Karoshi
Karoshi is a Japanese term meaning death due to overwork. It was coined in 1978 when a number of employees died from strokes and heart attacks caused by overwork.
The corporate culture has always been able to exploit the Japanese customs of company loyalty, team work, and peer pressure. In the years following World War II, when much of the country had to be rebuilt, the nation’s workers were dedicated to cooperation and hard work that resulted in bringing Japan astounding success as a world economic power in a relatively short period of time. Sometimes, the only words spoken when men returned home were the words for food and bath to their longsuffering and lonely wives.
In the 1980s and 90s when the economy took a downturn, staff had to be laid off. The remaining employees worked harder to complete the tasks that did not diminish after the layoffs. The men working long hours for the sake of the company ended up devaluing the family and resenting family obligations.
Some things that are still part of a “salaryman’s” life are long hours and long commutes, hesitancy to take sick and vacation days and the tendency to put the business above the family unit. Many employees take less than half an hour to eat lunch because of peer pressure, the silent gaze of their coworkers.
The documentary, “Happy” (2011) examines the meaning of happiness by visiting, observing, and interviewing people in more than a dozen countries. There is a segment on Japan as being the least happy of all the industrialized nations. Included is an interview of a young wife who lost her husband because of karoshi.
My friend in Japan, Koji (not his real name), has a stressful IT job but claims to be happy even though he lives in a different city from his wife and son in an apartment that is subsidized by the company. He says that he and his wife have the same goals in life, mainly to pay off the mortgage and help their son go to a university. He sees his family every few weeks and they go out for dinner or on a mini vacation, but it is often difficult to synchronize their time off as his wife works at a convenience store and his son attends two cram schools in addition to regular school. Koji prefers to see his glass as half full.
Some corporations are finally responding to lawsuits filed by spouses and families of karoshi victims. They are encouraging time off for vacations and shorter work hours. It is a law that companies must pay overtime but there has long been a practice of free overtime, overtime that is often unrecorded and uncompensated. Koji says his company pays overtime and news stations are naming the companies that do not pay. In a society where conduct is influenced by shame, the media is now playing a role in shaming the companies into paying overtime.
“Karoshi” was coined over 35 years ago, and Japanese society is still dealing with a term that makes a far too frequent appearance.
Sources:
Happy. Dir. Roko Belic. Perf. Anne Bechsgaard, Gregory Bechsgaard, Gregory Burns. Wadi Rum Films, Inc., 2011. Film.
http://nypost.com/2015/02/06/japans-plan-to-stop-employees-from-working-themselves-to-death/
http://www.research.vt.edu/resmag/sciencecol/AFDC95.html