When a Japanese employee is transferred to another city, the family has to decide whether to move with them. Many decide not to. Children may be at a critical point in school, a spouse may have a job, there may be an elderly parent to care for, or the family may own a home. The employee then goes alone, lives in a company flat or a small rental, and returns home at weekends or less often. That arrangement is tanshin funin.
Because the employer has a broad right to order transfers, courts have generally treated the hardship of living apart as something employees are expected to bear, provided the transfer has a business reason. Employers soften the cost instead. A single-posting allowance, company housing and a set number of paid trips home a month are common at large Japanese companies, and the arrangement often lasts several years, sometimes until the next rotation.
It is most common among men in their 40s and 50s, which is also the population most likely to be in management roles at regional sites or subsidiaries. Many find it lonely and costly, and it has become one of the more visible symbols of how much control Japanese employers have over employees' lives.
What it means for a foreign employer
- It is a hiring opportunity. A candidate who has spent years apart from their family is often willing to take a pay cut, or a smaller title, to work in the city where the family lives.
- Ask where home is. A senior candidate currently working in Nagoya or Osaka may be living there alone, with the family in Tokyo. Their real location preference may not be on the CV.
- Know the allowances you are replacing. Single-posting allowances, housing and travel can be a meaningful part of current pay, so compare offers on the right basis.
- Do not create it unknowingly. If your role requires a move, raise it early.
Sources
- Supreme Court, Toa Paint case, 14 July 1986.
- Employer practice; allowances are set in each company's work rules.