Ordinary Japanese ‘salarymen’ reach TikTok stardom

Aug 25, 2022, 6:08 PM | Updated: Aug 26, 2022, 6:27 am
Daikyo Security Chief Executive Daisuke Sakurai, right, and General Manager Tomohiko Kojima hold th...

Daikyo Security Chief Executive Daisuke Sakurai, right, and General Manager Tomohiko Kojima hold the awards they have won recently for their Tik Tok videos in the hallway of their Tokyo headquarters office of Daikyo Security Co. in Tokyo Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. They’re your run-of-the-mill Japanese “salarymen,” but the chief executive and general manager at a tiny Japanese security company are among the nation’s biggest TikTok stars, drawing 2.7 million followers and 54 million likes, and honored with awards as a trend-setter on the video-sharing app. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

(AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

TOKYO (AP) — They’re your run-of-the-mill “salarymen,” as company workers in Japan are called — hard-working, friendly and, well, rather regular.

But the chief executive and general manager at a tiny Japanese security company are among the nation’s biggest TikTok stars, drawing 2.7 million followers and 54 million likes, and honored with awards as a trend-setter on the video-sharing app.

Daikyo Security Co.’s account, which gathers goofy dances, gobbled instant noodles and other everyday fare, is the brainchild of the company president.

Despite his unpretentious demeanor, Daisuke Sakurai is dead serious about not only enhancing brand power but also recruiting young people to his company, a challenge he sees as a matter of survival.

Founded in 1967, Daikyo has 85 employees, 10 of them working at the headquarters office, tucked away on the second floor of an obscure building in a downtown Tokyo alley.

“Our job is among those labeled ‘Three-K’ in Japan,” Sakurai said, referring to “kitsui, kitanai, kiken,” meaning, “hard, dirty and dangerous.”

A common job for Daikyo guards is to work at construction sites, directing traffic with a flashing stick, making sure the trucks come and go safely without running over pedestrians.

It’s not a job that requires overly special skills, but no one wants to stand around outdoors for hours. As many as 99 security companies are fighting over every recruit, in contrast to two potential employers for office clerks, Sakurai said.

And this is in rapidly aging Japan, where every sector is suffering a labor shortage.

So why not turn to social media, the place where youngsters supposedly flock? Sakurai started posting on Twitter and Instagram. But it was when he went on TikTok that things went viral.

In a hit segment, General Manager Tomohiko Kojima slaps, with a flip of his hand, gel sheets, each decorated with the eyes of various comic-book characters, on his boss’s face, right over his eyes.

“What is this character?” the subtitles ask in English.

No cuts are used, they say proudly. Kojima had to keep trying until the strip landed just right.

“I don’t practice during my work hours,” he said with a laugh.

The clips have a clear message: They defy the stereotype of rigidly hierarchical, perhaps even oppressive, Japanese companies. At Daikyo, a worker gets to slap gel sheets on the CEO.

Before TikTok, the number of people applying for jobs at Daikyo was zero. After TikTok, the company is getting dozens of applicants, including those of people who want to work on the videos.

Some of the videos, such as one in which the workers cook up a scrumptious omelet, unfold to the sounds of snappy songs, like “World’s Smallest Violin” by American pop trio AJR.

They all depict the happy yet humble life of uniformed men and women at work who don’t take themselves too seriously.

They are Japan’s good guys. And it’s clear they like each other very much.

Their success contrasts with the image of Japan Inc. as falling behind in digital technology, especially of older men who are fixed in their ways and unable to embrace new technology.

These days, TikTok is flooded with businesses seeking attention, from “izakaya” pubs and hair salons to taxi companies.

Sakurai has his eyes on global influence now, hoping to draw workers from places like Vietnam and Indonesia, and allowing them to work in English.

And so a recent video features gel sheets with various nations’ flags on them, a clip that has drawn thousands of comments and millions of views.

Slap a flag from Mongolia, and viewers from Mongolia comment in gratitude. Others request their favorite flags, be it Lithuania or Lebanon.

It’s a sign TikTok has helped Daikyo overcome language and cultural barriers by simply hamming it up and getting a laugh.

“What makes my job worthwhile is that it’s about people,” Kojima said.

“What draws me are people, not things.”

