The family oriented people would go home and spend time with their families, but the non-family oriented people would go back to work -- that's where their friends are. Which would cause the family oriented people to go back to work because they don't want to miss out on the work opportunities. And you're back where you started.
Japanese culture is very different. All through their life Japanese people are part of a group and identify with that group. You are in a particular home room at school and they try not to mix change the home rooms all through junior high school and high school. You are a member of a single club all the way through junior high school and then a single club all the way through high school (and possibly a single club in University if you decide to join a club).
When Japanese people get a professional job, they all start on the same day -- The first Monday of April after they graduate from university. Professionals never change companies. They work for the same company for the rest of their life. They work with the same people for the rest of their life.
The western media portrays the Japanese salary man as being lonely, but I don't think this is generally the case. If you don't fit into your group you are going to be lonely because you won't get another one. That's why there are some super lonely people. However, the majority of people are not lonely and have lots and lots of friends at work. It's just completely different than how it works in the west.
It's really complicated. Basically salaries are quite low in comparison to many other countries. However, there is a "bonus" which is usually paid 3 or 4 times a year. Different companies have different schemes, but often the salary is based on position and the bonus is based on position and seniority. The overall compensation is lower than the US probably, but higher than many European companies. There are cost of living increases, but you don't generally get a raise without a change in position.
However, there are some other things that are important to realise. Generally the company looks after you for your entire life. When you retire, they will give you a lump sum retirement amount. I work for my own company in Japan and my accountant was very quick to point out the need for the company to save for my retirement. Additionally, you often get other "perks". For example, my wife's uncle lives in a house that used to be on land owned by the company he worked for. They sold him some land so he could build a house close to work. They even sold him some extra land so that he could have a garden (in a different location) -- and he made a tidy profit on that when we got too old to garden any more. This kind of thing (maybe not exactly, but similar) was expected before 1998. It's falling out of fashion these days, but for "permanent employees" (not on yearly contracts) it's still the norm.
The total compensation package is quite good in most companies, I think. Of course, there is a lot of competition to get into the best companies and once you are in, there is a sense that you've "made it". It's extremely difficult to get fired from a permanent position and companies will rather pay you a salary to do nothing rather than to fire you if things really don't work out. So, there is a lot of give and take. On the other hand, don't quit your job! Anybody who sees you were stupid enough to give up a permanent placement somewhere will not be interested in hiring you -- you'll be stuck on contract positions (and much less security) for your whole life.
One of the things that westerners have difficulty with when comparing their situation with the situation in Japan (and probably some other SE Asian countries like Korea, though I have no direct experience with that) is that the companies treat their workers completely differently. In the west, there is no loyalty to workers. In Japan, anyway, the company is completely responsible for their workers' well being. It even enters into what would be considered private matters in the west like if you are overweight the company will feel compelled to do something about it because in the long term it's bad. Even for things like being single -- the company usually doesn't like it and will help you find someone to marry if you are having trouble in that department. It's just such a totally different experience that you can't compare it.
On a personal note, I worked on contract for a school division in Japan and even though I was on contract, the school looked after me. I needed surgery and for some bureaucratic reason the hospital needed someone to co-sign a loan guarantee in case something went wrong. The school took care of it. The principal was also worried that at the time I was over 40 and not married and assigned the school nurse to lecture me about the dangers of not getting my personal life in order (and even arranged for me to attend some gokon -- parties where you meet people who are interested in getting married... though I explained to them that my girlfriend wouldn't like it if I went :-) ). My case is pretty weird for a foreigner on contract, but for whatever reason the school decided to treat me like an employee.
Anyway, I'm kind of droning on and you may not be interested in all of this. I'm sure a lot of it is really weird to you and you may be thinking, "I wouldn't want that!", but I guess the point is that it's really hard to compare the situations. It's just so different here for full time employees. For someone like me, it works well because I tend to bury myself in work (which I enjoy) and I need someone to look out for me. That's probably why the school decided to take on that role. I'm bad at negotiating contracts and I like it when the opposite side takes a moral position to look out for my interests. It would be almost impossible to negotiate as good a position as you might get in the west, but it's also really difficult to get into as bad a position (as long as you are a permanent employee with a reputable company). As time goes by, this situation has gone from expected for almost every worker, to only being common for professionals. It's slowly moving towards the same situation as in the west and I, for one, feel a lot is being lost along the way.
It's funny because since I own my own consulting company now, I insist that I treat myself well. However, the expense of that is actually quite high and you would not believe how low my salary is :-)
FWIW I highly value your posts about life in Japan! I've been studying the language two years now and intend to move there, and the Japan posts in your comment history have given me a lens into life there that I cannot find elsewhere.
