't think I'll be reading it again. Though if I do, I'll keep a list of his co-workers next time. I did find their names amusing. "Kawaii" for the sweet personnell girl. "Majime" for his serious, silent coworker at the beginning. Heh.
Niall's take on Japanese university and then work was very interesting. I already know a great deal about the culture, but reading about it from a Western POV was intriguing. I'm so used to Japanese daily life seeming normal in the story that being reminded it's quite different from what I'm used to living is really something.
The book is quite fascinating, but it does begin to drag after Niall is established at Mitsubishi and the work politicking begins. Most of his managers and co-workers blended together in my mind. I was never quite sure what his Gnosis project was about, though I suspect no one really knew, even him!
The short section at the end of the book about Niall's Japanese language skills and the native speakers' varying reactions to his improvement was the most interesting aspect to me. I wish he had gone into more detail about this, and included his observations in the body of the story to give us context.
I enjoyed the book, but I don't think I'll be reading it again. Though if I do, I'll keep a list of his co-workers next time. I did find their names amusing. "Kawaii" for the sweet personnell girl. "Majime" for his serious, silent coworker at the beginning. Heh.
October 25, 2007
Bought this a few weeks ago and apparently forgot to register it. Very good read - another different look at life in Japan, almost the male version of The Accidental Office Lady.
A frog in a well knows not the ocean indeed, really made me think of Japan in general.
"Foreign students are visitors. Visitors should not stay too long in faraway places or they will forget to go back." Really sums up the ex-pat life well and makes me wonder about the future of some Nova fossils.
"Your hobby is something outside of work that you do at least once a year. If you do nothing but watch TV and sleep, your hobby is what you did, at least once, when you were a student." Then why on earth is sleeping a favorite hobby? If I had one yen for every time I heard that I'd be independently wealthy.
This was a very interesting read, I can't imagine life as a salaryman to begin with -- although he made the point that 'real' salarymen don't have blue eyes - and certainly can't imagine working for a Japanese company for fourteen years.
Timely read with the demise of Nova.
Possible ring.
A frog in a well knows not the ocean indeed, really made me think of Japan in general.
"Foreign students are visitors. Visitors should not stay too long in faraway places or they will forget to go back." Really sums up the ex-pat life well and makes me wonder about the future of some Nova fossils.
"Your hobby is something outside of work that you do at least once a year. If you do nothing but watch TV and sleep, your hobby is what you did, at least once, when you were a student." Then why on earth is sleeping a favorite hobby? If I had one yen for every time I heard that I'd be independently wealthy.
This was a very interesting read, I can't imagine life as a salaryman to begin with -- although he made the point that 'real' salarymen don't have blue eyes - and certainly can't imagine working for a Japanese company for fourteen years.
Timely read with the demise of Nova.
Possible ring.
January 9, 2016
Bought this a few weeks ago and apparently forgot to register it. Very good read - another different look at life in Japan, almost the male version of The Accidental Office Lady.
A frog in a well knows not the ocean indeed, really made me think of Japan in general.
"Foreign students are visitors. Visitors should not stay too long in faraway places or they will forget to go back." Really sums up the ex-pat life well and makes me wonder about the future of some Nova fossils.
"Your hobby is something outside of work that you do at least once a year. If you do nothing but watch TV and sleep, your hobby is what you did, at least once, when you were a student." Then why on earth is sleeping a favorite hobby? If I had one yen for every time I heard that I'd be independently wealthy.
This was a very interesting read, I can't imagine life as a salaryman to begin with -- although he made the point that 'real' salarymen don't have blue eyes - and certainly can't imagine working for a Japanese company for fourteen years.
Timely read with the demise of Nova.
A frog in a well knows not the ocean indeed, really made me think of Japan in general.
"Foreign students are visitors. Visitors should not stay too long in faraway places or they will forget to go back." Really sums up the ex-pat life well and makes me wonder about the future of some Nova fossils.
"Your hobby is something outside of work that you do at least once a year. If you do nothing but watch TV and sleep, your hobby is what you did, at least once, when you were a student." Then why on earth is sleeping a favorite hobby? If I had one yen for every time I heard that I'd be independently wealthy.
