Japanese term meaning
those who sit by the windowUsed in Japanese commerce to describe a worker (invariably male) who for a range of reasons has been made redundant, but who cannot be fired or otherwise dismissed from employment.
AKA The Window Tribe, The Windows.
REFERENCES: Passport Japan (Dean Engel & Ken Murakami, ISBN 1-885073-17-8) & The Perpetual Student (http://www2.web-hyogo.or.jp/~ps/psw/)