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


              Daikyo Security Chief Executive Daisuke Sakurai holds a helmet at the Tokyo headquarters office of Daikyo Security Co. in Tokyo Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. They’re your run-of-the-mill Japanese “salarymen,” but the chief executive and general manager at a tiny Japanese security company are among the nation’s biggest TikTok stars, drawing 2.7 million followers and 54 million likes, and honored with awards as a trend-setter on the video-sharing app. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
            
              General Manager Tomohiko Kojima works at his desk at the Tokyo headquarters office of Daikyo Security Co. in Tokyo Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. They’re your run-of-the-mill Japanese “salarymen,” but the chief executive and general manager at a tiny Japanese security company are among the nation’s biggest TikTok stars, drawing 2.7 million followers and 54 million likes, and honored with awards as a trend-setter on the video-sharing app. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
            
              Daikyo Security Co. Chief Executive Daisuke Sakurai, left, and General Manager Tomohiko Kojima talk with each other about their business plans at the Tokyo headquarters office of Daikyo Security Co. in Tokyo Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. They’re your run-of-the-mill Japanese “salarymen,” but the chief executive and general manager at a tiny Japanese security company are among the nation’s biggest TikTok stars, drawing 2.7 million followers and 54 million likes, and honored with awards as a trend-setter on the video-sharing app. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
            
              General Manager Tomohiko Kojima takes a TikTok video with CEO Daisuke Sakurai, as seen in the screen of the cell phone, at the Tokyo headquarters office of Daikyo Security Co. in Tokyo Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. They’re your run-of-the-mill Japanese “salarymen,” but the chief executive and general manager at a tiny Japanese security company are among the nation’s biggest TikTok stars, drawing 2.7 million followers and 54 million likes, and honored with awards as a trend-setter on the video-sharing app. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
            
              Daikyo Security Chief Executive Daisuke Sakurai, left, and General Manager Tomohiko Kojima take a Tik Tok video together as seen on the screen in the device (right) at the Tokyo headquarters office of Daikyo Security Co. in Tokyo Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. They’re your run-of-the-mill Japanese “salarymen,” but the chief executive and general manager at a tiny Japanese security company are among the nation’s biggest TikTok stars, drawing 2.7 million followers and 54 million likes, and honored with awards as a trend-setter on the video-sharing app. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
            
              Daikyo Security Chief Executive Daisuke Sakurai, right, and General Manager Tomohiko Kojima hold the awards they have won recently for their Tik Tok videos in the hallway of their Tokyo headquarters office of Daikyo Security Co. in Tokyo Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. They’re your run-of-the-mill Japanese “salarymen,” but the chief executive and general manager at a tiny Japanese security company are among the nation’s biggest TikTok stars, drawing 2.7 million followers and 54 million likes, and honored with awards as a trend-setter on the video-sharing app. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

AP

(Facebook Photo/City of San Luis, Arizona)...
Associated Press

San Luis authorities receive complaints about 911 calls going across border

Authorities in San Luis say they are receiving more complaints about 911 calls mistakenly going across the border.
4 days ago
(Pexels Photo)...
Associated Press

Daylight saving time begins in most of US this weekend

No time change is observed in Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.
12 days ago
Mexican army soldiers prepare a search mission for four U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen in Matamo...
Associated Press

How the 4 abducted Americans in Mexico were located

The anonymous tip that led Mexican authorities to a remote shack where four abducted Americans were held described armed men and blindfolds.
12 days ago
Tom Brundy points to a newly built irrigation canal on one of the fields at his farm Tuesday, Feb. ...
Associated Press

Southwest farmers reluctant to idle farmland to save water

There is a growing sense that fallowing will have to be part of the solution to the increasingly desperate drought in the West.
19 days ago
A young bison calf stands in a pond with its herd at Bull Hollow, Okla., on Sept. 27, 2022. The cal...
Associated Press

US aims to restore bison herds to Native American lands after near extinction

U.S. officials will work to restore more large bison herds to Native American lands under a Friday order from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
19 days ago
(Photo: OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center)...
Sponsored Content by OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

Here's what you need to know about OCD and where to find help

It's fair to say that most people know what obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders generally are, but there's a lot more information than meets the eye about a mental health diagnosis that affects about one in every 100 adults in the United States.

Sponsored Articles

(Photo: OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center)...

Here’s what you need to know about OCD and where to find help

It's fair to say that most people know what obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders generally are, but there's a lot more information than meets the eye about a mental health diagnosis that affects about one in every 100 adults in the United States.
...
Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

Company looking for oldest air conditioner and wants to reward homeowner with new one

Does your air conditioner make weird noises or a burning smell when it starts? If so, you may be due for an AC unit replacement.
(Desert Institute for Spine Care photo)...
DESERT INSTITUTE FOR SPINE CARE

Why DISC is world renowned for back and neck pain treatments

Fifty percent of Americans and 90% of people at least 50 years old have some level of degenerative disc disease.
Ordinary Japanese ‘salarymen’ reach TikTok stardom