15 July 2008
Japan is a country of workaholics. When I lived and worked in Japan as an English teacher, I often taught a four hour shift that ended at 10:00 p.m. On my way home, the subway cars would be filled with dozing Japanese businessmen returning home after a long day and perhaps a couple of drinks after work with colleagues. The Japanese have long been noted for working extra long hours including many unpaid overtime hours and refusing to take vacations. This kind of work ethic has lead to the early death of many workers. Karoshi is the word used for death from too much work.
There is a law that gives money to the widow and children of a salaryman that works himself to death for the good of his company. Labor Bureaus in Japan don’t offer much resistance when an attorney requests that a family receive work insurance benefits. The Japanese government has tried for decades to limit work and overtime without too much success. Claims are frequently made for for death and disability from overwork and also suicides attributed to “fatigue from work. Long hours and overtime are seen as a way to achieve success and higher pay in a company. Competition is fierce in Japan.
I don’t think that we’ll reach that point here in the US, but there are some businessmen who give their lives to their jobs often with the same sad result. As our economy tightens there may be an incentive to work longer hours and take shorter vacations. Somehow, I don’t think that we, as a society, have the same work ethic as the Japanese. That may be a good thing.
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