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The essential ingredients for the proper [[Salaryman]] include a charcoal grey (or funeral black) suit with proper necktie, a briefcase, glasses, and usually a receding hairline if they're not outright bald. After a night's revelries, a carton of carryout food becomes part of the setup. Add a sake bottle and tie the necktie around the head as a [[Hachimaki]], and he becomes the "drunk salaryman" stereotype.
 
Salarymen are usually portrayed in ways similar to [[White Collar Worker|White Collar Workers]] in American programming; stuck in dull jobs with [[Pointy -Haired Boss|irritating employers]] and little chance of advancement. However, as a whole, they tend to be more optimistic. They also have an unfortunate tendency, encouraged by both the Japanese work ethic and their employers, toward both [[Workaholic|workaholism]] and [[The Alcoholic|alcoholism]]. Some all but [[Married to The Job|ignore their family]] in pursuit of their job, going drinking with office-mates after (unpaid) overtime, going home to sleep for four hours, then getting up to do it all over again.
 
Prevalent in [[Cyberpunk]], this class of character is referred to there as a "sararyman", playing off [[Japanese Ranguage|the difficulty some Japanese have pronouncing the English "L"]]. This was a reaction in the [[The Eighties|late 1980's]] to the notion that [[Japan Takes Over the World|the Japanese were apparently taking over the world financially]], and Westerners were suddenly encountering these mid-level types in daily life. Salarymen also have quite the niche market in [[Boys Love]] works.
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Compare to [[Office Lady]], the [[Distaff Counterpart]] (of sorts) to this trope. Contrast the Western equivalent, the [[Workaholic]], whose life is even bleaker and his compromise with his work is tighter.
{{examples|Examples}}
 
== Anime and Manga ==
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* In ''REC'', Matsumaru is an ordinary salaryman (he's an up-and-rising copyrighter who pitched a couple of successful advertising campaigns for a snack-food maker, and was made to work ''even harder'' for that) who falls in love with an aspiring voice actress.
* Ataru's [[Unnamed Parent|dad]] in ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]'' is the typical Salaryman: working long hours and worrying about the mortgage, especially since his house is routinely destroyed.
* ''[[Special Duty Combat Unit Shinesman]]'' is a parody of [[Sentai]] shows that focuses on a [[Five -Man Band]] of salarymen... who save the world.
* The protagonist of ''[[Yume De Aetara (Manga)|Yume De Aetara]]'', Masao Fuguno, is a stereotypical salaryman trying to do his way as a salesman. Unfortunately, his extreme changes of mood, and the fact that those changes are tied to how his relationship with his love interest is going, conspire against his success.
* Konata from ''[[Lucky Star]]'' once wonders why drunk salarymen always have to carry a bottle of sake and have their tie around the head.
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* An entertaining recurring character in ''[[Gantz Abridged]]'' is Joe Salaryman, father of the Salaryman family. Not to be confused with Niles Trustfundman.
* Shinshi in ''[[Patlabor]]'' was a salaryman before joining the SV2.
* After the [[Big Bad]] Yoshikage Kira switches bodies in the later part of ''[[Jo JosJo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure]]'' part 4 he is forced to assume his new identity's role as one of these, not that he's particularly happy about it.
* Albireo of [[.hack|.hack//AI_Buster]]. ''AI_Buster_2'' reveals that his eventual collapse at work was explained as overworking, rather than what actually happened ([[Mind Rape|Data Drain]]).
* The director Matsuan, his assistant Densuke, and the public-relations man Katchin, in ''[[Android Announcer Maico 2010]]''.
* One half of the main couple in ''[[Little House With an Orange Roof]]'' is Shotaro, whose utter dedication to his work caused his ignored wife to leave him and his two sons. When he winds up having to share a home with a woman and her two daughters, he begins to re-evaluate why that was so important to him.
* ''[[Planetes]]''' premise can be accurately described as Salarymen [[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE]]. Debris Section's [[Pointy -Haired Boss|manager and assistant manager]] moreso than the rest of the cast, as they only rarely go on actual jobs, and are much more aware of corporate politics than the rest of Debris Section.
** Only in the anime, though. Manga is much more [[Creator Provincialism|cosmopolitan]] and doesn't center on the corporate antics that closely.
* In ''[[Angel Densetsu (Manga)|Angel Densetsu]]'', the hero's father is a salaryman, and like his son, is a nice but [[Face of a Thug|scary looking]] guy. In Dad's case, he wears [[Cool Shades|sun glasses]] because he's light sensitive/in an attempt to look less scary, and coupled with the mandatory shirt and tie, the end result is that everyone assumes he's a [[Yakuza]] member.
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