Ms. Michiyo Nishigaki.
Japan is one of the few countries with the longest working hours in the world. Many young people have died of exhaustion, including Naoya, the only son of Mrs. Michiyo Nishigaki.
He loves computers and is extremely happy to be able to go straight to a large telecommunications company because it is a rare career opportunity in the harsh labor market in Japan, according to BBC.
Mrs. Nishigaki was very proud of her child at that time.
`He told me he was very busy but was fine,` she recalled.
After that, she asked her son’s colleagues and learned that he often worked overtime.
`He usually works until the last train (around 1 a.m.). If he misses the train, he sleeps at his desk,` she said.
Two years later, Naoya died, only 27 years old, from exhaustion.
Work constantly
Japan has a culture of working long hours.
Christmas 2015, Matsuri Takahashi, 24 years old, an employee of Dentsu advertising company, jumped to his death from a building after severely lacking sleep due to working 100 hours overtime a month.
The mother of Matsuri Takahashi cried in front of her daughter’s portrait.
Makoto Iwahashi, an expert at Posse, an organization that operates a helpline for young workers, said that this phenomenon is very common in Japan, especially for startups.
`Sadly, young workers think they have no other choice,` he said.
Mr. Iwahashi commented that the unstable job market makes the situation worse.
`In the 1960s and 1970s, the karoshi phenomenon existed, but the big difference was that, at that time, although workers had to work long hours, they were guaranteed a job for life. Now that is not the case.
Overtime culture
According to last year’s statistics published by the Japanese Ministry of Labor, the country had about 150 karoshi cases, including deaths from heart attacks, strokes and suicides.
Nearly 25% of Japanese companies have employees working more than 80 hours of overtime per month without pay.
The Japanese government is under pressure to change this situation, but the challenge is whether or not it can change a culture that has existed for decades, where simply leaving work early will upset the boss.
Working to death in Japan
In February, the Japanese government’s work-life balance campaign was launched.
Japanese workers have 20 days of vacation per year, but 35% of workers do not take vacation.
Turn off the light
The government of Toshima prefecture, Tokyo, had to take measures to turn off all office lights at 7:00 p.m. to force employees to go home.
`We wanted to do something useful,` said Hitoshi Ueno, office manager.
However, according to campaigners, these measures are only temporary and do not completely solve the core problem: young workers are dying because they have to work in too stressful and time-consuming environments.
The only solution, according to activists, is to limit overtime hours.
Workers wait for trains at night in Japan.
More measures are needed
Earlier this year, the government proposed limiting the average monthly overtime hours to 60, however, businesses are allowed to let employees work 100 hours overtime during `busy periods`.
Critics say the government is prioritizing business and economic interests over worker welfare.
`Japanese people trust the government but they are being betrayed,` accused Koji Morioka, a scholar who has studied karoshi for 30 years.
Meanwhile, more and more young workers in Japan are dying from exhaustion, and support groups for the families of the dead are accepting new members.
`Businesses only focus on short-term benefits,` she said.
Hannah