辞表 じひょう — The Resignation

Leaving a Japanese company

Resigning from a Japanese company follows a script. The employee tells the direct manager first, in person, and only then submits a 退職届 or 辞表; the reason given on paper is almost always 一身上の都合 — personal reasons — which is understood as a polite way of not explaining. Most companies ask for a month or more of notice, and the weeks before leaving are spent on 引き継ぎ, the handover, which is judged closely: leaving a mess behind is remembered. Leaving well matters because Japanese working life is a small world. Former colleagues become clients, references and friends, and a 送別会 — a farewell party organized by the team — is the formal end of the relationship and the start of a new one. Thanking the person who trained you, as Alex plans to, is expected. The grammar of the lesson is the grammar of reluctant agreement and careful refusal: ざるを得ない, かねる, ないことはない, に先立って, を兼ねて.