Karoshi

Karōshi (過労死), which can be translated literally as "overwork death" in Japanese, means death by working too hard. Every year, hundreds of over stressed Japanese workers succumb to heart attack, stroke or suicide due to a lack of work-life balance. The problem, which first rose to prominence in the 1980s, has become so bad it even has its own name: karoshi. Death by overwork. Last week, a British expat living in Tokyo going by the handle ‘Stu in Japan’ posted a video on YouTube titled ‘A week in the life of a Tokyo salary man’.

The video diary documented a typical 80-hour week during his financial services company’s “busy season” from January to March — 13-hour days for six days a week, leaving the office after 11pm every night, with barely time to squeeze in dinner.

“There are definitely people in Tokyo who do this all year round in order to support their families,” he wrote. “I couldn’t imagine having to do this if I had those kinds of responsibilities as well.”

Late last year, the Japanese government finally decided to do something about the endemic culture of overwork, which has been blamed not just on a growing number of deaths, but also the country’s critically low birth rate and declining productivity.

Although Japan is notorious for hard work, it’s equally known for inefficiency and bureaucracy. Workers sit around in the name of team spirit, despite questionable performance.

Younger workers feel uncomfortable going home before their bosses do. Working overtime for free, called “sah-bee-soo zahn-gyo”, or “service overtime”, is prevalent.