Philip Patrick Philip Patrick

Japan’s punishing workplace culture

(Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Are the world’s hardest workers about to get a well-earned break? That seems to be the hope of the Japanese government, which is trying to encourage companies to ease off a bit and allow their exhausted staff the luxury of a four-day working week. It is hoped this will lead to a healthier work-life balance — or at least give workers a chance to retrain. As an idea, it sounds great. Whether it will actually work is another matter entirely.

In January, the ruling (always and forever) Liberal Democratic party drafted a proposal that firms should offer staff the option of a three-day weekend. The plan was then included in the annual budget and approved by PM Yoshihiro Suga’s cabinet this month, moving it from the ‘nice idea’ category to the ‘will be actively pursued’ stage.

Undoubtedly the scheme has much in its favour — at least in theory. Although pedants may point out that, according to OECD statistics, Japan is only the 22nd hardest working nation on earth, such figures take no account of the notorious ‘service zangyo’ or unpaid overtime system here. If that were factored in, Japan would probably top the charts, and perhaps by some distance.

Excessive office hours are often cited as a contributor to Japan’s alarming population decline

Service zangyo is a national scandal that undoubtedly leads to a significant number of deaths each year. Exceptionally shocking cases provoke occasional calls for change: the suicide of ad agency worker Matsuri Takashi in 2015 — working 100 hours a month extra — was one; the heart attack suffered by NHK reporter Miwa Sado, aged 31, (159 hours in the month before her death) was another. But the system persists. There are officially 2,000 workplace suicides a year — but how many die of heart disease, strokes or other overwork related conditions is unknown.

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