Sustainability of Ganbaru Concept among Japanese Expatriate in

Jakarta

Guntur Winata

, Elisa Carolina Marion

and Yosef Dedy Pradipto

Japanese Department, Faculty of Humanities, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia 11480

Psychology Department, Faculty of Humanities, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia 11480

Keywords: Ganbaru Concept, Japanese Expatriate.

Abstract: Ganbaru is a word derived from Japanese which is often interpreted spirit in general. This word is very often

spoken by the Japanese when they want to start a day, both in drama and in anime. This word cannot be

translated directly into other languages, because it has many meanings in every development of the times. In

addition, the more important thing that should be known besides the meaning is the reason and the aim of the

Japanese people apply the concept ganbaru. This research will find out the reasons and goals of Japanese

people apply the concept ganbaru. By doing this research we can see the character of the Japanese. In this

study researcher used quantitative methods for collecting the necessary data. The conclusion in this study is

the reason and purpose of the Japanese apply the concept ganbaru due to a sense of duty and responsibility.

1 INTRODUCTION

Japan is a famous country in the world, a lot of things

that made Japan famous in the world, for example,

such as culture along with its celebration (matsuri),

technology and even the attitude of the Japanese

themselves. The attitude of the Japanese who made

Japan famous is their enthusiasm for their work, this

can be seen when the Japanese economy is ranked

2nd in the world. Before the Japanese economy was

ranked 2nd, Japan's economy was not good because

Japan had just suffered defeat in World War 2, at that

time Japan got big losses, especially in economics.

The main factor that make the Japanese economy can

rise back is the result of hard work of the Japanese

people. Ganbaru plays an important role in

sustainable economic growth in Japan, because a

worker with educated, skilled, and hardworking is

what it needs to get a sustainable economic growth.

Japanese society at that day worked with excitement

and discipline even though almost all of them have to

take overtime. An example of a study conducted by

Whitehilland Takezawa in (Meek, 2004) showed the

Japanese think his company as part of his life, even

the center of his life that has become the most

important thing in his life. This makes Japan got a

sustainable economic growth from 1945-1960 and

makes Japan ranked 2nd in the world. This is all done

by the Japanese based on their own will. This can be

done by the Japanese it has ganbaru.

Ganbaru has many meanings such as insisting,

persistent, hard work and the other meaning is also

spirit. Ganbaru generate a positive effect on Japanese

workers, ganbaru make Japanese workers loves their

work, concentrate on they work, working excessively

long hours voluntarily, sometimes even works on the

day off, this is all because of their love. Working is

not only because of the economic needs or demands

of the company. Ref (Davies, 2002) said that the life

goal of the Japanese is just work, so when they retire

they do not know what to do on their retirement

period. This condition which happens to Japanese

workers can be called workaholic. Workaholic is a

psychological term to describe a person who has no

satisfaction at work and gets an inner impulse to

continue working (Taris, 2010). Workaholic arises

from within a person, and not from external factors

(Taris, 2010). The cause of workaholic in Japanese

people is a ganbaru culture that is already embedded

within Japanese workers. Ganbaru is not just makes

Japanese workers to working hard but it is makes

them to love their work. This is makes them to

understand their duties and responsibilities, and

creating a good characters and personality, both

physical, emotional and social. Japanese workers are

disciplined and had spirit to working hard that can

influence the people around them to participate in

Winata, G., Marion, E. and Pradipto, Y.

Sustainability of Ganbaru Concept among Japanese Expatriate in Jakarta.

DOI: 10.5220/0010004300002917

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social Sciences, Laws, Arts and Humanities (BINUS-JIC 2018), pages 165-168

ISBN: 978-989-758-515-9

165

being disciplined and working hard. This can be said

to be sustainable individual. Ref (Pappas, 2015)

Sustainable individuals are characterized by creating

harmony, interconnection, and self-awareness in their

values, thoughts, behaviors, and actions as well as

cultivating continued individual growth in their

physical, emotional, social, philosophical, and

intellectual abilities.

Everyone has a reason and purpose in doing their

activity. The reason and purpose are what makes a

person can perform in their activity. This is similar

with motivation because motivation is factor that

makes a person do something. Maslow in (McLeod,

2016) said that motivation to move a person to

perform an activity to achieve its goals. Herzberg in

(Riley, 2005) said that content and context theory are

2 factors that cause a person's motivation. Content

theory focuses on factors that give rise to motivation

within a person based on work factors. Context

Theory focuses on the factors that give rise to the

motivation within a person based on individual needs.