This was a very interesting read, I can't imagine life as a salaryman to begin with -- although he made the point that 'real' salarymen don't have blue eyes - and certainly can't imagine working for a Japanese company for fourteen years.
Timely read with the demise of Nova.
April 7, 2012
Great book for getting an insight as to what it is like working as a foreigner for a traditional Japanese company. It's mixed in with an autobiography although he is light on the personal stuff and generally only presents it when it ties in with what's going on in the company. He is quite humorous and his Irish thinking is a fun contrast to the conservative world he is presenting. He often quotes conversations and situations near-verbatim, although I did wonder how many of these may have been skewed by interpretation and memory, or altered to better illustrate a point.
His tone gets increasingly frustrated towards the last few chapters and there isn't really much of an ending to the tale, it feels like he just stopped writing one day. Maybe he quit just after that to set up the consultancy company he started in 2005? Regardless it was a quick and interesting read of relevance to anybody interested in working in Japan or with Japanese companies.
His tone gets increasingly frustrated towards the last few chapters and there isn't really much of an ending to the tale, it feels like he just stopped writing one day. Maybe he quit just after that to set up the consultancy company he started in 2005? Regardless it was a quick and interesting read of relevance to anybody interested in working in Japan or with Japanese companies.
June 14, 2015
Murtagh’s take on the Japanese corporate treadmill seems to comprise a mix of respect for the hard work and dedication of his Mitsubishi colleagues, combined with a lingering distaste that never quite goes away regarding the pettiness of the bureaucracy and the school-cum-military atmosphere that pervades the corporate work place. He gives a much more balanced, humanized and fair view of the salaryman life than most foreign commentators. That is probably because Murtagh has actually worked in the Japanese corporate system and knows what he is talking about.It's a great book, funny and insightful.
October 29, 2014
This book had moments that were hilarious and other dry spells where I figured it must be as boring as his job while I was reading it. I managed to pick it up and put it down a million times, but I finished it. It gives a bit of insight into the inner workings of a Japanese lifestyle via "salaryman" eyes. It would have been a lot more interesting had he included more personal info. on his family life. He meets a gal randomly and marries her...... Where is the rest of the story??? I read it as I found it on some recommended reading list for visiting Japan.
February 2, 2015
I selected this book as recommended reading before visiting Japan, to learn about customs, idiosyncrasies, etc without reading travel guide. There were certainly some interesting anecdotes but they were buried in so much detail about Mitsubishi office politics that eventually I lost interest. I guess I needed a little more information in an entertaining package - didn't have the patience to find it here, so may be my shortcoming.
April 27, 2015
A great behind the scenes look at what it was like to be a foreigner working in a big Japanese company. Like so many of this livin' and travellin' in Japan books they capture a bygone era. I'm sure some of it still applies but much of it has been left behind with the passage of about a dozen years (and a quarter century since the story began.)
All said it's as close as I want to get to the dream of lifetime employment with a Japanese company.
All said it's as close as I want to get to the dream of lifetime employment with a Japanese company.
June 12, 2016
I loved it. It was well written (unfortunately I only snagged the German version) and lots of fun. I bought it for the cultural aspects mostly and it didn't disappoint. It is a clear-eyed look at another culture. Murtagh is very honest and open in documenting his reactions and his way of living in Japan - this makes the book so engrossing and charming.
June 2, 2015
Very good on the corporate culture and his reactions to it. Some if it lacks a context - he expresses dissatisfaction a lot but one assumes satisfaction with the money, tbe projects he worked on, etc to put up with it. Not clear if still with the Mitsubushi group or now doing what.
Three and a galf stsrs if I could. Glad to have read it.
Three and a galf stsrs if I could. Glad to have read it.
April 26, 2016
I really toyed between 2 and 3 stars. It started out really strong, with plenty of LOL moments, but about half way through the book, it really slowed down. Not sure if the writing changed or my interest waned, but it was not as pleasurable as the first half. Overall, a short, easy read, with insight into Japanese corporations.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews