Salarymen-in-Training (学生サラリーマン) (1918 - 1926) (1 gen 1918 anni – 24 dic 1926 anni)

Descrizione:

Description:
Young men preparing for or entering white-collar jobs, forming urban peer groups that reflected the new corporate order and values of modern Japan.

Cultural / Historical Context:
Post-World War I economic growth created new opportunities for urban employment. The archetype of the salaryman—loyal, ambitious, and corporate—emerged as a symbol of national progress and modern masculinity.

Events/Names:

1918: Mitsubishi and Mitsui companies form baseball teams for employees.

1922: “How to Succeed in the Company” (Kaisha de Seikō Suru Hōhō) published as a self-help guide for aspiring office workers.

Connection to Youth Rebellion/Punk Sentiments:
While not overtly rebellious, these groups marked a break from traditional family and occupational structures. Their embrace of urban life, career ambition, and peer networks was a subtle form of resistance against the old order’s emphasis on hereditary roles and rural community. Like later youth subcultures, they sought meaning and identity in new social spaces, using work and leisure to define themselves outside traditional constraints.

Why This Subculture Matters:
They embodied the shift toward a modern, corporate, and urban society, setting the template for postwar Japanese masculinity and work culture. Their adaptation to new roles highlights how youth can drive and symbolize broader social transformations.

Equivalent Western Example:
Similar to young clerks and office workers in 1920s London or New York—navigating the new world of business and forging urban identities

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