The theme of this study will discuss the reasons and

objectives of Japanese people to apply ganbaru

culture in working in Jakarta. This research is

interesting to examine because we can know the

factors that motivate the Japanese to work hard in

Jakarta as well as the reasons and goals of the

Japanese apply the concept ganbaru in work.

2 METHOD AND LITERATURE

REVIEW

2.1 Method

In this study researchers used quantitative methods.

Quantitative methods are the methods used in

research for measuring objective data and statistics

through scientific calculations whose data are derived

from a sample of people or residents who are asked to

answer a number of questions about surveys related

to the research undertaken to determine the frequency

and percentage of their responses. The purpose of

quantitative research is to develop and use

mathematical models, theories and hypotheses related

to the phenomena that occur. In this study,

researchers do data retrieval by listing some questions

related with purpose and reason of the Japanese who

apply the concept ganbaru, which then poured in the

form of questionnaire and distributed to the Japanese

who work offices in Jakarta. The target of this

research is 20 Japanese who work in companies in

Jakarta, men and women aged 18 to 64 years. In this

study 20 Japanese people asked with questions

concerning the reasons and objectives of the Japanese

apply the concept of ganbaru.

2.2 Literature Review

This study will use motivational theories to define the

reasons and goals of the hard-working Japanese.

Motivation theory used in this research is Herzberg's

theory. Herzberg's theory stated that there are 2

factors of the birth of motivation in a person as

follow:

Table 1. Herzberg motivational theory in Riley, 2005

Theory Explanation

Content Focuses on the factors that give birth

to a person's motivation based on

work factors

Context

Focuses on the factors that give birth

to a person's motivation based on

individual needs

Herzberg stated that content theory can cause

motivation in a person, that are achievement,

appreciation, creative and challenging work,

responsible, progress and development. In another

hand, Herzberg stated that context theory can cause

motivation in a person, such as relationship with

supervision, relationship with peers, relationship with

subordinates, work conditions, personal life, progress

and development, salary, and job security. In this

study Herzberg's theory will be used by researcher to

find out the reasons and goals of the Japanese

applying the concept of ganbaru during their work.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

In this study the researcher got 20 respondents,

among them are 8 men and 12 women. 65% of

respondents are 30 to 49 years old. 80% of

respondents have lived and worked in Jakarta for

more than 1 year. To find out the reasons and

objectives of Japanese apply the concept of ganbaru

in their work, researchers made some questions

related to the reasons and their goals work hard. The

results obtained are 10 Japanese are applying the

concept of ganbaru while working in Jakarta and 10

Japanese are not applying the concept of ganbaru

while working in Jakarta. We will find the reasons

why are they applying the ganbaru concept, and the

reasons are as follows:

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166

Table 2. The results of the survey of reasons and goals

of the Japanese who apply the concept of ganbaru

while working in Jakarta.

Answer Amount

Because I feel obligated and

responsible towards my colleagues

and my boss

Because I want to challenge and

improve my skills and work skills

Others 1

Total 10

Based on the data, researcher got the reasons and the

goal of the Japanese ganbaru concept when working

in Jakarta. 50% respondents said that because of a

sense of duty and responsibility to work, and 40% of

respondents answered they are applying ganbaru

concept for their self-development. Based on this

result, the researcher found a match with the cause of

the birth of motivation based on Herzberg's content

theory, that are sense of responsibility and progress

and development. Based on these results, the

researcher concludes that most of the reasons and

goals of Japanese people apply the concept of

ganbaru while working in Jakarta, derived from a

sense of duty and responsibility towards his work.

The next results of this research, researchers found

factors that support the Japanese to keep applying the

concept of ganbaru while working in Jakarta.

Researchers get this data by asking 10 Japanese

people who answered applying the concept of

ganbaru while working in Jakarta, by asking what

factors support them able to apply the concept

ganbaru while working in Jakarta. Here are the

results of the data that researchers get:

Table 3. The result of a survey of factors that can make

Japanese people apply the concept of ganbaru while

working in Jakarta.

