Oshikatsu, Bread and Circuses | The Recommendation of Having No Hobbies and the Office Worker

I sometimes feel that there are more hobbies in the world today than there used to be.

Subscription services, where video and audio content can be watched or listened to as much as one likes for a monthly or annual fee, have become mainstream.

The term "Oshikatsu" (supporting one's favorite), which refers to not only watching content from one's favorite artists but also supporting them by attending live concerts, has become completely established.

With the supply of such content becoming excessive, the term "taipa" (time performance) has recently come into use, as consumers of hobbies now prioritize efficiency, leading to trends like watching movies at double speed or preferring music with short intros.

Enjoying time for hobbies to heal from work fatigue and being able to work hard again the next day leads to a good cycle for society as well.

However, no matter how much you enjoy a hobby, I do not recommend becoming so absorbed in consumption that you stop thinking. This is because you lose your sense of agency.

Bread and Circuses and Childhood's End

There is a phrase "bread and circuses" that describes the social conditions of ancient Rome.

This refers to how the authorities of the time provided "bread" (food) and "circuses" (entertainment) for free to keep citizens indifferent to politics.

Citizens who no longer had to worry about hunger because food was provided for free began to seek entertainment, becoming obsessed with gladiator matches almost every day.

By gathering support from the masses through food and keeping them obsessed with entertainment, they succeeded in making the citizens lose interest in national politics.

In short, they provided enjoyment to induce a state of suspended thought, and in the meantime, they advanced their political agenda as they pleased.

A similar situation is depicted in Arthur C. Clarke's science fiction novel "Childhood's End".

An existence called the "Overlords," who arrived from space and possessed intelligence higher than humans, succeeded in managing humanity peacefully.

In the story, humanity is depicted as having so many distractions and forms of entertainment that they stopped creating new things, ending up in a state equivalent to cultural death.

When I look at society as a whole from a bird's-eye view like this, I sometimes think that being obsessed with hobbies might actually lead to actions that lack agency.

The Recommendation of Having No Hobbies | Hobbies Cannot Change Your Life

There is a book by Ryu Murakami titled "The Recommendation of Having No Hobbies".

In it, Ryu Murakami says of himself, "I have no hobbies," and explains that hobbies do not have the power to change one's life.

For him, writing novels and producing films are all "work" involving financial contracts, and he says that it is only "work," not hobbies, that gives him a true sense of accomplishment and fulfillment.

It seems important to engage in things that can be viewed as work and that allow you to take risks and act proactively, rather than hobbies that are merely consumed as entertainment.

A Recommendation for Active Entertainment | What Office Workers Can Do

Is there a way for the average Japanese office worker to avoid being swayed by modern bread and circuses?

It would be great if one could live like Ryu Murakami, but I will consider how the average office worker who cannot do so should take this.

The first thing you can do is put a slight brake on indulging in hobbies that you fall into while in a state of thoughtless consumption, and gradually switch to hobbies that require you to engage with an active mindset.

While you might watch videos to consume content with a tired brain after work, it is better to read books before going to work or while on the commuter train. Since reading is a text-based medium, it requires the reader to understand the context and think for themselves.

If you are going on a trip during a long vacation, instead of joining a tour from a major travel agency, planning all your transportation and accommodations yourself will naturally force you to think and act proactively.

If you like eating delicious food, you can gain various insights by not just relying on Uber Eats, bento boxes, or eating out, but by thinking from the stage of selecting ingredients and cooking original dishes yourself.

Even if you use the words "hobbies" or "entertainment," their nature changes significantly depending on how you approach them.

By engaging in hobbies to actively find enjoyment yourself, rather than consuming entertainment in a state of thoughtless consumption, the proactivity you acquire through them will also connect to what is required in the work of modern office workers.

As I wrote when I previously covered Drucker's 'The Effective Executive', in the modern era where "knowledge work" rather than "manual labor" is required, workers must not just follow the company in a state of thoughtless consumption, but each employee needs to think and act like a manager.

By gradually switching your approach to hobbies to be more active, you may be able to lead a proactive, cultured life while having a positive influence on both your work and your hobbies.