Presenteeism

The Oxford Dictionary defines 'presenteeism' as "the practice of spending more time at your work than you need to according to your contract, in order to appear to be working hard". I would append that with "innate to, and ingrained within, Japanese work culture". The very fact that you are in the office, shop, factory, or, in Sanae's case, the school staff room, is equated with 'work'. Being present is considered more important than productivity. Well, maybe not more important, but more socially acceptable. Being present maintains a social norm - 'we' are all working. In contrast, completing all your work and then going home would be regarded as self-centred individualism.
This links with another, off-cited aspect of Japanese life - the distinction between tatemae and honne. Books have been written about these concepts. Most of them are woefully tenuous, unsubstantiated rubbish, people's subjective opinions sequinned onto a thin gossamer of what they pass off as objective fact.
This blog is no different but at least I'm upfront about it.
Anyway, 'tatemae' can be equated with 'appearance', while 'honne' refers to a person's true feelings buried beneath their seemingly placid, acquiescent demeanour. Japanese working life, and particularly presenteeism, provides instructive example of this inherent duality. In the office, people are seen to be working; they may not be doing anything particularly productive, but they are seen to be 'working'.
When I worked in Shibetsu in the preceding millennium, this time of year during the spring holidays, I would have to go into the office of the Board of Education. Next to me sat S-san, a man ostensibly in charge of the procurement needs of the schools in Shibetsu. When he wasn't out being wined and dined by blackboard manufacturers, he would spend his days sitting at his desk, puffing his way through a pack of Seven Star cigarettes (like I said, this was the last millennium), slurping Boss canned coffee, and idly flicking through furniture catalogs. He was, in the apt words of Karl Marx, when explaining historical materialism and the concept of labour surplus, "doing fuck all". And I'm sure he knew that. In the heart of his honne, he no doubt realised that this wasn't anything even resembling work, but he was working for the town office, he had a good, pensionable job for life and if the most he had to do was maintain some tatemae by spending an inordinate amount of unproductive time at his desk, then what the hell: crack open another can and light up another cigarette.
Hokkaido is now into the fourth week of school closures, yet teachers all across the island are still required to be in school by 8:15 and be there until 5:15. This is institutional presenteeism and nobody objects. Or rather nobody objects in public because that would be revealing your honne when you should be maintaining your tatemae. Sanae comes home in the evening and fairly vents; it takes a couple of beers and a long foot massage before she finally calms down. She (rightly) points out that having 30+ people confined to the same room for 8 hours every day directly conflicts with the health advice being given about people maintaining their social distance.  Yet, nobody in authority wants to burst this particular bubble because to do so would be a refutation of not just presenteeism, but a quintessential part of Japanese work culture as well.