This is a day in the life of a Japanese Mechanic [Music] This is Yuta, 25 yrs old.
Living in Chiba, part of the Greater Tokyo area And he is just waking up for work He lives alone in this one LDK apartment
and if you haven't noticed, he loves his animes Often visiting Akihabara when he's not working Anime is such a popular hobby for Japanese adults under 30. It's currently the only growing entertainment category catching up to the top two,
variety shows and movies. This is what you usually eat for breakfast. [Music] Wow, he sure loves his milk tea. How long does it usually take you to get ready. [Music] Unlike the 40 million train commuters in the Greater Tokyo area,
Yuta drives a 30-minute commute to work every morning. So Yuta works as a Seibishi, in English (Mechanic) He attended a specialized four-year professional school of
Saitama Automotive University. Earning a degree in car mechanics. He was hired straight after graduation.
Common in japan.
As 91% of vocational school graduates secure a job
and currently in his third year as a Mechanic Good morning y'all.
I'm back with another day in the life. Super excited for this one.
Just a little bit different than the usual. But it should be awesome regardless. Yuta should be coming down the stairs right now
let's see how he's doing this morning Good morning. did you sleep well last night so youtube works as a mechanic at isuzu motors one of the oldest automobile manufacturers in japan since 1916. these days they're best known for their commercial vehicles like trucks and buses but interestingly the company itself started off as a department within a shipbuilding company which over many years transformed in the company we know today with more than 36 thousand employees and crowned the number one truck seller in japan before clocking in youtube is required to check his temperature as well as do a breathalyzer as he'll be driving trucks today [Music] wow that's a lot of uniforms are these all yours at his company it's important that all their employees present a clean appearance despite working in a garage so they employ a cleaning vendor to wash their uniforms every day [Music] before the day starts all the staff gather for rajo taiso meaning radio exercise a typical japanese calisthenics guided by music one of the oldest customs in a japanese workplace still practice today every morning the staff have a zentai chorei a traditional japanese all company morning meeting to discuss news and announcements followed by a recitation of the company's philosophy and behavior guidelines and shortly after that Yuta breaks out with the mechanics for a separate meeting to discuss their assigned tasks for today where you going now first he performs facility maintenance a 5s group activity common in japanese companies designed to help build a strong work ethic as well as healthy working environment 5s meaning organized order cleanliness standardized and disciplined what are you exactly looking at what's this room it's a critical part of a mechanic's job to record and detail all work performed as it's even used for government records also the room serves as a dispatcher's office where the mechanics get assigned tasks as they come in throughout the day to start his first job he brings along his rolling tool chest in japanese it's called a caddy look at all these trucks apparently more than 70 trucks are maintained repaired and inspected by about 30 on duty mechanics every day nice, he's gonna work on his first truck yuta's first job is to perform shotgun a vehicle safety inspection required by japanese law usually every two years to ensure vehicles are properly maintained and safe to drive on public roads interestingly trucks larger than a mini k-class truck are required to be inspected every year vehicle inspections in japan are one of the most stringent and expensive in the world requiring a 60 part inspection including diagnostics the base fee starts at about five hundred dollars going upwards to two thousand dollars for larger vehicles how long does it take to perform a shotgun inspection for a trucker [Music] [Music] he always loved cars since he was young he used to even race his own car a supra in the mountains but got into an accident while drifting and decided it wasn't for him which allowed him even more time to focus on his true passion working on oversized trucks What's that? wow he really knows his stuff in japan in Japan to become a certified mechanic candidates must pass one of three nationwide exams car mechanic graduates are able to skip to the rank 2 exam while rank 1 exams are reserved for only rank 2 mechanics with years of experience so for now 2 mechanic working hard every day to gain more experience are you almost done as part of the japanese shotgun inspection vehicles undergo a visual inspection and will immediately fail if it's far behind the manufacturer's set conditions and is the main reason why in japan cars on the road are for the most part always in great condition so it looks like heath is going to be doing this for a little bit so while he's doing this why don't we take a break and check this place out [Music] so one of the things that i've always wondered is what's in a mechanics caddy let's see wow so many cool tools electrical tape calipers a cutter extra light bulb a set of wrenches a box of face masks some adhesive spray cans and some screwdrivers this place is just so big you can see behind me there's 10 to 12 maybe even 13 parking spots it's crazy oh wow look at this room it's completely different than the other ones let's see what this guy is doing excuse me can i ask what you're doing at this garage they have a dedicated paint room and this is their storage area where they keep the paint stock required to fix and repair any truck damage the paint room itself has a specialized ventilation system built into the floor which quickly removes any excess paint or dust in the air have you painted custom colors before i like it an oversized truck with bling Oh wow there's a huge truck over there, lets see what they're doing. Excuse me what are you here for? [Speaking Japanese] Oh, it seems like the truck is in a dire for repair. [Speaking Japanese] Now the front desk contacts the dispatcher to arrange a mechanic. Oh, I wonder what this guy is doing. Excuse me can