A nomikai is any drinking gathering, but in a work context it means colleagues going out together after hours, often with the manager paying more than their share. There are named occasions: a welcome party for a new joiner, a farewell when someone transfers or leaves, the end of a project, the year-end party. And there are informal ones, two or three people from the same team after a long day.
The custom makes sense inside the old employment model. If you expect to work alongside the same people for thirty years, the relationship is an asset worth investing in, and an evening outside the office hierarchy is where people can speak more frankly. The Japanese joke word "nominication" (drinking plus communication) captures the idea that some honne only comes out over a glass.
The premise is real, but it is weakening. Younger employees are more likely to treat evenings as their own time, the pandemic broke the habit for many teams, and inflation has made the bill a reason not to go. Pressure to drink, or to attend, now features in harassment complaints. If attendance is effectively compulsory, it can also be argued to be working time.
What it means for a foreign employer
- Make it optional and say so. Keep it within reasonable hours, offer non-alcoholic options, and do not let attendance influence evaluation. A lunch can do much of the same work.
- Budget for the welcome and farewell. A new mid-career hire with no welcome gathering notices. It is one of the cheapest onboarding tools you have.
- Visiting executives should eat with people one at a time. Regional leaders who fly in, have dinner with each Japan leadership team member individually and keep doing it build standing that video calls do not.
- Do not read absence as disengagement. A Japan team that rarely goes out together is common now, especially with working parents and caregivers on it.
Sources
- General usage.
- Labour Standards Act; Comprehensive Labour Policy Promotion Act and Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare guidelines on power harassment (2020).