Japan's Alcohol Culture Edit

After the night’s last train leaves just after midnight in star-less Tokyo, train stations become littered with the inebriated bodies of Japan’s “salary-men” sporting identical suits, 1000 Yen ($10) cookie-cutter haircuts, and company loyalty pins.  The fact that on any night, myriad respectable professionals end up passed out outside train stations, proclaims something slightly disturbing about Japan’s drinking culture.

Alcohol is as much a part of Japan’s modern culture as it is in any other society, although the acceptance of extreme drunkenness and the way in which alcohol plays a central role in the work atmosphere creates a very different aesthetic.  It’s not uncommon for coworkers and business associates to go out socially drinking together after work, though frequently in Japan, it’s a necessity of the corporate world marked by expense accounts (which justify exorbitant drink prices, because if your company is paying, you’ll gladly have another martini), company bonding, and one-upmanship in alcohol tolerance.