i ask what you're doing? [Speaking Japanese] How many did you watch a day? [Speaking Japanese] How long have you been with the company? [Speaking Japanese] Congratulations! [Speaking Japanese] [Truck backing up] [Music] Okay he's finished with the truck, as part of any inspection or maintenance trucks must be cleaned before the return to the customer which is also the responsibility of the mechanic. When he's done with an assignment, he creates a report and logs it into the database, and he also uploads pictures of the maintenance performed for customer records. Oh no, it started to rain! [Speaking Japanese] How are you going to get to the truck? [Speaking Japanese] Now to the next truck. Wow that's a humongous tire! Yuta says that since he often works on larger vehicles many of the parts and tools are also large and heavy so it's critical that mechanics at his garage are always cognizant of their surroundings as a simple accident like dropping apart or getting fingers caught would easily result in severe injury. Are you done? [Speaking Japanese] Finally, lunchtime! He usually picks up food from the vending machine and eats it in the break room with his co-workers Did you bring that bento? [Speaking Japanese] Oh, is it free? [Speaking Japanese] How is it? It's common for traditional Japanese companies to offer their employees reasonably priced bento lunch boxes every day for work usually about two to three dollars per day so the staff can save on costs as well as time he has some time before his work starts again so he usually takes advantage of this time with a short nap in the tatami room good morning have a good nap? [Music] after lunch Yuta has a midday meeting called Churei in this meeting he gets assigned new tests for the afternoon what are you doing now? [Music] oh that's his next truck i think it's bigger than my tokyo apartment and this time they're using one of the two floor lifts in the garage. Yuta says that it's a little bit easier to go underneath a giant truck than it is to hoist one in the air. It seems like this truck is having maintenance but this time he's working with four other mechanics on the job depending on the size of the truck and the amount of work dispatchers assign multiple mechanics to complete the job what's that? how much oil do you use? Yuta says that the garage boss is a strong senpai kohai or senior junior relationship where he's able to easily draw on the experience of his seniors helping him to quickly build his own skills. What's that ? Nice reminder! In japan trucks are scheduled regular checkups every three months What are you doing now? What's that? This is one of the many vehicles that won't pass a shaken inspection simply due to normal wear and tire which is almost expected. So it requires additional repairs and maintenance work to meet japan's strict road safety standarts Obviously, it's gonna cost more money and is one of the reasons why many japanese would rather buy a new car than to bear the cost of maintaining an older one after several years Oh! This is where all the parts are stored. Apparently the company is known for always having parts on stock despite having such a wide catalog of products Even if the part is unavailable at this garage, Any part thinkable can be same day shipped nationwide What do you like about being a mechanic? What's the most difficult part of your job? So, it looks like Yuta go to be greasing up the tires just a little bit longer so while he's doing that let's go explore the place! This is so crazy seeing all of these trucks in the air. I've never seen it before You have a dump truck and then right there you have a long bed truck all hoisted up So this is what it's like on the basement floor and just underneath all of the trucks Oh, that's a truck Yuta was working on earlier So this garage is a final inspection area, where they check the cars before they send them out Hi, what are you doing? In this final inspection, staff review all the items that were performed during the shaken inspection or regular maintenance. Plus, perform several diagnostics required by japanese safety standarf laws. What does this do? check the brightness [Music] huh i wonder what's in this gray little shelter over here Oh, wow! This is the engine stop room. Just in case a truck needs an entire engine replacement. Hi, what are you guys doing? Oh, this mirror is wrecked so sometimes they need to take things apart for repair. "Bankin" means bodywork in english The garage have dedicated workers responsible for bodywork and paint, since a special licenses is required to perform this work. Are you almost done? Yuta, where are you going? He doesn't only work on trucks, but as a mechanic, he's also responsible for interfacing with customers to share service information about their trucks. Apparently, Yuta participated in a customer service training course His first month working at the company to ensure all customers receive a high level service each and every time. At the end of the day, the team is responsible for cleaning up the facility, as they don't hire outside cleaning services. Now, all the mechanics gathered for shurei, the final day's meeting. At this time each mechanic is assigned jobs, But unlike most overtime, this overtime has a set finishing schedule And it seems that yuta has accepted an extra hour of work Oh, it looks like he's finishing up! So in a traditional japanese company, it's customary for Yuta to seeks out his superiors and greet them when he finishes as a sign of respect, especially since he's leaving before them and despite the formalities, he's still able to finish overtime a little bit early So he has the rest of the evening ahead of him "Thank you for a good job" Tonight for dinner, he's having leftover curry from the day before as he doesn't like food to go to waste Oh, cool! He uses car air fresheners even in his house! I was wondering why his room smelled like a new car Before COVID, he often hung out with friends and co-workers after work But nowadays, he tries to stay home and read his manga What are you reading? So, it looks like Yuta just gonna continue reading his manga and then probably go to bed at around 12 o'clock or midnight But that's pretty much a day in the life of a japanese mechanic. 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