Answer Amount

I get support and help from my

friends / colleagues

I have a strong determination to

continue to struggle and survive in

Indonesia

I'm used to always ganbaru and

gaman in every condition

Others 3

Total 10

Based on the results of the data the researchers get the

result of factors that can make the Japanese can apply

the concept of ganbaru while working in Jakarta is

50% from 10 respondents said that they get support

from friends and colleagues, 10% from 10

respondents said that it has a strong determination to

continue living and working in Jakarta and another 10

% of 10 respondents said that it is used to apply the

concept ganbaru in every condition. Based on these

results, the researcher concludes that the support and

assistance of the closest people is the biggest factor

that can make the Japanese can apply the concept of

ganbaru while working in Jakarta.

The next results of this research, researchers get the

reason the Japanese do not apply the concept of

ganbaru while working in Jakarta. Here are the

results of the data that researchers get:

Table 4. The results of the survey of the reasons for the

Japanese did not apply the concept of ganbaru in working

in Jakarta.

Answer Amount

I have the support and help from

the people around me

I have the ability to adapt quickly 2

Total 10

Based on the results, 80% of these 10 respondents

said that their reason is because they get support and

assistance from the people around them. The other

20% of reasons is because they are easy to adapt.

Based on the results, researchers found that providing

support and assistance was also the reason why the

Japanese did not apply the concept of ganbaru while

working in Jakarta.

The next result, in addition to the researchers asked

questions about the application of ganbaru concept

while working, the researchers also asked about the

application of the concept of ganbaru to live in

Indonesia. The results of this study, researcher got 9

Japanese who answered apply the concept of ganbaru

to live in Jakarta, then researchers continue to ask the

reasons and their goals apply the concept of ganbaru

to live in Indonesia. Here are the results of the data

that researchers get:

Table 5. The results of the survey of reasons and goals of

the Japanese who apply the concept of ganbaru to live in

Indonesia.

Answer Amount

Because I have a family living with

me in Indonesia

Because I have obligations that I

have to do in Indonesia

Others 1

Total 9

Sustainability of Ganbaru Concept among Japanese Expatriate in Jakarta

167

Based on the results of the data the researchers get the

reasons and goals of the Japanese apply the concept

of ganbaru to stay in Indonesia is 67% because they

have responsibility for their obligations and 22%

because they have families living with them. On the

results of this study, researcher found similarities

with the results of research on applying the concept

of ganbaru while working, namely a sense of

obligation and responsibility. The next results of this

research, researchers asked all the respondents who

numbered 20 Japanese people about the reasons they

are motivated to apply the concept ganbaru in

general. Here are the results of the data that

researchers get:

Table 6. The survey results of the Japanese reasons are

motivated to apply the concept of ganbaru in general.

Answer Amount

I feel obligated and responsible 11

I have a passionate personality 8

Others 1

Total 20

Based on the results of the data shows that aspects that

can motivate Japanese people to apply the concept of

ganbaru in general is a sense of duty and

responsibility with the percentage of votes as much as

55% and Japanese people have a passionate

personality with a percentage of 40% of the vote.

Based on these results researchers conclude most

Japanese people are motivated to apply the concept

ganbaru with reason sense of duty and responsibility.

Researcher also can conclude with these results is that

many Japanese people who are used to apply the

concept ganbaru in daily life. The results of further

research in addition to researchers examining things

that can motivate Japanese people to apply the

concept of ganbaru in general, researcher also

examined aspects that can reduce their motivation to

apply the concept ganbaru. Here are the results of the

data that researchers get:

Table 7. Survey results that can degrade Japanese

motivation to apply the concept of ganbaru.

Answer Amount

When I realized my situation and

environment can’t support me

When i made a mistake 4

When I do not get support 8

Others 2

Total 20

Based on the results, the data shows that motivation

to apply ganbaru concept among Japanese can

decrease when they do not get any support from their

environment, showed by 40% of respondents.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results obtained in this study,

researchers conclude majority of reasons and goals of

Japanese people apply the concept ganbaru because

of a sense of responsibility and obligation to their

work. From this research, we also can see that

Japanese have high sense of responsibility towards

their work. Ganbaru concept do not only

implemented in working environment but also in their

daily life. Sustainability in implementing ganbaru

concept is caused by support of their close family or

friends. These Japanese also have motivation context

based on Herzberg’s theory. Based on this

conclusion, the researcher concludes that this

sustainability in applying ganbaru concept is

motivated by sense of duty and responsibility, based

on content motivation based on Herzberg's theory.

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312–331

Davies R J and Ikeno O 2002 The Japanese Mind:

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Pappas J 2015 The Sustainable Personality: Values and

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McLeod S A 2016 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Online

www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

Riley S 2005 Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of Motivation

Applied to the Motivational Techniques within

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