There once was a catchy TV commercial jingle that went, “Nijuyojikan tatakaemasuka” (literally, “Can you fight for 24 hours?”).

At the time, the stereotypical Japanese businessman was expected to work 24 hours a day for his company.

“T” (not his real name) worked for a major trading company back then. He often recalled the era with a wry chuckle: “We were derided as ‘ekonomikku animaru’ (beasts driven by economic gain). Things weren’t pretty for us back then.”

He was stationed in Beijing in 1989, the year of the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, during which China’s young pro-democracy activists and others were brutally suppressed by force.

At........

© The Asahi Shimbun